Cynus's story "From the Cup of the Worthless" was Monday's Signature Feature. Did you grab your copy of the signature banner so you can share your love for Cynus's story? If not, you can do that here! Today we're featuring his chosen excerpt.

Cynus says: I chose this excerpt from chapter 10 for a number of reasons. It not only offers a view at the high stakes involved in this organized crime story, but it also shows a number of different connections between the characters, most importantly the connections between Nobuyuki and Viktor, between Nobuyuki and Masahiro (Nobuyuki's father), and the connection between Masahiro and Daisuke (Masahiro's second-in-command). It also offers a view of things to come, but without spoiling the ending, as this scene comes from just before the midpoint in the novel.

 

“So, this is the boy who was sneaking in, huh?” the bearded man said in perfect Russian, keeping his eyes on Viktor. “Do you work for the Mafia as well? What do you think you’re doing, boy?”

 

“I . . . uh . . . I’m not . . .” Viktor stammered, locked in place as he turned his pleading eyes to Nobuyuki, but fear cluttered his mind and made it difficult to form a coherent thought. “Please, you have to know I’m not with them!”

 

The bearded man had no patience for Viktor’s excuse and he immediately turned to the man with the eyepatch and continued in Russian, “Daisuke, get him to talk and then cut him up if he’s mafia. Send the pieces back one by one. I don’t want them to think they can get away with this. Make sure he knows to shut up if he isn’t mafia. We can’t afford another security risk.”

 

Viktor cringed and tried to back away as Daisuke started forward, but he only ended up running into the gun of the guard behind him who shoved him forward again. The conflicting momentum caused Viktor to lose his balance, and he fell to one knee as Daisuke advanced, a gleam of sadistic glee in his eye.

 

Which was when Nobuyuki started forward and shouted in Japanese, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. The bearded man, whom Viktor had now realized must be Masahiro Sato, Nobuyuki’s father, turned toward Nobuyuki and asked a question in Japanese.

 

Nobuyuki didn’t answer in Japanese however, switching to Korean. This surprised Viktor but didn’t seem to faze any of the others in the room, and Daisuke least of all. He approached Viktor and lifted him to his feet by the front of his shirt, hard features meeting the terror in Viktor’s. He backhanded Viktor hard enough to send him flying back to the floor, landing hard on his tailbone as the conversation continued in Korean between Nobuyuki and his father.

 

Masahiro quickly acquired Daisuke’s attention and Daisuke turned toward him with surprise, only to find Masahiro nodding him backward. He said something in Japanese to Daisuke and then stepped back into the elevator, waiting for Daisuke to join him.

 

Viktor breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Nobuyuki had spared him, but when he turned to look at Nobuyuki his eyes widened even further. Nobuyuki was holding a knife in his hands and staring at Viktor with a mixture of sadness and anger. He approached Viktor slowly, alternating between tightening and loosening his grip on the knife.

 

“Nobu?” Viktor asked in disbelief, but as Nobuyuki continued his approach he realized what he was seeing was really happening. “Nobu! What are you doing?”

 

“I’m sorry, Viktor,” Nobuyuki replied, shaking his head solemnly, raising the knife and aiming it toward Viktor’s throat. “This is the way it has to be.”

Want to read more? Check out the rest of the story here!