Page 98 of Kings & Chaos

“There are no rules except the ones I outlined at the quarry,” Neo said. “And Connor isn’t going to complain to anyone about the rules. He won’t even be around to complain about the rules once everyone finds out he’s a traitor.”

“I don’t understand…”

Oscar put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. “He was caught on camera meeting Zachary Walsh before he died. More than once. Does he look like a friend of a guy like Walsh?”

I glanced back at Connor. “I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe… drugs or something.”

It wasn’t unusual for the students at Aventine to find a local connection, and I was desperate for this to be anything but what it looked like, because what it looked like was that Connor might know something about what had happened to Emma and the other girls, and that meant the corruption wasn’t limited to people at the top of the Aventine food chain.

“I know you’re not that stupid, Jezebel.” Neo almost looked… sorry. “Think about it.”

“Zachary Walsh was being paid by someone, probably the person who’s been sending you the packages,” Oscar said. “Connor met him at Cassie’s right before you got the first package. He was caught on camera passing something to Walsh, not the other way around.”

“He knows something,” Neo said, staring at me through the murky light. “The question is, how badly do you want to know what that is?”

Chapter37

Willa

My fight-or-flight response had kicked in, adrenaline flooding my body even though I was standing in a room with Neo and Oscar.

Even though I was being offered a weapon while the guy named Connor was tied to the chair.

“Take the tape off his mouth,” I said, still ignoring the knife in Neo’s hand.

Oscar stepped forward and ripped the duct tape off Connor’s face. “I didn’t do anything, I sw—”

Neo punched him, and the guy went silent with a whimper.

“You’re going to fuck up the game,” Oscar said.

Neo was there as an observer. He was supposed to watch, make sure Oscar and I both participated in the challenge, make sure we finished it according to the rules.

“There’s no blood,” Neo said, looking pointedly at me. “Yet.”

Connor stared up at me. I knew better than to think the terror in his eyes was for me. He was the Kings’ prisoner, and I didn’t blame him for being afraid.

The thought should have turned my stomach. Instead I felt a surge of wet heat rush between my thighs.

Because clearly I was all kinds of fucked up when it came to the Kings.

I focused on the guy in front of me. “What do you know about my sister?”

“Nothing,” he said. “I swear.”

“Why did you meet Zachary Walsh?” I asked.

“He’s just a dude from town,” Connor said. “Just a guy who hooks us up, like you said.”

I stared at him and knew he was lying. Not only because of what Oscar had said about Connor passing Zachary Walsh a package instead of the other way around, but because… well, I justknew.

That was the thing about being raised by liars and thieves: lying was nothing. The people around you did it every day — to police, to the feds, to each other. We were taught to lie as children.

Snitches get stitches.

Don’t be a rat.

A lie told often enough becomes the truth.

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