Cade’s P.O.V

I watched Schneizel take a drag from his cigarette, and then puff out a cloud of smoke into the air. He sat on the cold floor with his legs sprawled out in front of him, his unseeing eyes fixated on the large stash of cigarettes we had retrieved from Gerard.

It seemed that his usually vigilant mind was somewhere else entirely, much to my surprise. Rarely did anything make the King lose himself in his own thoughts.

Naturally, it made me want to know what was on his mind.

Inhaling from the nearly-finished cigarette I held, I asked even when I knew he probably wouldn’t answer, “What are you thinking about?” I wasn’t the nosy sort, but I simply had to know what exactly occupied King Satan’s mind.

A deafening silence stretched between us.

I threw the cancer roll onto the ground and was about to stomp on it when, surprisingly, he did answer.

His voice was calm when he said, “I think I might be in love with someone. Actually, I know I’m in love. I’ve been in love ever since we were kids.”

I froze. The cigarette I was about to kill was forgotten. “T-That’s… great. Too bad you’re in prison.”

“That isn’t the response I was expecting.”

“Congratulations? I honestly thought you were heartless," I chuckled, grinning cheekily at him.

“Me too. But apparently, I do and it beats only for him. I must have him, Cade.” His intense blue-violet gaze collided with my own. For the length of one minute, we held each other’s gazes and I saw truth in his words.

I sighed exasperatedly, massaging my temples with the heels of my hands. “Alright, we’ll find him for you. First, what’s his name?”

Movement in the corner of the cell caught my eyes. A black spider knitted an intricate, complicated, barely-noticeable web at the cell’s corner, its movements impressively fast and precise. It knew exactly what to do and how to do it, interweaving and linking the emasculate, tiny threads to form its home and trap. In more ways than one, it resembled the complex man sitting opposite me confessing things I knew I was one of the painfully few to hear.

He said, "He’s already here in prison. He killed a billionaire wife-beater. They were going to have him sent to another prison, but I got him sent him so I can keep an eye on him. Besides, it’s about time we reconnected.”

My eyes widened. Of all places for you to meet the love of your life once again!

I lit another cigarette.

“That’s twisted. This is the worst prison on Earth. And Hell.”

“Not as twisted as pinning a bogus murder charge on him for petty revenge.” Schneizel lifted a hand to the spider and the creature willingly crawled onto it. He said as he allowed the spider to move from one finger to the other, “No one can protect him like I will.”

“Hmm.” I supposed that he was right. Prisons were tough places if you didn’t have someone on the inside.

“On his first day here, he managed to beat up a guard,” Schneizel sounded oddly proud, amusement glittering in his usually emotionless eyes.

“You mean Stanley? Yeah, I heard about a newbie beating him up. Word in the street is that he made him cry.” I chuckled lightly. The trigger-happy bastard had it coming.

“I killed him.”

That gave me pause. A few moments later, I carefully asked, “You....killed a guard?”

“He attacked Aiden.”

“Aiden? Wait, I think I’ve met him.” My brows furrowed when I remembered when and how I’d met him.

“How?” Never one to miss a thing, Schneizel caught my change in expression.

“You’re not going to like it.”

Schneizel’s face instantaneously darkened.

Though I’d known him many years, that terrifying expression still managed to freeze the liquid in my spine.

****

As pale as Snow white, I listened to the King’s twin, Schneider, as he retold the many gruesome and terrifying stories about his brother with a joyful grin that would make one think he was talking about rainbows and sunshine.

Upon noticing my sick visage, he stopped and asked sheepishly, “I’m not helping, am I? Hmm, let’s see.” He tapped a finger on his chin thoughtfully, and then said, “Look at it this way; people now think you’re some mean killing machine for sharing a cell with the King. Everyone knows that only a few people get to hang around Schneizel. That kind of publicity in prison is good for you. You’ve got to build a prison rep, after all. People are going to steer clear of you and even show you some respect. If you’re worried about the incident in the inspection room happening again, it won’t. Not with—”

“How do you know what happened to me!?” I snapped, stunned and deeply embarrassed. I could already feel the heat climbing up my neck.

“Don’t worry too much about it. Only I know. Well, and Cade of course,” he assured me with half a smile, understanding evident in his blue eyes.

I didn’t reply. Shame and humiliation were eating at me from the inside.

When a big, warm hand rested on my left shoulder, I jumped, startled. My head –once again- banged into the upper bank, hard. Groaning, I massaged the injured area gingerly, my eyes screwed shut. Tears that I seriously didn’t want anyone, let alone Schneider to see brimmed at the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill and humiliate me even more.

I lowered my hand back onto my lap and clasped both of my them together, fidgeting with them, praying that the tears dried up before I opened my eyes. The hand on my shoulder disappeared only for it to slide into the hair on my head and massage the bump.

My eyes flew open and I stared, surprised, at Schneider who gave me a sheepish grin in return. Very softly, he caressed the swelling spot and the surrounding area without exerting too much pressure on it.

“I’ve been told I have magical fingers,” he informed me, his eyes twinkling with mirth and amusement.

I raised a questioning eyebrow at him, but the corners of my mouth twitched betraying me.

“I don’t think they meant for massaging.”

Schneider let his head fall back and roared with laughter, a melodic, velvety yet masculine sound that echoed in the small cell. I grinned, letting my eyes rove over his angelic face.

He said after his laugh subsided, “You’re right.” And then he winked at me flirtatiously.

I was surprised at myself for not finding his flirtatious attitude alarming like I’d found the rest. In fact, I even went as far as to say, “I’ll keep that in mind.” And then I winked back at him, my grin mirroring his own.