Page 101 of Royal
No longer able to hold it back, I felt the bile rise in my throat, and I puked. I had nothing in my system, so it was acidic and burned coming up.
“Why are you making a mess?” he asked, grabbing my shirt from the floor and wiping at my mouth.
“Please just let me go,” I whimpered, my gaze flashing to the knife he toyed with in his hands.
“Go?” His brow arched. “No, you’re not going anywhere. You’re mine, remember?”
I started crying as he dug the knife into my skin, little by little.
“When I was a boy,” he said, withdrawing the blade before looking at the blood on the tip, “my father used to give me a cut for everything I did wrong. Mostly to my hands. He thought it was more effective than spanking me. It’s why I cut all the others, you know. Punishment is hard, especially when you love the person you’re punishing, but it makes them better. I even cut myself. My own punishment for hurting them.”
He sliced across my chest, and I cried out.
“That’s for wanting to leave me,” Ameinias spat, glaring down at me. He sliced across my collarbone, and fuck, that one hurt worse than anything I’d ever experienced in my life. “That’s for having sex with that disgusting detective.”
A series of cuts followed, all for things he thought I’d done wrong. After the first seven, I distanced myself from it. My body was being abused, but my mind drifted elsewhere.
I thought of Grayson, of the safety of his embrace and how I wished I could kiss him one last time. I thought of Brysen and his wild personality. Then, I remembered a day at the lake with Kyler and Brysen. A happy memory to cling onto.
“I could totally be a movie star,” Brysen said, lying on the grass and tucking his hands behind his head as the sun shone down on his creamy skin. He didn’t tan that well, so he looked pink from the sunburn already taking effect. “Lazing around and being pampered all the time. Ah, that’s the life.”
“That’s not a movie star,” I said with a scoff. “They actually have to work hard. You’d be more like a prince.”
“Prince Brysen.” He grinned. “Has a nice ring to it.”
“Just find a sugar daddy,” Kyler said. “He’ll treat you like a prince, and you’ll be bathed in affection. Win, win.”
“We should all just marry each other,” Brysen spoke, flipping on his side toward us and propping his head up on his arm. “We’re soulmates, bitches. Other men will come and go, but we’ll always have each other.”
“What are we, theSex and the Citygirls?” Kyler asked before busting out laughing. “I’d be Carrie, I guess. Royal would be Miranda. And Brysen is—”
“Charlotte,” Brysen interjected.
“No, Samantha,” Kyler and I said in unison before laughing again.
The memory faded, and I found myself back in that stuffy, dark room. Ameinias stood over me, swiping a finger across one of the cuts and smearing my blood down my stomach. I felt weak and lightheaded. I wasn’t sure if it was the blood loss or my fear that had me about to pass out, but I welcomed either option, just as long as it took me away from here.
Ameinias stepped back and dropped the knife back on the metal table. He started scratching his neck again, hard and fast. Blood crusted under his fingernails, and I didn’t know if it was my blood or his. Probably a mix of both.
“I didn’t want it like this,” he whispered, staring at my bloody torso with wide eyes. Scratch. Scratch. He stopped and lowered his hands back to his sides. He swayed in place, and then he looked at me with empty eyes. It was almost as though he was possessed. “I love you, Robert. All I want is for you to love me back.”
Tears streamed down his face.
“Remember that day after rehearsal when we talked about going to Italy? You put your hand on mine and said we’d go one day. You promised me.” Sobs tore through his throat, and he slapped his hands over his face. “I’m tired of the broken promises!”
His mind had finally cracked. He believed I was Robert. And in a very strange way, I pitied him.
“Alex?” a deep voice said from the other side of the room. A voice I knew.
The boy’s spine straightened, and he slowly dropped his hands from his face. His grief-stricken expression turned cold. When he moved aside, I saw Grayson, Phoenix, Luke, and Ruby behind him, all with their guns drawn and pointed right at him.
“Why are you here?” Ameinias—Alex?—asked. “This is my special place. No one’s allowed to be here unless I say so.”
“Step away from him,” Grayson growled. I couldn’t see him that well from my spot, but I heard the underlying grief in his voice.
Alex glanced down at me. “He’s mine. All mine.” He looked back at Gray. “You’re not taking him from me. He was taken from me once. I can’t go through it again.”
“You love him, don’t you, Alex?” Phoenix asked, moving a little closer. He exchanged a look with Grayson, who nodded, and he lowered his weapon.
