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

by Nora Sakavic

"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