Page 269 of Night's Fall
Ohgods.
“He has to go to theMasque.Thisspy from theEdgewill be there.Rolcan’t disappear.Weneed to set him up to use him.They’rescrubbing his time atSpikeback, the truth serum, but keeping parts intact and implanting things he’ll need so this spy won’t know we know, and we can get what we need to have.”
Memory implantation was also illegal, unless signed off by a physician, and backed up by government approval, and this was usually in the most extreme cases of trauma.
ButIhad no issue with this, orAlekseiordering the truth serum to be used.
Because, to put a fine point on it…
FuckErrol.
Aleksei kept going.
“Rol will wake up at thePalace, being told he’s caught a flu and was delirious for two days.He’llbe injected with something else to make him weak in order to sell that story.”
Shifters didn’t tend to be brought too low by flus.Wegot them, but our immune systems were mega.
But a little pipsqueak likeErrol?
Yeah.
I could see that.
“He’ll continue to be benzoed,”Alekseisaid. “Possiblyfor the rest of his life.Wehaven’t decided what to do with him after this is over.Butit’s likely to be swept under the rug.Nodigi-docs.Noteven redacted.Thisevent will not exist inStarknightDynastyhistory.ButDadknowsIcan’t let it stand.Sowe’re going to have to figure that out.Andin the meantime, we’re all going to have to find it in ourselves to act like he isn’t a treacherous fucking jackoff.”
Gods, this was sofarged up.
“I didn’t want to tell you any of this because it’s so fucked up, what my own damned brother did to you,Ididn’t want to admit it.ButIalso didn’t want to tell you in order that you wouldn’t give anything away,” he explained.
“I’ll do my very best not to give anything away,”Ipromised. “Anyway,ErrolandIaren’t close.Wehaven’t even exchanged any words, except ‘pass the butter’ and ‘here you go.’Soit won’t be hard.Atleast for me.Butfor you…honey,I’dreally like to come to you.”
“I was there, when he was given the injection,Laura.Isaw how deep this went.Hishate for me.Hisyears of manipulation ofDad.Thenhe’d cry, begging my forgiveness, saying you were lovely.Hedidn’t know you.Hedidn’t think about you.Hedidn’t think about what it would do to you.Hedidn’t know what your parents had done to you.Hedidn’t think about you at all.Hejust thought about his twisted, fucked-up shit.WhenDadasked why he didn’t talk to him, toMom,Rolsaid ‘I’myour son, you should have just known.’Whatthe fuck is that horseshit?”
“I don’t know, baby,”Isaid gently.
“The nightAnthemedied, that was when they calledDadandIin to tell us the assassin had indicatedErrol.”
Everything was making sense now.
“WhenTimtore the room apart,Iwanted to join him.It’sbeen a gods-damnedachesinceIlearned.Standingin that cell with my brother, listening to his bullshit and not tearing his fucking head off feels like it cost me everything.”
Okay.
Farg this noise.
I went to him, pressed close, wound my arms around him and tipped my head back to keep hold of his gaze.
He was holding himself so still, his body felt like it was made of steel.
My poorAleksei.
“You need to step back,” he warned.
“I’m sorry, honey.Itried.Ican’t.”
“Darling, if you don’t,Imight fuck you in two,Ineed so gods-damned badly to be balls deep in you.”
Yes, everything was making sense to me now.
