Page 38 of Kings & Chaos

Neo went flying, hitting the wall and slumping to the ground, his eyes dazed.

The man raised his hand to the boy with yellow hair — Rock — then froze when another man’s voice sounded from the end of the hall.

“What’s going on here?”

I turned with relief toward my dad’s voice as he came toward me, his forehead wrinkled the way it always was when he was worried.

“Get your daughter under control, Frank,” the big man barked. “She needs to learn not to stick her nose in where it doesn’t belong.” He glanced at me and confusion clouded my thoughts when I saw that he suddenly looked almost… happy? “Otherwise she’s going to learn the hard way in a few years.”

My dad turned on him, suddenly madder than I’d ever seen him. “Listen you motherfucker, if you ever put your hands on my daughter again, I will fucking bury you. I don’t give a fuck who you are in the family.”

Neo watched from the floor, sniffling, while Rock and Oscar shrank back.

My dad took my hand and looked at the boys. “Come on, boys. They’re about to cut the cake.”

“Antonio will stay,” the big man said, his voice hard.

My father hesitated, and for the first time, it seemed like he didn’t know what to do. That scared me more than anything. My father always knew what to do.

He nodded and looked at the other two boys. “Let’s go.”

They hesitated, then walked with us past Neo on the floor, the big man standing over him.

I dared a glance back as my dad led me down the hall. The little boy was staring at me with an expression I didn’t understand.

But now he didn’t look afraid.

* * *

I opened my eyes all at once, like I’d been startled out of the dream.

No, not a dream.

A memory.

We have that in common.

Now you’re catching on…

It took a few seconds for the fog of sleep to clear, for the magnitude of what I’d remembered to register.

My gaze instinctively went to the chair across from my bed, thinking (hoping?) that Neo would be there, watching me sleep.

It was empty.

I got out of bed, my heart racing, my mind clouded with images from the memory. I pulled on a pair of flannel pants and a T-shirt and stepped into the hall.

I walked past Rock’s and Oscar’s room, then hesitated at the last closed door at the end of the hall. It was the only room in the house that I hadn’t seen, and I wasn’t entirely sure it was a good idea to see it now.

But I had to tell someone, and there was one person who deserved to hear it first.

I opened the door slowly and stepped into the bedroom.

Like all the rooms in the Kings’ house, it was huge. The curtains had been drawn over the wall of glass leading to the private balcony, and the furniture loomed in the darkness like specters.

I focused on the bed and started toward it, my gaze on the figure lying on one side of the mattress. I was only halfway there when Neo sat up, his chest bare.

“What are you doing here?” His voice was clear, like he’d been awake the whole time.

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