Chapter 464: Our Deal

Faye and Malo quietly listened to Kiara’s bizarre plan to find out who was leading the Deanson family. Sasha, however, was MIA. Nobody knew when she had left. One moment, she was laughing at something she had read from her girlfriend, and the next, she was gathering her things and saying goodnight when it was barely past six.

Bambi had retreated to a corner of the gym, doing her best to avoid her ex. Seeing someone she still loved behave as though they were complete strangers was painful enough without having to sit close to them and pretend everything was fine.

Beam, on the other hand, sat a short distance away from the others. She had barely contributed to the conversation, but Faye could tell she was paying attention to everything they said. Knowing Beam, she was probably gathering information to report to Princess later.

Faye had finally reached her limit. She had been listening to Kiara’s explanation for what felt like hours when she suddenly remembered something she had been meaning to learn from her.

"Alright, that’s enough. We can continue another day," Faye announced, interrupting Kiara’s explanation.

"Oh, finally! I need to order donuts," Malo muttered as he pushed himself off the mat, clearly relieved to have an excuse to do something else.

"What do you mean, another day? We have to figure this out today!" Kiara protested, looking far from impressed with Faye’s decision.

"Do you want me to spell it out for you? Tomorrow!" Faye stood up and snapped her fingers in front of Kiara’s face to get her attention. "Saturday is approaching, and I need you to teach me the dance."

"What dance?" Kiara asked, staring at her as though she had completely forgotten what Faye was talking about.

"The deal we made last Saturday! The price I agreed to pay for entering your lunatic mind," Faye reminded her.

"What price?" Kiara demanded, her expression growing more irritated by the second. "You benefited more from that deal than I did! You found your long-lost brother, while I became your stupid puppet Beta so you could have full control over his power without him taking over my body and creating havoc. And don’t even get me started on the eternal burning I have to endure, which you also benefited from! What more do you want from me?"

"Bitch, I’m talking about the fucking twerk dance!" Faye snapped, losing what little patience she had left. "You’re supposed to teach me Princess’s best moves so I can surprise her on her birthday. Besides, you deserve every bit of that torture because you’re the one who started this whole mess!"

"Another Beta?" Malo interrupted, pointing at Kiara as he tried to process what he had just heard. "This Burnett is now your Beta too?"

His expression shifted several times as jealousy and a mixture of other emotions crossed his face. Apparently, the thought of Faye gaining yet another companion was not sitting well with him.

"What? Are you angry? Do you want me to bite you and kill you?" Faye asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"That would be great, actually. I wonder what superpowers he’d get," Bambi remarked from her corner, clearly enjoying herself now that the conversation had shifted towards tormenting Malo.

"I’m sure it’ll be super speed because he loves running away from danger," Beam added.

The moment the words left her mouth, she gave Malo a rather terrified look. The memory of him fleeing from the woods on Saturday was apparently still fresh in her mind, and she seemed to have realised a little too late that she had just reminded him of an incident he would rather forget.

Malo swallowed hard, looking as though he had suddenly remembered every dangerous thing that had happened that day. He forced himself to stop staring at the girl who had nearly frightened him out of his mind before turning towards Faye.

"Thank you for your concern, dear friend, but I have absolutely no desire to become your puppet," he declared, lifting his chin with an air of dignity. "I’m already your puppet, anyway. I’m your best friend, and I’m willing to protect you without being controlled by your mind. My protection is genuine."

He looked rather pleased with himself after delivering that speech, as though he had just said something profound enough to earn him a standing ovation.

"Yeah, but you’re still the weakest person in this group," Bambi pointed out without hesitation. "Your speed is no better than that of an ordinary person, and you don’t have super strength or anything else that’s actually super."

"I don’t need to be super to protect the people I love," Malo replied, his pride refusing to let him back down. "I love myself with or without superpowers."

Faye could only shake her head. Malo was always going to be Malo, no matter how much everyone teased him. He had a remarkable talent for defending his dignity even when the entire room was busy tearing it apart.

Once she had finished watching their little exchange, she turned her attention back to Kiara.

"Teach me the lap dance now."

"Just so you know, it takes days to get good at it, even months or years," Kiara replied, eyeing Faye from her hips to her glaring eyes. "And honestly, I don’t think you can even move your hips at the frequency Princess likes."

Faye’s eyes narrowed at her, but before she could respond, Beam spoke up.

"Why do you need to dance for Princess anyway?" she asked curiously.

"It’s her birthday month, and I want to do something special for her," Faye explained. "She once told me she loves lap dancing, so I want her ex to teach me how to do it properly. That way, I can give Princess a private show."

Kiara looked rather pleased with herself at the mention of being Princess’s ex, but the satisfaction did not last long.

"Well, since I apparently have no choice but to agree, and you sound so desperate, I’ll teach you something only I know how to do," she said, preparing to continue.

"Or maybe you could make something special for her," Beam interrupted.

Kiara’s expression immediately soured.

"Like what?" Faye asked, turning towards Beam with considerably more interest than she had shown in Kiara’s earlier explanation.

"Princess loves that custom cup you bought her. She even talks about it during her livestreams whenever we’re playing games together," Beam explained. "I could teach you how to build a PC. She’d probably love that even more than a cheap lap dance. And if you want to put on a show for her, just spend time doing something she enjoys. Challenge her to the video games she likes, or take her on a date somewhere like the paintball arena. You could even play against another couple and make it a couples’ competition."

Faye’s expression brightened as she considered the suggestion. The idea of learning something Princess genuinely enjoyed sounded far more appealing than spending days listening to Kiara taunt her about a relationship that had already ended.

"I like that!" she exclaimed. "I’d rather spend hours learning how to build a PC than listen to someone haunt me about her expired relationship with my woman. Come on, when do we start?"

"We can head to the mall after school tomorrow and buy everything we need," Beam replied.

"Good! Everyone, we’re going to the mall!" Faye announced, already sounding as though the decision had been made for the entire group.

"Whatever. You two are lame, and I’m not coming with you," Kiara grumbled.

"Nobody invited you, Kiara. Remember, you’re on probation." Faye turned towards Bambi. "Do you want to stay here, or should we head home?"

"Let’s go home," Bambi answered.

Without giving Kiara another thought, Faye collected her belongings and left with Bambi, leaving the others behind in the gym.

Kiara busied herself with packing her books into her bag while Malo prepared to lock up. Beam, however, remained seated on the mat, watching Kiara with an expression that made it clear she had something to say.

"You had no right."

Kiara paused in the middle of packing. She slowly turned around to face Beam, who was still sitting on the mat.

"Those were my memories," Beam continued, staring directly into Kiara’s eyes. "You had no right to take them away from me."

For a moment, Kiara said nothing. She studied Beam’s face, wondering whether she had managed to recover all her memories.

"Do you?" Kiara asked quietly.

"My girlfriend, Tisha, helped me with it," Beam replied. "I really did love you unconditionally, and you took that away from me. You knew that was the only way I could cope with everything that had happened."

Her voice trembled slightly, but she did not look away.

"Just know that I hate you now, and I hope you die."

With those final words, Beam rose from the mat and walked out of the gym without looking back.

Kiara remained where she was, watching the doorway long after Beam had disappeared from sight.

By the time Malo finished double-locking the storage room and the other inner doors, he was ready to secure the entrance and go home. However, when he turned around, he found Kiara sitting on the mat, her books forgotten beside her.

The proud expression she usually wore had vanished, replaced by silent tears running down her face.

Malo stared at her for a moment before letting out a tired sigh.

"Erm, can you cry outside? I still have to lock up and go home."

Kiara quickly wiped her face and stood up. Without saying anything, she picked up a sheet of paper and handed it to him.

Malo glanced at the paper before looking back at her.

"I need you to translate this before tomorrow and send it to my email," Kiara instructed.

"Why would I translate this?" Malo asked, looking at her as though she had just lost her mind.

"You’re the only person I know who has been blessed with the God’s Eye. Make sure it’s ready by tomorrow."

"I’m not doing it," Malo protested. "I know I do translations as a side gig, but I’m rich, and you’re not my friend."

"This isn’t for me. It’s for Faye. We need it as part of our plan to destroy the Council."

Kiara did not wait for him to respond. She snatched up her belongings and stormed out of the gym, leaving Malo standing there with the paper in his hand.

He stared at the doorway, then looked down at the document before letting out an exasperated groan.

"I hate the people Faye keep as friends."