Page 20 of King of Ruin

Phineas follows my line of sight to the bottle in Kane’s hand and chuckles, holding his palm open. Kane’s jaw clenches but he gives his father the water.

“Now, Onyx, I think it’s time we have a little chat.” Phineas crouches down, leveling himself with me, since I have yet to lift my head.

My breath is labored now, the effort to continue sucking in air almost too much in itself. It burns the lining and stings my esophagus, but still, I remain steady.

He takes my eye contact as an adequate cue to continue and dangles the bottle between his legs. I force my gaze to remain on his, though the swish of liquid splashing against the plastic is so loud I have to strain to hear him.

“I want the ports.”

Of course, he does. Having the ports means he can ship women and other contraband across the Pacific. I blink lazily, and luckily he gets the idea.

“See, I know you might want to say no, but I have a deal you won’t be able to pass up.”

When my lips part I realize I must have been asleep for far longer than it felt. The flesh cracks and pain radiates across them. “Kill me, Phineas. You won’t get the ports.”

He shakes his head, twisting open the bottle. I clamp my jaw shut, a failed attempt to feel the pain elsewhere, but my head pulses as the bottle’s top clatters to the concrete beneath me. With my adrenaline spent, and my body reaching near-collapse, I can’t even muster enough energy to reach for it.

“I’m sure you’re well aware, but at a certain point in time, the body begins to deteriorate rapidly. Your mistake was using what stored energy you had on killing my guards and choking my son.”

My eyes flit to Kane who isn’t standing as casual as he has been the other times I’ve seen him. Right now he’s only a few feet from his father and his entire body is tense as he shifts on the balls of his feet. It’s then I notice the dark bruise around the column of his throat. An odd pattern consistent with a chain.

“Now, it’s only a matter of time before you pass out, and soon after that, those organs of yours will shut down and you’ll meet a much nicer fate than your parents.”

He smirks in my periphery, and my eyes snap back, boring into him with all the hate I can muster into one glare. What would be fury, is muddled, low in comparison to the darkness encroaching in the corners of my vision. Ineedthe water.

“I know that if you die, your property is then under the ownership of that girl of yours, Madeline. And I don’t wish to do business with her.”

Because she’d kill you.

“I also know your suppliers are incredibly loyal and will see your death as a reason to move their own people in rather than work with me.”

True on all accounts. My parents were big about creating a relationship with everyone we traded and worked with. No one crossed them because they didn’t want to. They were compensated well and taken care of outside of only imports. Something I continue to do long after their death.

“But to see the queen bow before me?” Phineas lets out a guffaw mixed with congestion. “It’d be the perfect message. It would let them see death as a mercy.”

“You’ve bested me, Phineas. I’m locked on my knees. What else do you want?”

“For you to sign over everything to me.”

My laugh is nothing more than a feeble wheeze but he gets the message.

“Tell me this, Onyx. Do you think that family of yours is guarding Hearts right now? Or are they looking to get you back?”

Realization and confirmation that they are alive is both tremendous and fleeting before terror sweep through. They most likely are pulling extra guards from everywhere to find me, leaving all our establishments vulnerable, especially Hearts. The thought steals my breath.

The corner of his lips curl as he watches it play across my face. “Halfway to death’s door and you still get my point. I’m having the paperwork drawn up right now. You’ll be signing it no later than tomorrow night.”

“I won’t.” I close my eyes briefly as I envision the women I’m sentencing to death with my words. But giving him everything means thousands more will be lost.

“You will.” He swishes the water around again garnering my attention.

I shake my head and make a declaration he’ll understand despite my delirium. “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.”

His eyes flare as he stands. When I keep my gaze on the floor he steps back a foot before tipping the water over and letting some spill out on the floor. My stomach and heart squeeze in unison but I take a shuddering breath and calm my nerves.

“Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.”

Another tip of the bottle and this time a quarter of its contents spill out.

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