36. He’s a Giant Dick
36
HE’S A GIANT DICK
GHOST
Menace grins at me over lunch a few hours later. Killian isn’t one to back down from a dare, so my bitemark now sits in black ink under his ear, my top teeth on the side of his face, and my bottom under his chiselled jawline. Even had to shave to do it, and he looks just as good clean-shaven as he does with his stubble. Menace was up for it, and I loved every second of it because he never stopped mocking Killian once, and since Kill couldn’t open his jaw without fucking up the tattoo, he couldn’t even dish it back.
Killian isn’t here. He left right after his tattoo but wouldn’t tell me where he was going. I’m pretending like I don’t care, but I do. He’s mine now. I marked him, Menace tattooed it on his body, and with the hickey on my neck that won’t be going anywhere for weeks, I’m fucking entitled to know where he is and who he’s with at all times. I’ve been a jealous person all my life, but it’s always been about status, recognition, and rank. This is a whole new beast, and I hate how consuming it is.
Ransom slides onto the bench across from me, setting his lunch plate down on the table. The cafeteria is full, especially since the initiates who’ve made it into Vile House are allowed to be here with us now while we’re unmasked, but I don’t mind. Yet another place I can showcase my status as a Vile Boy.
“We leaked the info to those three in Lock’s crew. Guess we’ll see what happens,” Ransom says, glancing over his shoulder at Monster. “You know what he did with Yates?”
I don’t because I was busy with Killian, but I don’t want Ransom to know that, so I shrug.
“Covered him in honey and birdseed and let the crows and ravens at him.” Ransom laughs as he takes a bite, his dark brown hair freshly buzzed. “Chased them off every time they were close to ripping him open, made him think it was over, and then let them back in.”
I smirk around my fork. “Is he dead?”
Ransom shakes his head. “Nah. Parade down Death Row tonight. Yates, everyone who helped him, Tom, and a few Misfits Lock has uncovered. He’s keeping his word.”
Good for him. “Still pissed he took Yates from me. I would have been head of rank if it weren’t for that fucker.”
“Maybe for a day, but the way you’ve been acting lately, you’d have ended up right back at the bottom by tomorrow. What’s up with you and Riot?”
“Tension snapped,” I admit with another shrug.
“Finally.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I nod at Monster. “He talking yet?”
Ransom wobbles his head. “One or two words every now and then.”
I lean in, not wanting to be overheard. “You know why he goes mute sometimes?”
Ransom nods. When I widen my eyes at him, asking him to tell me, he shakes his head. “Not my story.”
“No, but he sure as shit ain’t gonna tell it, so fill me in so I know how to be there for him.” Fuck, did that seriously just come out of my mouth? Why am I so selfless lately?
Ransom looks a little surprised, but he doesn’t comment. “It’s just because he spent so much time yelling and screaming and begging for help for the first eight years of his life that he can’t stand the sound of his own voice sometimes. He was made mute when he screamed. They stitched his lips together or…” Ransom clears his throat, becoming furious on behalf of Monster.
“Fuck. Is he…?” I don’t know, okay? It’s a stupid question because, of course he’s not, but he’s strong, and if he needs to turn off his voice sometimes to stay strong, I’ll support him in it.
“We’ve never been able to track that woman down. The one who had him all those years. I’d love nothing more than to help him get his vengeance.” Ransom looks at me. “If we survive this shit with Reaper Corp, I wanna give him that. You think Vile House will have his back?”
“Fucking always, man. Always.” I’d do anything for one of my Vile House brothers because I know what they mean to me and what I mean to them. “And we will survive this shit. We’ll get Monster his monster.”
Ransom nods, and with that, I get up and head over to Krypt. “Come on, asshole. We gotta chat.”
* * *
Krypt has been my best friend for years. I mean, friendship is a loose term when it comes to the two of us because we aren’t really the sentimental, companionable type, but whatever. The title sticks, and now that he’s with my brother, there’s one more layer of attachment.
But I’m nervous, and I fucking hate being nervous. Because he’s looking at my neck like it pisses him off, but he’s looking at me like I’m pissing him off more. Proven true when he lights a joint to calm himself down.
It’s mid-afternoon and Remi is at The Ambient Raven, Killian is out doing god knows what, and it’s the best time to catch Krypt undistracted and alone. I’ve got a million things to think about with my mom, my lame-ass cursed family members, the brain scan that was forced upon me, and this upcoming war with Reaper Corp, but… Krypt is my best friend, and I’m doing selfless things lately.
“Get the fuck on with it, Ghost.”
“Your brother is my fucking asshole,” I bark.
He smokes like I never said anything. Meanwhile, I’m sweating because I just confessed my biggest downfall. I’m roundabout dating his brother and trying to do the decent thing by giving him a heads-up. I’m not asking for permission because he sure as fuck didn’t ask for permission to date mine, if that’s what they’re doing, so fuck him and fuck this whole situation.
I pace the hall of the asylum, ready to slink down the tunnel and escape him and this conversation forever. Instead, I get pissed off.
“You hear me?”
“Yeah.”
“Nothing to say?” I get in his face, watching his monsters rile. “No threats? No warnings? Nothing?”
Krypt inhales weed and blows it to the side, watching me. “Think you meant to say, ‘your brother is fucking my asshole.’ Right?”
I shove him so hard his back slams against the wall. “Fuck you, Krypt!” I shout as he lets out a huff of laughter. “Maybe I fuck his asshole.”
“Nah.” He leans against the wall like this is no big deal and gives me the slowest once over. “You’re bottom.”
I glare at him, partway between offended and proud. “Like fuck.” How dare he assume I’m the bottom. What makes me the bottom? How does he know? Bottoms are dominant as fuck, and so what if I like giving up a bit of control to Killian.
Krypt holds out his joint, and I snatch it from his fingers and keep pacing. “I wanna say he deserves better, but to be honest, you both sorta just deserve each other, so go for it. If you kill him, I’ll kill you.”
I face away from him and roll my eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure Remi will just love the fuck outta you if you kill his brother.”
“He’s mine no matter how much he hates me.” God, they’re pathetic. “I know.”
I turn, walking back towards him. “You know what?”
“That you… I don’t know, love him?”
What the fuck? “No.” Yes?
“I saw it in Reaper City. I always knew you two would blow up. Just didn’t think it’d be like this. Do me a favour, though.”
“What?” I hand the joint back. “What favour?”
“The piano.”
I look at Krypt, seeing something so rare in his eyes that it stops my lungs. He’s not someone who thinks about how things feel for others, so it rattles me that he knows how deeply Killian struggles with his lost music. Krypt knows things. More than I thought he did, and he has a big heart under all those bars and cages. I don’t know his point of view from when they were growing up, if he blames his brother for not protecting him like Killian blames himself, or if he sees things differently.
“He thinks he let you down,” I say.
“He saved me.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
“Because he has an ego the size of the Milky Way, and it isn’t winning unless he’s able to brag about it. He kept me sane, reminded me that I wasn’t alone, and helped me kill our parents. He might have a god complex and take credit where it isn’t due, but it’s due here and he still won’t take it because he doesn’t think he did enough. So get him the piano back, yeah?”
“Yeah.” I nod, feeling this promise deep in my chest. “Yeah.”
The silence isn’t awkward. It’s safe and subtle, and there’s a reason Krypt and I are friends. We’re both dark-minded, but my energy never overwhelmed him, and his self-confliction always spoke to me. We’re finding ourselves now, at the same time, dating each other’s brothers, and it feels like we’re growing together because of it.
“Remiel’s mind is different from yours,” he says to the cell door, watching my mom instead of me. “Riot told me he mapped your brain. Don’t let him fool you into thinking the results were the same as your brother’s.”
I turn my face to look at him. “They weren’t?”
Krypt shrugs. “Don’t know, but knowing Riot, he’ll make you believe the results were shitty just so he can play your god.” He stubs out his joint and drops the roach to the dirty stone floor. “Just saying. He might be fucking your ass, but that’s because he’s a giant dick.” He grins, leaving me in the asylum hall outside my mother’s cell door.
Killian would do that…
Fuck.