He rattled his cuffs some more before turning to me, as though possessed by some demon. “Tell me now, Two. Tell me how much you fucking love this monster…this bastard who let you see the monster in you. Or tell me how much you hate me. Destroy me.”
Tears welled in my eyes. I didn’t take pride seeing my King in pain—so much pain—knowing now what he battled with, the wounds he couldn’t heal on his own.
“I care about you so much. I only ever wanted to be someone who could please you. That was all I was trying to do. And I know I did you wrong to do it, but you have to believe I only wanted to help you, Sy…Nick.”
He stopped fighting for a moment, the silence so noticeable because of how turbulent everything had been moments before. But it was only a flash before he returned to his wild state, rearing his head back and calling out, thrashing about in the sling.
“Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!” He screamed again, moving like he was trying to cover his ears. “Nick is dead. They killed him. You all killed him.”
Aiden hurried to me, resting his arm on my shoulder. “We need to go. We have to leave him.”
“Not yet.” I could see the concern in Aiden’s expression. Surely he knew how hard it was for me to watch King enduring such pain.
Hole came closer to the sling, searching around before he found the key to the cuffs on a hook on one of the poles.
“Don’t fucking touch him while he’s like this,” I told Hole, who backed down as I stepped toward King.
I waited patiently as he threw his fit, as if the child—the Nick within him—battled all the troubles he’d taken on at a time when he shouldn’t have needed to fight.
“Fuck you,” he finally whispered to me, his energy waning.
“We can’t help you right now,” I told him. “We can’t help you until you want help, but when that day comes, and I believe it will, find us.”
He gazed into my eyes for only a moment before turning away. “I don’t need help,” he muttered. “I just need to be alone with my demons.”
I felt a hand against my back and turned to see Aiden at my side, giving me the support I needed in that moment.
“Goodbye, Sy,” I fought out.
He was quiet, perfectly still.
I nodded to Malcolm and Kerry, and then Aiden and I headed through the stairwell doorway.
Walking out the front door was as hard as it had been the day I’d been exiled, and as soon as we made it through, I collapsed against it, tears streaming down my face. “I want to go back.”
“We can’t,” Aiden said.
“I know that, but it doesn’t change that I wish I could. He’s just a kid inside. Hurt and afraid, needing us to be there for him.”
“But you were right about us not being able to help him right now.”
“I know, but it’s killing me.” I struggled once again, balling my hands into fists to muster the strength I would need to go. Before we did, I had to clear the air. “Are you okay with that? What I said about when he’s ready for help, finding us?”
Aiden took a moment to think before replying. “I’m fine with it. I’m not sure a guy like Sy…or Nick…or King will ever be ready for help, but the fact that you care so much shows what an amazing guy you are.”
Aiden gave me a kiss, and then another, and another, as though walking me through one of the hardest moments of my life.
I knew I could get through it. It would take time. It would be hard. But with Aiden, I felt like I could break through anything, even the spell King had placed me under.
Epilogue
BOSS
Ryan and I set our pizzas and drinks on the table and sat down. This pizza parlor had become our regular place since we’d become official five months earlier, after we refused King’s offer to return as his knights. I expected it to be difficult, especially for Ryan, and even though we struggled, I was surprised by how quickly the emptiness I’d feared had been filled by what we shared with each other.
We were free, really free, from the bondage that had been our obsession with a guy who’d wanted us for so many wrong reasons.
Ryan took a bite of his Meat Lover’s, closing his eyes to savor the flavor.
“Pretty sure I recognize that expression,” I told him. “And it doesn’t usually involve pizza.”
He beamed before swallowing—another familiar act. “Hmmm…now you have me wondering which one I prefer, but I guess I’d be flattering you if I told you the truth.” He winked.
Damn, he had a way of being so fucking charming. Something I’d grown accustomed to since we’d become boyfriends.
His gaze shifted across my expression, as though he was drinking in my face. “You’re in a really good mood,” he noted. “How was your session today?”
Since we’d both come to terms with our fucked-upness, we’d started seeing therapists. Talking through the issues in my childhood and those I’d taken on with King and his knights made me realize how much help I’d needed and for how long. It wasn’t a magic fix, but it was the start of a journey, one I was sharing with Ryan.
“It was a good one today,” I said. “It’s getting easier now that we’re past the part where I feel like I’m dumping all this BS on him and asking him to put me back together again.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling. Not sure I’m quite there yet,” he said, his eyes wide as if he wasn’t sure he’d be getting there anytime soon. “Although, it’s kind of a miracle that I’m even talking to anyone about my daddy issues, so I guess there’s that.”
I reached across the table and took his hand, gripping it gently, feeling the familiar warmth of his touch. We shared something special, something that wasn’t just the sparks or lust with someone like King. We had that too, but there was something more. Intimacy. Real intimacy with another man.
“Hey, you’re doing fine,” I told him. “I know that’s been hard for you to face, and I hope you know I’m here for you whenever you need to talk.”
“That goes for you too, mister. We all have to grapple with some of this shit within our minds, but we have to remember we’re not on our own in any of this. Not anymore.”
I stared into his eyes, as if trying to decipher some text scribbled across his blue irises, looking for something deeper, attempting to see into his heart.
“Shit.” Ryan’s expression twisted up as he slid his phone out of his pocket. “Meant to turn this off for date night.”
Date night. We were too fucking cute these days.
“Oh, it’s Corey texting. He’s asking if we want to hang out with him and Stan this weekend.”
“Totally. I’m down for that.”
Corey and his partner, Stan, were starting to incorporate BDSM into their relationship, as Corey continued his counseling sessions to ensure he wasn’t leaning on it for the wrong reasons, as we had all done. Although Ryan and I had discussed the possibility of working our way to something along those lines, we weren’t there yet. We wanted to clear our minds—break away from the unhealthy aspects of what we’d done with Sy—before attempting anything like that. Besides, it was plenty of fun just to fuck around together. Fucking and being fucked by Ryan never felt wrong or toxic, never felt like any of those other things we had participated in with Sy.
It would take time on that front, and besides, we had plenty to figure out now that we had to consider how to keep things going after our senior years came to an end. Ryan would be graduating before me, and he was planning to work near campus for a while, at least until I graduated. I still had to take a Maymester and some extra summer courses.
It seemed like a miracle that we’d found each other, so we sure as fuck weren’t about to walk away from what we had.
Ryan and I caught up some more about our day and made plans for the rest of the week. When I heard the door creak open behind me, for some reason, I felt this pull to look.
I was certain I’d checked back plenty of times without noticing, but that time, I found my jaw dropping.
T
here he was…
Sy.
He pushed past the glass door, heading toward the line at the front register. It was evident he hadn’t spotted us.
I’d only seen him around campus a few times, and never with Malcolm or Kerry. Ryan and I had figured that the rumor about them going their separate ways was true, but we hadn’t heard more than that. Outside of that, Sy did his best to avoid me…us. I figured he wanted to get on with his life, same as we did.
Sy joined the line, and I turned back to Ryan, who had apparently seen Sy too.
“You okay?” I asked him, gripping his hand tighter.
“Yeah. Fine. Kind of surprised by how fine I am. Just goes to show, time really does heal all wounds.”
I looked back toward Sy. His gaze was right on mine, as it had been that night he’d discovered me at the house party, when his gaze had met mine with an intensity unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. Something about it was different, though. His expression was softer, and he turned away quickly, appearing more sheepish than he had that first time. He continued down the line until he placed his order.
Ryan and I looked to one another, silently confirming how awkward this moment was. We opted for a subject change, but I doubted Ryan could forget the fact that Sy was eating in the same pizza place as us any more than I could.
Once upon a time, he’d been our king, and we’d been his knights. And once upon a time, that kingdom fell apart.
When we finished eating, we headed out of the restaurant. I’d seen Sy at the bar along the wall, eating his pizza alone.
Again, he didn’t seem to pay any attention to us as we headed out the front doors. We stepped onto the sidewalk, and I called an Uber.
“That was awkward.” I looked at Ryan, who nodded to something beside me, and as I turned, there stood Sy, beside me.
Fuck.
He glanced between us, and Ryan and I stared at this guy, this kid, who reminded me of the kid I’d seen in him when he’d fought so violently against his restraints in that sling.
He wasn’t the guy I’d met—so slick and guarded and defensive. There was an air of vulnerability about him.
He started to say something but stopped himself, then finally pushed out, “Hey.”
“Hey,” Ryan replied.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
The corner of his lips twisted into his cheek. “Good, good. Just got hungry and decided to go out for some pizza. I mean, I guess that part’s obvious. Don’t really have that many friends right now, so…” He let his sentence trail off, and we stood there in silence before he went on, “But it’s good. I decided I need some time on my own anyway.”
“I’m glad,” I said.
“Yeah. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be, and you guys look…real happy.”
His comment caught me by surprise, considering the state he’d been in the last time we’d seen him.
“We are,” Ryan said, taking my hand and gripping it firmly, as he had inside the restaurant.
Sy looked at our hands and then searched around uneasily.
I heard the sound of a car pulling up beside us. I checked my app and the SUV that had arrived.
“Looks like our car’s here,” I told him, almost wishing we could have stuck around and caught up more, but also feeling it was best for us to part ways while things were going so well.
“Yeah, of course. I won’t keep you guys any longer, but just…good seeing you.”
“It’s good seeing you too, Sy,” I said, meaning it.
Not just running into him, but noticing something I hadn’t seen in him during the time I’d known him, not before this moment.
“It’s Nick,” he said with a warm smile, reaching out.
I realized he wanted a shake, so I released Ryan’s hand and accepted it, playing this little game, as though this was the first time we’d ever met.
He did the same with Ryan, who teared up. “It’s…it’s nice to meet you, Nick.”
“Nice to meet you guys too.”
They gazed at each other, seeming to really see each other for the first time since I’d known them.
Unlike Ryan, I’d thought Nick a hopeless case, too buried in whatever issues he’d experienced to ever shake out of the darkness. But maybe, like with myself, I’d been wrong. Maybe Ryan was right to believe there was a reason to hold out hope.
“Anyway, I’ll see you guys around,” Nick said.
“Yeah. See you around.”
Nick nodded and headed off as we slipped into the Uber. Neither of us discussed the run-in until we were back at our place. I’d moved into Ryan’s apartment for my first semester of senior year.
“Thoughts? Feelings?” I asked him, knowing I wouldn’t have to qualify the statement.
“Too many to count. At the very least, it seems like we’re not the only ones coming out of all this.”
“Part of me fears it’s another game to him,” I admitted. “He’s so good at those, but this…seemed different.”
Ryan nodded. “Yeah, despite all the fucked-up shit we went through, he deserves to be happy. And I hope it’s real, but with King, I guess you never know.”
“You mean Nick?” I said playfully.
Even something as simple as saying his name—what I knew was his real name—brought me some ease around all that.
“Yeah, Nick,” he said with a smile, adding, “Hey, enough of that.” He approached and stole a kiss—the sort that had a way of setting me right at ease. “Let’s get to bed.”
“Why do I feel like we’re not going there to sleep?”
“Because we’re watching a movie first…and then I’m going to fuck your brains out.”
I laughed. “Oh, really? Well, what if it’s my condom?” I joked, referring to that game we used to play.
“Condoms? Don’t even pretend you could find one if you tried.”
We’d long since abandoned those.
We kissed and slipped away into the bedroom, where we took advantage of the moment, enjoying each other’s bodies the way we’d become accustomed to.
We all had a long way to go—Nick, Ryan, and I—but I had a feeling, deep down, that maybe this fight we’d shared with our personal demons would lead us to something so much more satisfying than we could have ever imagined.
THE END
If you want to see more of Aiden and Ryan, sign up for Devon’s newsletter to check out their steamy bonus scene:
Date Night (I Love Yous)
IF YOU ENJOYED KING OF LIARS, YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY…
THE BASTARDS SERIES
These are dark, disturbing stories. Unlike King of Liars, they do not have happy endings.
Also by Devon McCormack
Romance
Fever Falls Series
Fired Up by Riley Hart (Fever Falls, #1)
#BURN (Fever Falls, #2)
Whiskey Throttle by Riley Hart (Fever Falls, #3)
#ROYAL (Fever Falls, #4)
Game On (Fever Falls, #5)
BFF Series
BFF Best Friend’s Father (BFF, #1)
BFF: Claimed (BFF, #2)
BFF: Forever (BFF, #3)
Pretty Things (BFF Spin-off)
Standalone Titles
Forever and Ever
Still Your Guy
Between These Sheets
FU: Fixer Uppers
Filthy Little Secret
Tight End
Romance Co-Authored with Riley Hart
The Metropolis Series
Faking It (Metropolis Series, #1)
Working It (Metropolis Series, #2)
Owning It (Metropolis Series, #3)
Trying It (Metropolis Series, #4)
~
Weight of the World
Up for the Challenge
Beautiful Chaos
The Clipped Saga
Clipped (Clipped Saga, #1)
Bound (Clipped Saga, #2)
Gagged (Clipped Saga, #3)
Bastards
Series
Cheating Bastard (Bastards #1)
Lying Bastard (Bastards #2)
About the Author
DEVON McCORMACK
A good ole Southern boy, Devon McCormack grew up in the Georgia suburbs with his two younger brothers and an older sister. At a very young age, he spun tales the old-fashioned way, lying to anyone and everyone he encountered. He claimed he was an orphan. He claimed to be a king from another planet. He claimed to have supernatural powers. He has since harnessed this penchant for tall tales by crafting worlds and characters that allow him to live out whatever fantasy he chooses. Devon is an out and proud gay man living in Atlanta, Georgia.
THANK YOU FROM ACE’S WILD
Thanks again for giving this title a chance. Don't forget to keep an eye out for the other books in the Ace's Wild series. In case you missed it, Ace's Wild is a multi-author series of books that take place in the same fictional town. Each story can be read in any order. The connecting element in the Ace's Wild series is an adult store owned by Ace and Wilder. The main characters from each book will make at least one visit to Ace's Wild, where they'll buy a toy to use in their story! The only characters who crossover to each book are Ace and Wilder. And with various heat and kink levels, there's sure to be something for everyone!
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