The King's Men (All for the Game, #3)

by Nora Sakavic

They hadn't been there before the Foxes split up for Christmas and Neil wondered what Allison would say when she saw them.

Oh so he's the onky one already back, that's we don't have any reaction. What will he do with the tatoo?

He'd agreed to spend Christmas break at Edgar Allan, but the Ravens operated on sixteen-hour days during their holidays. What should have been two weeks passed like three, and Neil's internal clock was going haywire even after two days back in South Carolina.

They messed him up on everything these fuckers

He couldn't avoid them forever, but Neil hadn't figured out how to explain his actions. The ugly injuries he sported were an expected consequence of facing Riko. The tattoo on his cheek would take a little more work to justify, but it was doable. What Neil couldn't get around was what Riko had done to his appearance.

Just dye your hair again? Tf

If he could at least dye his hair a couple shades darker he might breathe a little easier, but Riko made it clear what he'd do to the Foxes if Neil changed his looks.

Nvm

"I'll be fine," Neil said. "I'll have Kevin call you when we've got Andrew." "Charge your phone and call me yourself," Wymack said. "Good luck."

Such a dad (Kevin's dad ig, I don't see it but wtv)

Matt's mouth moved soundlessly for a few moments before he finally managed a choked, "Jesus Christ, Neil." "It's not as bad as it looks," Neil said. "Don't. Just—don't, okay?" Matt said.

He's so caring...

"Did Coach already yell at you?" "Loudly and at length," Neil said. "It didn't do any good. I'm not sorry, and I'd do it again if I had to. No," Neil cut in before Matt could argue. "The Foxes are all I have, Matt. Don't tell me I was wrong for making the only call I could."

Didn't think he would ever tell them

"I'm sorry," Neil said. "I didn't get anyone anything. I'm not used to celebrating Christmas." "You mean you were too busy getting pulverized to shop,"

Lol

Neil wanted to push for an explanation, but he needed to save his energy for Andrew.

Lmao, yeah he's tiring

"I know what he's like," Kevin said. Neil looked at him, but Kevin was studying his hands. "Riko. If you want to talk."

Aw that's nice

"Riko was cruel but he needed me to succeed. We were the heirs of Exy; he hurt me but there were lines he would not cross until the end. It was different for Jean. It was worse. His father owed the Moriyamas a great deal. The master paid those debts in exchange for Jean's presence on our court. He was property, nothing more. You are the same in their eyes." "I am not property," Neil said in a low voice. "I know how he sees you," Kevin said. "I know it means he did not hold back."

JEAN GET BEHIND ME RIGHT NOW

"I'll tell you what's not easy: finding out from Jean that Coach is your father," Neil said, and Kevin gave a violent flinch. "Were you ever going to tell him?" "I was going to when he signed me," Kevin said. "I couldn't." "Were you protecting him or yourself?" "Both, perhaps,"

Wait, Coach doesn't know??

Neil dropped his key ring into Andrew's palm. Nicky caught Neil's wrist as he lowered his hand and gave a short, fierce squeeze. Nicky likely meant it as an apology for his cousin's cold shoulder, but fire sizzled up Neil's forearm and down to his fingertips. He'd rubbed his wrists raw fighting Riko's handcuffs, and his bandages weren't thick enough to protect him from Nicky's tight grip.

Fucking hell

Kevin reached for the volume controls only once. Andrew popped his hand out of the way and pointed a warning finger at him without taking his eyes off the road. Kevin crossed his arms in a silent declaration of displeasure that Andrew ignored.

Lol he's pouting

Neil was the first out and he caught Andrew's door before Andrew could close it. Andrew didn't move, but there was just enough room for Neil to lean in and get his binder. He straightened and turned to find Andrew had shifted closer. There was nowhere for Neil to stand except up against Andrew, but somehow Neil didn't mind. They'd been apart for seven weeks but Neil keenly remembered why he'd stayed. He remembered this unyielding, unquestioning weight that could hold him and all of his problems up without breaking a sweat. For the first time in months he could finally breathe again. It was such a relief it was frightening; Neil hadn't meant to lean on Andrew so much.

That is so gay

"I'll take an explanation now." "You couldn't ask for answers inside where it's warm?" Neil asked. "If you are worried about dying of exposure you're a little late." Andrew raised a hand to Neil's face but stopped with his fingers just a breath from Neil's skin. Andrew wasn't looking at his injuries; he was staring at Neil's unguarded eyes.

Oh damn

Why did you go?" Neil didn't know if he could say it. Thinking about it was almost too much. Andrew was waiting, though, so Neil choked back his nausea. "Riko said if I didn't, Dr. Proust would—" Andrew clapped a hand over his mouth, smothering the rest of his words, and Neil knew he'd failed.

"The next time someone comes for you, stand down and let me deal with it. Do you understand?" "If it means losing you, then no," Neil said. "I hate you," Andrew said casually. He took a last long drag from his cigarette and flicked it off the roof. "You were supposed to be a side effect of the drugs." "I'm not a hallucination," Neil said, nonplussed. "You are a pipe dream," Andrew said. "Go inside and leave me alone."

He didn't mean to fall asleep, but a careful tug at his coffee mug had him jolting awake. Matt narrowly avoided getting hit and held up his hands to ward Neil off. "Hey," he said. "It's just me." The mug was cold in his hands and the light in the room seemed wrong. Neil looked to the window, needing to see the sky, but the blinds were drawn. He let Matt take his coffee away and lurched to his feet when Matt stepped back. He crossed the room as quickly as his battered body could move and yanked the cords to pull the blinds up. The sun was down, but there was still some light in the sky. It was twilight or dawn; Neil didn't know which. Neil pressed his hands flat against the window. "What day is it?" It felt like forever before Matt answered, and his words came slowly. "It's Tuesday." Twilight, then. He'd only lost a couple hours.

They fucked his internal clock

"He told you about my tattoo," Neil said. "And these." Abby slid her thumbs along the tender skin under his eyes. "You won't ask?" Neil said. "I've seen your scars, Neil. I'm not as surprised as I should be to find out they're not the only things you hide. I want to ask, but you told me once already not to pry."

Abby I think we got off on the wrong foot last time

"No," Abby said, and cupped his face in her hands. "This isn't fair. None of this is." The pain in her voice killed Neil's argument in his throat. Abby looked him over, tracing his vicious scars and new wounds with a desolate gaze. "Sometimes I think this job is going to kill me,"

Oh god...

His mother had pulled him close before, but usually it was when they were sidestepping curious eyes and she wanted to shield him with her body. She'd never held him like he was something to be sheltered. She'd always been hard. She'd been fierce and unbreakable until the end.

I fear I don't like her

Matt made the mistake of stopping to look. Andrew didn't even hesitate but punched Matt hard enough to knock him off his feet.

Andrew keeps on protecting Kevin bro

"Lighten your chair and go check on her," Wymack said. "We've got a lot to go over today and I can't start until she's back. She'll be angrier at us if we start without her than she will be if you interrupt her. And yes, I mean you, Hemmick. I don't want Neil moving more than he has to." "I can walk," Neil said. "Proud of you," Wymack said. "Didn't ask."

Coach, thank you for the giggles during those dark times

"It is not that fascinating," Andrew said. "No," Neil agreed. He didn't know how to explain the complicated emotions a sharp blade stirred up. His father was called the Butcher for a reason. His favorite weapon was a cleaver sharp and hefty enough to take limbs off in a single hack. Before the cleaver Nathan Wesninski used an axe. He still kept that axe around for when he really wanted someone to suffer. The blade was dull enough now it required a bit of extra weight and effort to cut through bone. Neil only saw him use it once, the day he met Riko and Kevin at Evermore Stadium. "It's just..." Neil grasped for words, too-aware that the conversation across the room had quieted down a little. The upperclassmen were trying to listen in without being obvious. Neil settled for the vaguest explanation he could and hoped his teammates would mistake the pronoun for Riko. "I've never understood why he likes knives." Such simple words should not have gotten the reaction they did. Andrew went still and looked up, but he didn't look at Neil. He looked at Renee, so Neil did, too. She'd stopped mid-sentence to stare at Neil, but the Renee studying him wasn't the Foxes' redeemed optimist. Her sweet smile was gone and the too-blank look on her face reminded Neil of Andrew.

Huh

"He will lose his taste when he has one in his gut,"

I like protective andrew

"Who are we eliminating first?"

Girlboss

"I'm fine to play," Neil said. Kevin reached behind Andrew to smack the back of Neil's head. Every awkward ounce of empathy he'd managed yesterday was gone; he returned Neil's annoyed look with a fierce glower and a scathing, "I warned you once already not to lie about your health. We need you on the court, but not if you're not going to drag us down with you. In the shape you're in now you'd be a complete waste of our time." "I would not," Neil said. "Put me on the court and I'll prove it."

The worst part is he probably had to do that for the raven

If I could ban some of you from ever opening your mouth in public, I would,

Neil lmao

The Foxes would be okay, at least, and that was more than enough.

"Jean will help you if you help him." Neil had sorely disliked Jean the first several days, and Kevin's message wouldn't have done him any good then, but he understood in retrospect. Jean was privy to the ugly truth about the Moriyamas, as he'd been sold to Tetsuji years ago to settle a debt with the head of the family. Jean hated his lot in life, but he was past the point where he could even think of fighting back. He wasn't a rebel; he was a survivor. He did whatever it took to get through the day. Oftentimes that meant looking after Neil. Jean stood unflinching guard while Riko tore Neil apart again and again, but he was always there to pull Neil back to his feet afterward. They were each other's partners on the Raven court, which meant their successes and failures directly impacted each other. Jean was a questionable ally at best but he was the only Raven who'd looked out for Neil. It was selfishness, not kindness, but it had been just enough to keep Neil alive.

My boy is getting understood!!!

"She doesn't ask me anything anymore," Aaron said. "She knows there's no point. I haven't ever said a word to her." Neil imagined sitting in stony silence while Betsy chattered away about this and that. It was at once inspiring and unsettling. He didn't know if he could stomach a half-hour of that. "I wish I'd thought of that. I gave her a rundown of UT's merits instead." "Predictable," Aaron said.

Obsessed w exy I swear

"I told Andrew what I did," Renee said. "The next day while I was at class he broke into my room and took my knives. When I asked for them back, he said I was lying to myself. If I wanted to remember, I wouldn't hide the knives in my closet like a shameful secret I couldn't revisit or let go of. They weren't doing me any good, so he said he would carry them until I needed them again. "I let him have them because I trusted him not to use them," Renee said. "I thought he understood what they were supposed to be: not weapons anymore but a symbol of what we've overcome. I didn't ask him for his reasons. I knew he would tell me if he wanted me to know." The obvious answer was Drake, but it didn't add up quite right. Neil turned it over in his head, working his way through it, and thought about the scars on Andrew's forearms. Who had Andrew survived: Drake or himself? Neil wasn't going to share that idea with Renee, so he said, "So those knives he brings everywhere are yours?" "Were mine," Renee said. "He was right; I don't need them anymore. If you need them, he will give them to you, and I will teach you how to use them."

Didn't expect all that with the knives

"I don't believe in giving people chances." "I didn't until I came here," Neil said. "I took a chance on you when I decided to stay. You took a chance on me when you trusted me with Kevin. Is it really that hard to support them when they've been with you every step of the way?" "What will you give me in exchange for my cooperation?" Andrew asked. "Because revenge isn't good enough?" Neil asked. "What would it take?" Andrew didn't have to think about it. "Show me your scars."

OH.MY.GOD. A real scar reveal!!!!

"When?" he said at last. "We are going to Columbia tomorrow," Andrew said. "Now walk away and tell Coach to mind his pay grade. I will not let him get away with this a second time."

Coach is meddling

On Neil's right shoulder was a burn scar, courtesy of getting smacked by a hot iron. Andrew put his left hand to it, fingertips lining up perfectly with the raised bumps the iron's holes had left behind. His right thumb found the puckered flesh from a bullet. Neil had slept in his bulletproof vest for almost a month after that close call, too scared to take it off. His mother had to bully him into shedding it long enough to wash up. "Someone shot you," Andrew said. "I told you someone was after me," Neil said. "This," Andrew dug his fingers harder into the iron mark, "is not from a life on the run." "My father gave me that. People came by asking questions about his work. I didn't say anything, but I didn't sit still enough, either. He hit me as soon as the door closed behind them. That's why I gave you 'Abram'," Neil said. "I don't want to give you my father's name because I don't want anyone to call me it ever again. I hated him."

This scar reveal is so freaking sad

"Renee said you refused our knives. A murder magnet like you shouldn't walk around unarmed." "I'm not," Neil said. "I thought you were going to watch my back this year?" Andrew glanced up at him again, expression unreadable. He said nothing, so Neil pressed on with, "You're not actually a sociopath, are you?" "I never said I was." "You let them say it about you," Neil said. "You could have corrected them." Andrew waved that off. "What people want to think of me is not my problem." "Does Coach know?" "Of course he does." "Then your medicine...?" Neil asked. "Were those pills really anti-psychotics?" "You ask a lot of questions,"

What were they then?

He had two cigarettes lit before he reached the second floor landing, and one he passed over his shoulder to Neil. Neil held onto it until they reached the car. Nicky sent him an odd look as he opened the back door. "You don't smoke." "No,"

Aww, flashback to the rooftop

"What hands-off rule?" Roland looked startled, then confused. "You don't know? But then..." "I got these in a fight," Neil said. "Why would Andrew do this to me?" "Uh, you don't know," Roland said again, not a question anymore but a backpedal out of the conversation. "You know what, let's just forget I said anything. No, really," he said when Neil opened his mouth to argue. "Hey, here. Your drinks are done. I've gotta check on the rest of my customers."

cause Andrew always hates it when they touch him, remember? Ur the exeption idiot edit: IM DUMB

"I didn't think I was a personal problem. You hate me, remember?" "Every inch of you," Andrew said. "That doesn't mean I wouldn't blow you." The world tilted a little bit sideways. Neil dug his shoes harder into the floor so he wouldn't fall over. "You like me."

Bro what, that's the confession?

Andrew was a lot of unpleasant things, but a pathological liar wasn't one of them.

No that's your job lmao

"Okay," but it didn't sound okay and he didn't feel okay. What was Neil supposed to do with a truth like this? He was going to be dead in four months, five if he was lucky. He wasn't supposed to be this for anyone, Andrew least of all. Andrew said all year long—had said it to Neil's face just this week—that he didn't want anything. Neil shouldn't be the exception to that rule.

Oh man not the reminder

"If we knew what Andrew had against us, we could try to fight it," Dan said. She drummed an agitated rhythm on her knee for a minute, then looked at Neil. "How'd you get him to stop tripping us up at practice the other day?" Neil whittled it down the barest, easiest truth. "I asked." "You asked," Matt said. It almost sounded like an accusation. "You said that about Halloween and Nicky's parents. Seriously, Neil. How do you keep talking him into doing things he obviously doesn't want to do? Is it bribery or blackmail?"

Well yeah that's basically it

According to Renee only she and Neil knew Andrew was gay. Neil had no idea how Wymack picked up on it.

It was obvious when you shoved his hand in your shirt and when he kept agreeing whenever you asked

"This is a joke," Dan said, grabbing Neil's chin. "Neil?" "He told me to transfer to the Ravens," Neil said. "He said I could finish this year with the Foxes but that I'd move to Edgar Allan this fall. They inked me in preparation and I couldn't stop them. I wanted you to know in case Riko says something about it. I'm still a Fox no matter what he says. I wouldn't sign his papers." "Take it off," Dan said. "It's permanent," Neil said.

"Dr. Dobson." "It's Neil," Neil said, and continued before she could act surprised and pleased to hear from him. "I need a yes or no. If we can talk Aaron and Andrew into doing joint sessions with you, can you fix them?" There was only a brief pause before Betsy said, "I will certainly try." "Don't try," Neil said. "Don't guess. This is too important. Can you or can't you?" "Yes." He could hear the smile in her voice: not amusement, but approval. "If you can get them here, I will take care of it. Neil?" she said as he was starting to move the phone from his ear. "I like the honest side of you."

She's a really patient therapist

"What was his name?" He looked to Neil, who frowned confusion at him, and said, "Your father. What was his name?" It almost knocked the breath out of him. Neil didn't want to answer, didn't want that name out in the air between them, but it was Andrew's turn in their game. He didn't have the right to refuse. He tried to take a little comfort in it, because Andrew wouldn't hit this low unless Neil's taunt had gotten to him, but Neil couldn't quite manage. He looked to the Foxes, made sure they were still out of earshot, and stepped closer to Andrew anyway. "Nathan," he said at last. "His name was Nathan." "You don't look like a Nathan." "I'm not," Neil said through the stones in his throat. "I'm Nathaniel."

"Fair warning: if they put Beckstein as my mark I'm going to have to do side passes all night. He's got a foot on me, so if he catches my stick on an upward swing it'll pull me too far and I'll tear something." Kevin started to say something, but Andrew beat him to the punch with a calm, "Eight inches. He's only five-eleven." Neil and Kevin pivoted to stare at Andrew. The flash of a grin on Wymack's face said he caught the significance of that remark and knew what it meant for the Foxes' chances tonight.

Beat 'em up Andrew

Neil looked at Kevin, then Wymack, wondering why no one had told him Andrew had an eidetic memory, wondering if they'd even known.