Fable of Happiness (Fable #2) by Pepper Winters

Silently, we all broke away as we reached our respective bedrooms, enslaved to the end as we closed doors on our misery.

Behind those closed doors the sounds of pleased hellos and sleezy welcomes sounded, knotting my guts into snarls of pain.

It was excruciating to let Quell slip through my fingers as she reached her bedroom. She caught my gaze. She nodded once, stoic and so, so brave. “It’s okay, Kas. I’ll see you later, okay?”

I wanted so fucking much to hug her, snatch her, run away with her.

To run away with all of my family.

But my only option was to nod and let her go. To willingly say goodbye as she stepped into another night of rape.

I was the last to branch off from the corridor.

Alone at the end, I listened to the final snick of a door closing and took a second to prepare.

I would either see my family again or I wouldn’t.

This would work or it would fail.

Regardless, I was most likely dead tonight because even if I succeeded, I doubted I’d live to see sunrise.

You sure you want to risk this?

Risk them?

My jaw clenched as the sound of male laughter came and went. A laugh of a paedophile who probably already had Nyx bound and naked upon his bed.

Yes, I’m sure.

I would rather we all die tonight than endure anymore of this.

If I had to kill everyone, including my family to be free, then so be it.

Touching my blade one last time, I braced my shoulders, turned toward the door, and stepped over the threshold to serve Mr. and Mrs. Willby.

“You’re late, my boy.” Mr. Willby stood by the fireplace, his cock already hard thanks to a blue pill he always popped. His nakedness was obscene with the glowing flames highlighting a beer belly, huge balls, and a red-angry erection.

“Don’t berate him, dear.” Mrs. Willby lay on the bed in a pose she thought was seductive. Her sheer nightgown was open, revealing a pudgy breast, huge nipple, and a belly button piercing she should’ve removed decades ago. “We’re so glad you’re here, Kassen.”

Kassen.

I shuddered.

After tonight, that was not my name.

All of us Fable kids would choose new names. Names that weren’t chosen from books under the fierce instruction of Storymaker.

I couldn’t even remember what I’d been called before I belonged to him.

Kassen Sands was a character in a book full of fables about genies and wishes and deserts. He’d been the poorer cousin to a prince. He’d used his wishes to help his village members, wishing for water, food, and health. He hadn’t wished for riches for himself or to be king over his cousin. His heart had been good and he’d helped all those around him—even his enemies.

In return for his sacrifice and kindness, the genie had given him the greatest wish of all.

Happiness.

Kassen Sands was granted a house of his own, a wife, a child, a home.

He lived the rest of his life in peaceful joy.

I would never be so lucky, but perhaps, if I did what he did and focused on saving those I could, I would end up in heaven instead of hell.

“Take off your clothes, Kas,” Mr. Willby snapped. “I need your tight ass and my wife needs your talented tongue.”

I hid my shudder, my absolute disgust, and nodded like a good little slave.

Pulling my T-shirt over my head, I stepped toward the bed, ignoring the way Mrs. Willby’s eyes raked over my nineteen-year-old chest. I’d been their toy for almost half my life. They’d seen me grow from boy to man. They’d seen more of me than any parent I’d ever known.

And tonight, they’ll die.

Mrs. Willby shifted onto her knees, coaxing me forward with a wriggling finger. “My, my, you’ve filled out in the past three months since I last saw you.”

I didn’t flinch as she ran her pink-painted fingernail from my throat to my belt.

I didn’t kill her as she cupped my flaccid cock through my jeans.

“Ah.” She tutted under her breath. “Well, now, that’s disappointing, I thought you’d learned to come to us hard, Kas. We have no time for foreplay when we’ve been so eager to fuck our darling boy.”

“Here.” Mr. Willby grabbed his wallet from the side table, throwing a small packet of blue pills at his wife. “Feed him one of these. I want an all nighter. He needs to be out of his head with lust.”

“Oh, good idea, Donny.”

My heart kicked.

No way would I be able to commit genocide tonight with a chemical hard-on. Giving myself time to put my plan into action, I gave her a slow smile. “That won’t be necessary, Patricia.”

She blinked.

The first time I’d used her given name after countless years of her fucking me. Her cheeks pinked as if she liked it. Just as much as she liked me rutting into her in agony all while her husband whipped me, cut me, fucked me.

You’ll pay. Christ, you’ll all pay.

“I’m hard now.” I licked my lips, letting my eyes hood the way she liked. “Here, I’ll show you.”

She nodded quickly. “Oh, yes. Yes, show me. Show me what toys I’ll be playing with tonight.”

Swallowing fresh bile, I unbuttoned my jeans and let them fall. I kept my legs close to the bed to catch the blade as it slipped down with the denim.

Mr. Willby sucked in a breath from behind me, no doubt jacking off to the scars he’d layered me with. The many moments of pain he’d carved into my skin while I’d driven into his wife.