Page 29 of The Mourning Throne
At least he hadn’t run again.
That would’ve made this whole damn conversation null and void.
Silence stretched between them.
Lex could see the gears turning in Morgan’s head, clinking against each other. Fighting something.
Then Morgan shoved him back, the door rattling against Lex’s spine and sending his teeth clacking together.
Exhaling, Morgan scrubbed a hand down his face.
“You arepushing me.”
“Is that a yes?” Lex asked.
Morgan didn’t answer.
He didn’t have to.
Because he didn’t move toward the tub again.
Instead, the knife went back into the case. He turned, yanked open the closet, and pulled out a towel. Thick and plush. He folded it with mechanical care, every edge perfect, and laid it over the toilet lid.
Then, he turned to Ollie.
“Get up.”
Ollie flinched, but damn if he didn’t do what Morgan asked. His shoulders were trembling, legs shaking. Eyes red and distant, like he wasn’tentirelywith them anymore.
Lex was already fishing his phone out, fingers jittering around the edges of the screen. He unlocked the camera. Already smiling.
New pet. Acquired.
Three minutes and twenty seconds.
That’s how long it took for Morgan to tie Ollie up.
Not with rope, or zip-ties, or anythingmadeto tie up a person.
Nope. Morgan just ripped a sheet.
Four long strips. Torn down the middle with clean, decisive hands. No hesitation. No drama. Like he’d done it a thousand different times. Hell, he maybe he had. Lex hadnoidea what Morgan had gotten up towayback in the day. He’d been muchtoo young and naïve.
But that kind of shit? Really impressive.
Morgan could probably kill someone with a pillowcase and a fork if he felt like it.
By the time Morgan was done, Ollie sat hunched on the towel-covered toilet, legs bound, wrists tied behind him, chest rising in quick, uneven gulps. Just breathing look like it hurt.
The sheet cut into his skin. Red where it had been pulled tight, turning a mottled blue-gray at the ends.
“If your fountain of bright ideas has dried up,” Morgan muttered, knees cracking as he stood. “We are going to have many choice words. What now.”
Lex watched from the doorway, crouched low, phone warm in his palm.
He tilted his head to the side. “Do you know what I thought was fun?”
Morgan shot him a look that screamedteetering on thin ice again.
