Page 40 of Her Wicked Knights
"Seems like just yesterday we were all here for Halloween." Whit sighs, leaning his head back to look up at the stars. "Things are aligning."
I follow his glance up at the sky, looking to see if I can recognize whatever he's talking about. But there's nothing. It's a mostly starless night, late June, and it's oddly dark. And warm. The bonfire is sweltering, but I don't want to move away from it. I'm comfortable despite the warmth.
I make a noncommittal noise and turn my attention back to peeling the label off my beer bottle.
"History will soon be rectified, and the righteous will have vengeance."
Whoever invited him should have their head checked, because Whit's a fucking weirdo. After watching him parade around in ablack bird mask, I lost any chance of respecting him, probably ever. And now hearing him spout nonsense again? I decide to fuck with him instead of ignoring him.
"The meek shall inherit the earth."
It's the only nonsense I can come up with on the spot, and I expect him to nod solemnly and throw out another random aphorism. Instead, he snorts.
"The meek shall inherit nothing. The earth belongs to those who take what they want. Power belongs to those who can reach out and snare it, regardless of what the cost will be."
"Inspirational," I tell him drily, deciding I actually don't have enough screws loose to try and banter with this shit.
"Transformational, I'd argue." Whit says. "Once you realize that the world doesn't give you anything, you realize what you need to do to get what you're owed."
"So, your philosophy is to just... take what you want?"
"More or less." Whit shrugs. "Like I said, nobody is going to give you anything. You have to reach out and take it or get used to living without."
"You think you're like, Robinhood or something?"
"I don't take to give to others. I take to enrich myself. If others want to be enriched too, I'm willing to stand with them. If not, I'm willing to go through them."
The moral implications of what he's suggesting are bad enough, but I can't say I'm not intrigued. He doesn't seem... criminal, which is I guess what I expect of someone who claims they take whatever they want. "You live by those words, huh?"
"Die by them, too." Whit nods solemnly. "Good and bad are just societal constructs. Why should I refrain from something that I enjoy, or deny myself something that I want when I'm the only one who has to reap the consequences?"
"But you're not the only one. If you steal from a bank, you steal from all the people who keep their money in that bank."
"Nope. Banks are federally insured. Try again."
I stare at him in surprise. It's like he expected that argument, like he had his response planned and at the ready. "So, then you're stealing from the insurance company."
"Insurance is a scam in itself. All they do is steal from people."
My father has said the same thing a time or two when complaining about the cost to have full coverage on a sports car, so I guess I'll take their word for it. "Are you honestly telling me if you see something you want, you'll just take it? Just like that?"
"Just like that." Whit grins. "See, you could do to adopt my principles. You're out here tonight moping just like you were at Halloween... why? Cause the girl you want doesn't want you? So fucking take her?"
"You don't justtakepeople." I roll my eyes. "It's not like Marley's a book or a new pair of shoes."
Whit chuckles, clearly not accepting my argument. That sends a cold chill through me as I imagine what that means; I'm suddenly grateful that he doesn't want her. If he did, what would he do?
"You can take people, I assure you. You can take their body, their soul, their allegiance. And you can take their lives."
"So, you're saying you're a rapist and a murderer when it comes to getting what you want?" It's a heavy accusation, intentionally loaded. Because if he's genuinely saying what I think he's saying, he should probably be on the FBI watch list or something.
"That's too simple a way of breaking it down. Your argument ignores the nuances of morality and sexuality. It assumes that there's no consent involved in taking what you want."
All I can manage to do is stare at him; I'm not sure if he's gaslighting me into believing I'm the crazy one or what, because I don't understand a word of what he just said. Fortunately, Rev spares me from having to ask him what the fuck that's supposedto mean, because he perches on the arm of my chair again, and I'm uncomfortably aware of how close he is. He still smells like the bodywash he used after his threesome, thank God, because it was a pleasant smell to fill the car the whole way here.
"Nuances of morality and sexuality?" Rev repeats. "This sounds like a conversation made for me."
The way Whit grins at him makes me wonder how much he knows about Rev's sexuality, and something deep inside of me twists unpleasantly at the thought of Whit seducing Rev.
