Page 135 of Unspoken Truths

It’s why my friends and I are Kings and untouchable.

“Wake up, asshole,” a voice snarls, shaking me. His large hand covers my mouth as his legs pin my thighs underneath my comforter as I try to fight him off. “Good, I’m glad you’re still just as much of a badass as when we first chose you as Kings. Don’t pussy out. We need to talk.”

His hands are removed as I sit up with a gasp, the room dark as night still.

Magnus Rothschild moves so he’s sitting on the bed instead of my body. I can see the outlines of his form, recognize his voice. He was one of the Kings who kidnapped us the summer before our freshman year to explain the tenets of the Kings Society.

It was stupid not to think I’d see any of them again now that we’ve chosen a bet. I texted one of them to submit Rachelle’s name, and that was the end of it. Feels anticlimactic in the grand scheme of things.

It’s efficient, though. I didn’t have to deal with whatever shit this is.

“What are we talking about at oh God why-thirty in the morning?” I ask, yawning wide.

To be honest, it could be any time today, and my sleep would still be fucked up. My nightmares and karma have been running rampant through my head.

“Very funny,” Magnus mutters. “Tell me what happened in the woods? Emil Reyes is speaking to the King Society, demanding that his daughter’s name be removed from being a bet. How the fuck did that happen?”

“He adopted Rachelle,” I explain, reaching for the water bottle I always keep by my bed. Opening it, I take a long sip before continuing. “I think he partly did it so that he could offer his protection to her, but none of us knew that when we chose her.”

“What was your reason for choosing her?” Magnus asks.

“She doesn’t belong in our world,” I say simply. “Rachelle is trailer trash, a cockroach under our shoe especially. Her seventeenth birthday happened recently, so we tagged along with her and Lili. They are dating.”

“The Cruzes aren’t really a family who rolls over either,” Magnus mutters. “Tell me everything. The society is worried you may not be able to complete your bet, and we know everything that’s on the line for you all.”

Something tells me he already knows what we’ve been doing to Rachelle, even if not the specifics of what we did in the woods. As for what’s on the line for us, I’m almost certain they even know the Fletchers are sex traffickers for hire.

We were chosen because we have so much to lose.

I still run through everything that’s happened over the last few months, ending with how we almost killed Rachelle in the woods and Emil Reyes’ reaction.

“I see,” Magnus sighs as I finish up. “You are being very aggressive in your work, which I generally don’t mind since you chose her at the end of sophomore year. The issue is, there’s only so much you can continue to do before you kill her or force her to do the job herself. It’s clear the girl isn’t stable.”

“She’s been in and out of facilities,” I admit. “Theo did a full background check on her life, but we are constantly uncovering new information about her.”

“People have many layers,” he says. “It’s impossible to learn everything from a computer screen, which is why many of us would befriend our bets before ruining their lives.”

Well, that ship has sailed.

“It’s a little late to be her friend,” I admit. “Sometimes, sex will loosen someone’s lips by forcing them to catch feelings. I’m unsure if that’ll work either.”

“What is Ignacio’s relationship with his stepsister?” he asks. “They’ve been living together for months, he kept her from jumping once from the terrace. Any chance he can get closer to her?”

“He’s not currently allowed in his own home due to the woods incident,” I mutter. “He’s sleeping in my pool house for now. The little mouse’s mother slapped Nacio the moment she saw him.”

“Little Mouse, cute,” Magnus says with a smirk. Leaning over, he turns on a lamp on the table, the shadows making him appear even larger and more cruel. I don’t know how he was ever able to get his bet to trust him.

They killed her after kidnapping her from her bed, blindfolding and tying her arms behind her back before telling her to run. She understandably couldn’t go far. They lied and said it would all end if she let them fuck her.

Finally, the bet agreed after being pushed to the ground over and over and told to get up and run. Metal music echoed through the trees of Magnus’ grandparents’ estate further up the mountains. They didn’t even take her very far.

Once they’d all used her over and over, they pulled the blindfold off and told her to make sure to scream for them. They tossed her over the cliff’s edge, ensuring no one found her. Marigold Uair’s disappearance was closed after a month, her parents deciding that she must have run away.

There was also a boy she was secretly seeing, one of the past Kings, and pictures of them were taken. They were found on her phone in compromising positions. It was easier for her parents to pretend she ran away than push the issue. It was open and shut, with only the Kings Society knowing what happened.

The way the Uairs behaved is what rich parents are supposed to do. It’s why it’s so frustrating Mr. Reyes is refusing to do the same.

“The Kings Society has decided to allow you to move up your timeline, in fact, we are insisting that you do,” Magnus says. “October thirty-first is when you must complete your work.”

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