Chapter 43

“Okay, yeah. I agree. There’s a bottle of Fireball in the cabinet over there. There’s Coke in the fridge and ice in the freezer.”

Emil grinned. “Let’s do this.”

* * * *

Like he’d said before, Emil had never really been a drinker. He’d been drunk a few times, just like other teens had been, before the kidnapping. After getting out of the psychiatric hospital, he’d never felt like it. He’d had a couple of beers with his dad while watching sports or whatnot, when they were trying to bond, but that was about it.

The cinnamon whiskey went down smoothly with the Coke, but it also made itself known pretty damn fast.

“You know who you remind me of,” Emil said as they sat on either end of the couch.

“Who?”

“There’s this wrestler, like pro wrestling. My dad watches it sometimes to wind down from shifts, anyway”—he waved a hand—“there’s this wrestler you look like a bit.”

“Could be the build?” Makai mused.