Brax thought that I would take this answer on face value as the truth, but I knew deep down he was bluffing. His thirst for supremacy would never allow him to renounce the empire he had in Echo City.
‘You know as well as I do that you’re not going to run to another city and throw everything that you built here away. You’re going to try and get this under control. One way or the other.’
‘You mean undermycontrol,’ he was pointing out the obvious, as both he and I knew where this conversation was going. Maybe some self-preservation sense was telling him to stay away, but it was his other senses that prevailed. The devil sitting on his shoulder, asking him to conquer it all, asking for total supremacy.
‘Do you know what the motor is that sets all things in motion? It’s fear. That’s the only thing I want out of the world. With fear, you can control everything. Whether it’s fear of the unknown, of loneliness, failure, of poverty, or who knows of what, fear can be a nuclear weapon if you know how to use it. But it can also turn against you. So the question is... what’s your greatest fear?’ Brax asked so calmly that I was beginning to think that my biggest fear would have something to do with him.
And maybe he was right!
Though at that point, I wasn’t going to provide pro bono leverage to him.
‘I’m afraid of a revolution. That the Elite plan will work.’
‘And of me?’
‘Why should I be afraid of you?’
‘Because you gave Ferris and Cole new advantages. I consider it’s only fair that I would also benefit fromthose.’
Chapter 8
‘You want to sleep with me again!?’
The thought sounded a lot more improbable in my mind than when I said it. I knew that he had the exact samerequestbefore. But I believed it was a one-time thing and he wouldn’t even bother with me again, especially with all these girls willingly to bed him without a second thought.
‘Sleep with you... Mmmm. You could call it that. The truth is, I’m going to fuckingbreakyou. You know that’s what’s going to happen if you agree to this... And if you want me to agree to the rest. To help you with your plan.’
For some reason, he didn’t seem regretful about it. Not even for a second. It was like he was waiting for the moment, craving to see it come through. Like he needed to break me so that he could find some joy in it. Maybe even find inner peace.
It was a dosage of hatred mixed with passion as if I had committed a sin, yet one I had no idea about. There was a chance it had something to do with Ferris, but on the other hand, it seemed so much more personal.
At least of all the kings, Brax was the only one who had the nerve to tell the truth.
Yes, he planned to break me and was the one who had the most chance of succeeding. But I was sure the other two planned the same thing.
‘So what do you say? Do I get the same benefits as they do if I agree to go through with this?’ His question left me with a bitter taste. I no longer knew if he was asking me out of some newfound craving, or just because Ferris and Cole did.
But what I did know was that I had only one answer ‘Yes.’
This deal probably sealed my fate, but at the same time was placing the final brick on the foundation I needed to get my plan off the ground. They were now stuck playing my game and I was stuck playing theirs. Little did I know their game would be even more twisted than the one of the Elite.
‘I’m starting to think that you missed me,’ The emerald color of his eyes was framed by a golden ring, glowing like the ones of an eagle watching over his prey.
‘You always make assumptions about me.’
‘Most of them real,’ he drew his upper body on the pillows until his back reached the bedpost, leaning his weight against it as his eyes closed from the short flickers of pain.
‘I have a plan, but I want to talk to all of you about it tomorrow.’ overly excited that I got things in motion, I let my thoughts slip past my lips.
Though Brax also had a plan ‘Come here.’
A plan of his own.
It was no use for me to go on about the Revolution and how I intended to stop it. His ideas were of a much more physical nature. An urgent physical problem that he felt needed some kind of cure right away.
Straightening my skirt, I got up from the seat and took a few steps until I reached the side of his nightstand. Although it wasn’t enough to satisfy the impatience of myking‘I think you know what I want by now,’ he was glancing straight at me, waiting for me to keep himcompany.
‘You’re not healed,’ I whispered, worried about what suffering even a sudden move could cause him.
