Page 104 of Villains Never Die

Amendment - 1884

As part of the formation of the Ashbruck Council, humans will be allowed equal representation through an elected member of their community.

“Apparently there were some witch hunts in this area until the mid-1700s,” he said. “It seems like they settled it though.”

I stared at the paper, tracing my finger along the words. “Why would the killer send this as a message? He killed the magician’s representative, the human representative, and went after both potential replacements for Blackwell. Why?”

“My guess is someone broke the treaty, and this guy’s trying to get even.”

“Broke it how? A magician killed a human? A human killed a magician? He should have gone to the Council for an issue like that.”

“Maybe he did, and the Council ignored him, or maybe he’s fucking unhinged and decided to run around in an owl mask, chopping off body parts, and dealing with it himself.”

I sighed, folded the paper, and pushed it away. That all made sense, but that left me and Pope. We weren’t on the Council, weren’t friends with any of the leaders, and I had never even heard of this treaty until five minutes ago. Pope and I didn’t even run in the same social circles. I belonged at the top of the social food chain and Pope was a dishonest lowlife with a gambling addiction.

“You sold Pope that spell,” he said, as if he could read the questions in the furrows of my brow. “He killed a human with it. The killer blamed everyone on the Council for not preventing it. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Pope’s a dead end,” I said. “I don’t have time to sift through the messes he left behind when I’m the next target. It doesn’t matter who he killed, just that the killer is coming for me next.”

“There’s still time to leave town.” I thought for a second that it was hope in his eyes, a little flash of belief that I might listen to him.

“I don’t run.”

“Then what do you want to do?” He slumped in his chair, deflated by my refusal.

“If it’s revenge for Pope breaking the treaty, then the masked man is human, thus not a threat. When I encounter him, I’ll kill him, and it wastes a great deal less time and energy if I let him come to me.”

“He’s killed three magicians with heroin—doused their magic. You can’t kill him if you can’t fight him.”

“No, but unlike the others, I’m expecting him. He won’t sneak up on me. Now can we stop talking about this so I can find a way to deal with my other problem?”

He studied me too long, until I nearly wiggled in my chair from his gaze, but nodded. Grasping a second statue—a grotesque, half-rotted skeleton—in one hand, he picked up a pen with the other and began to inspect it.

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” I asked.

He gave me a sidelong glance. “I was a nerd before I was a thug, Austin. Why do you think I got bullied so much at school? Now shut up and let me relive my AP history days.”

I laughed under my breath and picked up the statue again, but deeper beneath my skin was a growing sense of dread that I wouldn’t admit to him out loud.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“...and then he fell like a wall,” Rook laughed. “He was a giant. You could hear him hit the floor from twenty feet away. I know you aren’t a fan of watching the fights, but I wish you could have seen me when I fought.”

“There is a certain appeal to you pummeling your enemies. Very manly,” I laughed, tossing back another shot.

Rook rolled over on top of me, reeking of alcohol as much as I did, and kissed me, the taste of tequila swapped between us. He’d convinced me I’d been too serious all week and that lounging around his house drinking all night was an appropriate escape from my solemnness.

“All this alcohol and reminiscing makes me horny,” he said, grinding his hips into mine. “I want you.”

Even though he refused to love me, I wanted him like something vital, like oxygen. It was like no matter what I did, I couldn’t jam him far enough under my skin. Words were fragile. He said he wouldn’t leave, but I wanted him so tethered to me that he couldn’t.

We were already naked, and my cock had swollen sometime in the last five minutes. He brushed my leg, reached down to cup my balls, and kneaded them with his deft fingers. He slid down between my bent knees and wrapped his mouth around my cock.

“I both love and hate your mouth right now,” I said, my voice straining past my lips.

He chuckled around my aching length and did something obscene to the underside of my dick with his tongue. The sheets bunched between my knuckles as my fingers curled so tightly I could feel the fabric coming loose at the edges of the bed.

“I’m going to come down your throat if you keep doing that.”