Page 165 of Vile Boys

A life in exchange for power.

But all I hear are the whimpers of the man beneath me. “Please …”

His begging is as sharp as the knife in my hand.

“Ares! Do you want the position or not?” my father growls. “¡Hazlo ya!”

I lift the knife and hold it above my head, watching the man’s last piteous gaze fall upon me.

And I break.

Present

Kai glances at me.“Stop going against him,” he whispers to me.

“You have your Phantoms. You have your future. Go get it, then,” I tell him.

“Kai,” my father says sternly.

Kai sighs out loud and gets up, glancing once more at me before he leaves the room.

CLICK.

My father locks the door to his office.

“I’m going to give you one more chance,” he says. “Apologize to Mr. Ferry.”

And I look him dead in the eye, knowing full well what the consequences will be, as I say, “No.”

I’ve killed men for this. I have killed for the privilege to look my father in the eyes and deny him the one thing he wants.

Obedience.

To be a trafficker, a drug dealer, a killer without a conscience.

But I will never, ever give him what he wants.

Even if it costs me my goddamn sanity.

CRYSTAL

I’ve been checking all the windows in my room, but there’s no way to break out of them. The door is locked, and the bathroom leads nowhere. I’ve been trying to find a way to escape all day without any luck. Not even my knife helped to crack open the windows or the door.

Being cooped up in here all by myself has driven me insane to the point where I push my ear against the door every time someone walks by, hoping to catch something important.

I already dressed myself in a simple pair of leggings and a gray tee on the off chance that someone might enter my room, and to my surprise, all the clothes fit. It’s almost as if Ares prepared for my arrival.

I’ve seen the sun rise and the sun set through the same window, which means I’ve already been here a whole day, missing out on class. I have no clue what time it is, as my room doesn’t have a clock, but it’s definitely dark outside.

The strawberries only eased my hunger a little bit, but I’m too stubborn to ask for more even though my stomach is growling. I’ve been drinking water from the tap to make sure I feel full enough notto start begging because that sure as hell is lowest on my to-do list.

I’m so angry, I could scream.

Fuck Ares.

How dare he do this to me?

I pick up the leftover bowl and throw it at the wall out of frustration, shattering it into a million pieces.

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