Page 71 of Kings & Carnage

That they'd hurt her.

That they'd killed her.

I squeezed Claire's hand because I didn't trust myself to say anything.

"Game number four is mandatory," Neo said. "Anyone who doesn't complete it by the end of the year forfeits this game and all games for the next five years.”

I’d thought the earlier commotion was chaotic but it was nothing compared to the shouting and shoving that ensued next.

“You can’t do that…”

“Who does he think he is?”

“Fuck him.”

Neo's expression remained determined. "Game number four. Each house must ferret out the person or persons who participated in the kidnapping and murder of Emma Russo and the other girls from Bellepoint. Once confirmed, each house will bring us the name or names.”

"This is so weird," Erin said. "Usually the games get more dangerous as we get closer to the end of the year.”

"Oh my god," Claire said, clearly exasperated. "How can someone so dense manage to survive in this world?”

Usually I felt sorry for Erin when Claire treated her like a dumbass, but in this case I couldn't really blame Claire for her frustration.

"This is the most dangerous game of all," Quinn explained. "If someone catches any of us digging for dirt on our own families, we're dead.”

Erin's eyes widened. “Oh…"

"This could get us killed," Yury, one of the big Russians, said.

"So can jumping off the cliff into the quarry," Neo said. "So can almost every game we play at the end of every year. This time it's for a good cause, and we’re giving you extra time because we know it might take a while.”

“Gee, thanks,” someone muttered.

“I know this isn’t easy, and we all know this one isn’t about the game. The game is nothing compared to family loyalty. But some lines shouldn’t be crossed — even by us — and family loyalty is nothing compared to dishonor.” He paused. “I’m asking you to think about the future of our families, about whether this is what you want them to be or whether we want to retain some semblance of humanity.”

Damn. Neo was sounding… eloquent? Convincing?

“And there's one more rule,” he continued. “No one here says a word about this to anyone. If word gets out, we are all fucked and they'll start covering their tracks so we can never make them pay.”

"What's the penalty for being a rat?" Alexa asked.

“We're a rat either way," Carlos, one of the Saints, said. "If we give up our families, we’re a traitor to them. Now you're saying if we tell them what's going on we’re traitors to each other?”

"No one said it wasn't complicated," Neo said. "I'm hoping to appeal to your sense of honor here.”

"What if honor’s not enough?" Alexa asked. "What's the penalty for warning our families you know what they've been up to?”

Neo scanned the crowd, letting his gaze linger on the leaders. "The penalty is death. Anyone who rats out our mission to their families dies, just like those girls probably died. Except this time it’ll be by my hand. By the Kings’ hands.”

I expected the crowd to erupt again, but they were quiet, the gravity of the situation sucking all the protest out of them.

"The game begins now and ends when we have all the names," Neo said. "Famiglia oltre il sangue.”

The crowd repeated it, albeit with less enthusiasm than usual.

I repeated it too, but in my head, I was thinking of Emma and repeating a different motto.

Sic Semper Tyrannis.

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