Page 39 of The Masked King

“I haven’t gone anywhere.” She’s lying.

“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”

“No.”

“You know what will happen if you lie to me?”

The game is sticking in my throat. But I’ve already shown too much interest in her, and sure, it cost me close to a hundred grand to get my ass kicked out of here three nights in a row, but I get the feeling Nyx suffered the brunt of their dissatisfaction.

“I’ll have to spank you.”

“You know that isn’t allowed.”

“Not in here maybe.” I wait for the door to open and a couple of thugs to drag me out and punish me, but it remains locked. “I want you back where you were, so I can hear you take them off.” Her perfume gets stronger, and I smile. “Good girl.”

“They’re off.” She pauses for a couple of beats. “Let me guess, you want me to put them back on again.”

“You got it.”

She repeats the process a third time without being prompted.

“You can stop now. That’s once for each night you kept your red light on.”

“I… What are you talking about?” Her voice has lowered.

“The last three nights. Every time I came here, your red light was on, and they wouldn’t let me wait for you.”

“No. That can’t be⁠—”

I hear a buzz nearby. “What was that?” I ask. No answer, but I remember hearing it before, maybe during my first session. “Nyx?”

I’m on my feet now. I sense that the session is being cut short because I mentioned not being allowed to see her, and I need to put it right.

“Okay, okay,” I say, talking to the void. “I’ll sit back down, just don’t hurt her.”

“You think I’m hurt?” She sounds distant. “Brian…?”

“Did they hurt you? Is it my fault? Did I get too close to you, Nyx, is that the problem here?”

I don’t know where she is; I can’t hear her, or smell her perfume, and for once the darkness feels suffocating.

“Look, I’ll hold my hands up.” I raise my arms above my head and make sure they can hear me. “She did nothing wrong, this is all down to me. But I want to remind you that this isn’t a fucking prison; we’re not here because we broke the law, so whatever fucking power trip you’re on, you can’t⁠—”

I shut up when some kind of electrical shock travels up my arm and makes my back teeth crack together. My body jerks, my eyes roll back in my head, and I collapse onto my knees on the floor like a house made of cards. I taste carpet. I’m vaguely aware of the thugs entering the room, lifting me up by my arms, and dragging me across the floor.

“Nyx…” I mumble, but the sound comes out more like, “Unh…”

They carry me through the building, and I don’t try to stop them. I’m shaking uncontrollably, my teeth chattering like they stripped me of my skin and left behind a skeleton that hasn’t yet realized it’s a corpse.

I’m left face-down on a dusty hardwood floor while they remove the mask and the metal bracelet. Then cool air brushes my face, and I’m outside in the alleyway that I’ve become all too familiar with recently, and rain is pelting the back of my head.

I drag myself to a sitting position and lean back against the wall with my shoes and wallet in my lap while I wait for my pulse to regulate. When I’m steady enough to stand up, I stumble down the alleyway to the street and jump into the first taxi I can find.

This isn’t over.

Nyx is in danger, and I’m going to save her.

And Bianca is going to help me.