The Seasons

Chapter 57

“But,” Wing said as he stared at everyone with wide eyes. “That can’t be true, right? I mean, I know I’m only like four months into this, but Rex Superno is like the king. He can’t be going around killing everyone and trying to kill the universe, right? Because that would be very stupid of him to do.”

Jem frowned but nodded. “Yeah, I mean, it’s Rex. Why would he, of all people, try to kill everyone? It doesn’t make sense. He has it the easiest out of everyone. He has no reason to be killing Entia. And, even if he was, why put a hit out on the group he’s dictating?”

“But to be king and act at all concerned and then be the one stabbing people in the back, that’s wild,” Winter said, nodding a little. “And, for all we know, it could be an act; pretend not to know anything and use people at the bottom of the food chain as bait.”

“Holy f*****g s**t, we met this cunt!” Rosalyn yelled, throwing her hands up in the air.

“We gave him good alcohol,” Autumn added, frowning.

“I shook his hand.”

“Okay, things are getting out of hand. Just because the journal was found in Rex Superno’s room does not mean he is the one behind all of this. Let’s be real here. Even if it was hard, Cairo managed to get his hands on the journal, someone else could have done the same, and the king is innocent in all of this,” Blue said, but their brows were furrowed, and they were tapping on their knees with their hands, something they often did when they were trying to work something out.

What snapped everyone out of their panic was Thorne. Thorne let out a deep laugh, one from the bottom of his stomach, as his eyes landed on Wing, who tensed. Oh, f**k, he better not have snapped. The last thing he needed on his plate was his best friend snapping on him. He needed someone to be his rock. “I f*****g told you so, Wing. He would break your heart.”

The realisation dawned on Wing. If Rex Superno were the man behind this, Cairo would have had a hand in all this. He took a few steps back, bumping into Atticus, but he didn’t dare peel his eyes away from Cairo, who was staring at him with a frown. And he hoped it was not true. Not because he had any particular feelings about the king like Jem did, but because if Rex was behind this, then Cairo was too.

Wing wanted to say something, although he wasn’t sure what he should have said. ‘Tell me it's not true?’ Or would something like, ‘he wouldn’t do that’ be better?

“It’s not him,” he ended up saying. Maybe he was saying it from their late-night conversations where they were a mere centimetres away from one another talking about anything and everything, where Wing had even opened up about the man with the green eyes. Or when Cairo woke up in the morning, he would ask him if he'd slept well or how he always made Wing's breakfast first. But all of that couldn't have been a lie.

“I agree with Wing,” Neo said, his face frowning. “I have known Cairo for years, and while he is a cunt, he wouldn’t do that.”

“It’s not Rex,” Cairo said. “Although it was in his library, I don’t think Rex even knew of his existence. Let alone Sion’s.”

Cairo’s phone rang, and he had excused himself to answer it outside; the rest began talking about Sion, grilling him about the information they already knew but needed to be repeated for some reason, and Wing needed clarification. As Thorne had repeatedly said, he needed to know Cairo wouldn’t hurt him, so he followed him out.

~*~