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“What. Do. You. Want?” I say for the third time, not willing to fall for his mind games.
A slow smile carves across his face. “I told you,myKingdom… And you, child, are going to make sure I get it, once and for all.”
“I don’t understand.”
“One life in exchange for another, that’s all I ask.”
“What?!” I blurt out.
“You want your friend back, then you’ll have to do something for me first. Ever killed a person, Asia?”
All the blood drains from my body. I swear to God, I can feel it seeping from my feet into the wooden boards below us. “You want me tomurdersomeone?”
“Oh, it’s not so hard when you’ve got a big enough incentive,” he responds, laughing.
My mouth pops open in shock, but his smile fades as his eyes flick to something or someone behind me. He rears back suddenly, stepping away from me, and I realise that I might just have missed my chance to kill the bastard. He glances again at something over my shoulder then back at me, his eyes narrowing as his lips draw back over his teeth.
“That was a stupid thing to do, Asia, but not unexpected. You think I wouldn’t know you’d talk? You’re just a child playing games in a grown-up world.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, even though I know without looking that Jan and Doug have made themselves known. I didn’t give them the signal, so why the fuck are they approaching us? Then I remember, I’ve already broken one rule. Cal must’ve given them instructions to step in should I move the goalposts.
So fuckingstupid! I could’ve had him. I could’ve ended this.
“If I give you an instruction, I expect you to follow it to the letter. You’ll learn that soon enough. Alas, our time together is now over.”
“No!” I shout, my resolve to stay calm evaporating with his threat. He takes a dozen more steps backwards, his hand sliding against the wooden rail as though searching for something. Then I see it, a gate built into the railings that opens onto some stairs leading down towards the sea. The sudden roar of a boat engine comes to life and with it, all hope of saving my friend gone.
“Wait!” I say. “Take me. My life for Pink’s.”
He laughs again, opening the gate and stepping onto the platform. “No. I have plans for you, Asia, which involve you staying exactly where you are.”
“You kill her, then I don’t do shit!” I shout, not caring now. My anger bubbles to the surface until my body shakes with it.
“There are more ways than one to skin a cat. Don’t forget, I know everything about you. How are your little brothers, by the way?” he smirks, and my blood runs cold.
“You wouldn’t.”
“In a heartbeat,” he sneers, his gaze flashing to my hand holding the knife. A sinister smile spreads like wildfire across his face.
“No! Don’t! I’ll do anything.”Not my baby brothers. Not them. Please, God, no.
“Family are a bind, aren’t they?” he muses. “Loving them makes you weak. I’m not a weak man,” he responds. The implication isn’t lost on me. He doesn’t love and therefore he has no weaknesses and nothing to lose, not like me. “Wait for my instructions. Oh, and next time we meet I advise you not to bring a knife.”
With that, he spins on his heel and disappears into the darkness as though he was never really here.
