Kill the King Read Free

very well be the case. “I can’t help but feel like
it’s not really an offer that I have the option of refusing,
Warden.”
    Dr. Nieuwendyk
snickered at his audacity. He was exactly the man she was looking
for. “How astute of you! I will concede to you that it’s a
one-sided offer of sorts, but I assure you that there is still
something in it for you. I want you to do a job for me. If you
succeed you can consider yourself a free man.”
    Tyler scoffed
at the notion and lit yet another cigarette. If she was going to
drag him down to hell, he was going to at least go down smelling
like a free man. He listened to her attentively but did not believe
the absurdity of her proposal.
    “The job is
difficult but rather simple in its essence: Marko Boreta is a
powerful and dangerous man, and he needs to die. I want you to be
responsible for that death.”
    Never
betray.
    “People have
tried that many times, Warden. The man refuses to die.”
    Dr. Nieuwendyk
got off her chair and casually walked up to Tyler, grabbed a
cigarette off the small table and gestured Tyler to light it for
her, which he reluctantly obliged. She then took a few leisurely
puffs before she could reveal her grand plan.
    “Indeed, Mr.
Kwan! That’s one his nicknames, isn’t it? The Man who Refuses to
Die . It sounds almost mythical. Then again, you are a very
special case. . .and that’s why you will succeed where others have
failed. You and Boreta were close. You were among his most
cherished friends, and in some ways you appear to have been akin to
a protégé of sorts to him. For precisely this reason he will not
suspect you. He values loyalty above all—even money. The thought of
you betraying him would never cross his mind. Kill him , and
I will personally shred every document bearing your name and delete
every file mentioning you. You will vanish into thin air. Free air.”
    Tyler’s eyes
tightened in suspicion as he glared at her through the thin cloud
of blue smoke that veiled her face.
    Break the one
rule that must never be broken, or fifty years of misery. What a
great fucking choice I’m being given.
    “Say that I do
kill him, what assurances do I have that you will do what you’re
offering me?”
    She smiled a
malicious smile. “Well you don’t, really. This is an unfair
bargain, of course. The reasons why I need Marko Boreta dead are of
no concern to you, but I’ll be frank and admit that they’re not
particularly altruistic. All you have is my word. . .and the
promise that if you refuse this offer, I’ll send your ass
back to the Block and you’ll never get out alive.”
    I can’t go
back. I can’t go back.
    The warden
leaned in closer, almost face to face with Tyler.
    “Now, to
reiterate: do not fuck around with me . We’ve wasted enough
time as it is. I’m giving you a chance to win your freedom. All you
have to do is kill him— kill Marko Boreta . You’d be
wise to accept my offer. So. . .are you in , Mr. Kwan, or are
you out?”
    Never betray.
Fifty years in the Block. Kill the man who refuses to die, or kill
myself every day forever. The world just can’t give me a fucking
break.
    Tyler closed
his eyes and stifled his urge to let out an audible groan. Were he
to die trying to kill Boreta, he’d at least have a last chance of
freedom. Anything seemed better than the Block. Something was still better than nothing .
    “I’m in.”
    The warden butt
out her cigarette and walked back to her desk to be seated.
    “You will be
leaving immediately with Mr. Rickards to begin your assignment. We
have a van waiting for you outside to escort you back into the
city. From then on, you will have a week to accomplish your
assignment. If you fail, we will hunt you down and send you back to
the Block. You are to speak to no one of our arrangement or the
deal is off. I suggest you don’t take too long either. After all,
Marko Boreta is someone who refuses to die, just as you so aptly
said to me.”
    With those
words, Dr. Nieuwendyk