Page 30 of Sick Bargain

“I will,” Ghost says, and then he touches my arm. “Remi.”

“Hands off.” Krypt growls.

My brother’s jaw clenches so hard it clicks, staring down his best friend while trying to get to the root of their issues. Me, I’m their issue, but I never intended to be. How was I supposed to know Soren’s best friend was the one in the purple mask? Hell, at the time of the bargain, I had no idea my brother was standing in that room listening to me stutter.

Reluctantly, he removes his hand from my arm and glares at Krypt again. “Remi, shit is going down in Moros, okay? I can’t explain what, but… just fucking be careful, okay? Don’t go anywhere without one of us knowing. And try to stay away from Mom’s.”

“Why?”

“Because the Matter Cult isn’t the only—” Soren cuts himself off, exchanging a silent conversation with Krypt over my head. “She’s fine, but stay away for a bit, okay?”

Yeah, not fucking likely. I nod anyway. “Where’s Cain?”

Ghost looks at Krypt. “Oh, shit. Menace get his hands on him finally?”

Krypt nods. “He’s fine. I’ve told you that three times already.”

“Well, I want to see him,” I state, picking up my tea.

Krypt slams my tea back down. “What you want is no longer yours to desire. I decide what you fucking want from now on, Remiel.”

Soren groans, standing. “This is so fucking weird. I hate it.” He only hates it because it doesn’t serve his own needs, but I figured he’d at least be pleased that the burden of me is off his shoulders. He stops behind Krypt, bent down with his mouth by his ear. “Rape my brother again, and I’ll rape yours. Tit for tat, bud.”

Krypt barely reacts. He scoffs and keeps eating. What fucking world do we live in where threatening to rape someone’s brother happens over breakfast? In an old insane asylum… thatI apparently live in now. Because my house is gone. Because a maniac burned it down.

I pull my tea towards me for warmth. I feel myself chilling in a way that isn’t welcome.

12

MIDNIGHT DINER

KRYPT

I blindfoldedRemiel and led him through the tunnels to leave the house. I didn’t want him to know about the tunnels that connect to the asylum yet, mostly because I don’t want him to know how to escape. I dropped him off at his music shop, where Cain was already waiting, and he hopped out of my truck without a look back. So I grabbed his wrist and stared at him until he remembered who he belonged to.

Moros is buzzing with something this morning. After Initiation Night, the town is more relaxed but more sinister, too. I like the vibe of it. There’s no part of me that wants to leave Moros. Where else in the world could I be this version of myself and have it respected instead of imprisoned? Moros doesn’t play by the same rules as anywhere else, and that’s why I like it here. That’s why it’s home.

Sitting in Midnight Diner for lunch with my brother, I watch Reeven Matterson from across the restaurant. The first name on Remiel’s hit list. He’s a middle-aged man with a small cult following, leading a group of submissive, brainwashed idiots just to flex his control-freak muscles. He brings nothing to Moros other than despair, and the fact that he’s going after people who have managed to free themselves from his cult pisses me off.Getting out of a cult is hard, and I don’t want Remiel’s mom’s side of the family living in fear of this prick. Not because I like her, but because I dislike Matterson.

“He’s a bit psycho,” Riot, my brother, says, watching Matterson. “But he’s not strong. He’s good at brainwashing and control, but doesn’t do his own dirty work.”

“Yeah,” I agree. “He gets his followers to do it, which makes him an easy target because he’s gotten lazy.” I’m not worried about Reeven Matterson. He should be easy enough to make disappear, especially if I get the boys to help. Kyd’s wanted to tear this guy to bits for years. “It’s his followers I’m worried about.”

Riot nods. “They’ll need a new leader. They don’t know how to survive on their own anymore, so someone will have to take over. Any ideas?”

Kill them allcomes to mind. “They believe in bloodlines, don’t they? The Matter Cult is all about continuing powerful bloodlines, right?”

Riot huffs. “Yeah, and he thinks his bloodline is the strongest, so he’s probably knocked up half the women in his cult. We could kill him. Throw his followers in with the Death For Life Cult. They can learn to worship their fearless leader’s ghost like they do.”

Fucking idiots. Cain has a girlfriend named Sadie, and her whole family, close and extended, sacrifice one another to their dead ancestors. I don’t presume to judge what people believe in, but some of it is so far-fetched that it makes my head spin. I won’t willingly sacrifice myself for anything, ever. I’m my own belief, and I don’t believe that the living or the dead will protect me. I’m hypocritical because I want Remiel to believe I’ll protect him, though.

“I’ll approach Abigail as a Vile mask and see what she says.” Abigail is Sadie’s grandmother, and she currently leads the Death for Life Cult.

“You fuck him yet?” Riot asks.

Here, in the Midnight Diner, we’re Killian and Keegan, two brothers out for lunch. We aren’t hiding, but we aren’t approachable either. We’re feared because of the mystery and mayhem surrounding the death of our parents. I repel people naturally, but Riot has perfected the art of drawing in whoever he wants near him.

“No.” I look at my brother, and he sees the shame in my eyes, so I keep talking. “Wouldn’t know how.”

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