Page 4 of Boys Who Taint (Spine Ridge University #5)

Levi

That night

I sit on a chair in the dining room and stare at the wall.

The screaming all around me comes in like a dulled noise, in one ear and out the other.

My fingers tingle, and I can’t feel even an inch of my skin.

It’s like I’m not really here. Like I’m floating on that rock near the edge of oblivion where I lost my mind.

Mavis Rivera is gone.

She’s gone because I couldn’t …

I lower my head and close my eyes, blinking so hard I swear my eyes might permanently turn blind, but I don’t care. I wish I didn’t have to see the unraveling of our world.

The downfall of an entire family.

All caused by me.

“Levi, are you even listening to me?” my mother shouts.

“Lana, please, calm down,” Milo, one of her other lovers, says.

“No, I will not!” she replies. “Mavis is dead. How? Why? He won’t fucking answer any of our questions, and it’s been hours!”

“It doesn’t matter how or why. She’s gone,” Nathan, my mom’s third lover, replies.

“You act like it’s done and over,” Mom growls back.

This is one of those moments when I wished my mom wasn’t in a polycule. God, I hate it when they all band together.

“No one said that,” Nathan replies. “It’s just that there’s not much we can do at this point.”

“How about offer explanations to Penelope and Felix?” Lana says. “We owe them that much.”

“She doesn’t want an explanation,” my dad Kai says. “She wants revenge.”

My mom steps back. “You really think so?”

“You know that fucker. Felix was more than happy to chop off a finger even when you were only a suspect,” Nathan says, showing off his missing index finger. “All of this was just because of a missing diary, so I can’t possibly imagine what he’s planning to do now that his daughter is dead.”

I rub my forehead, trying to make sense of this. One moment, Mavis was here, and the next, everything turned to dust. All I can see in front of me are those haunting eyes, begging me to save her.

God. Why did this happen?

I turn around in my seat and bury my hands in my hair. “Fuck!”

“Levi, tell us what happened. Please,” Mom begs.

“I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t,” I mutter.

“Couldn’t do what?” Dad asks.

Everyone’s looking at me now, aiming their arrows at my head like I’m the one who has all the answers, who can be their saving grace, but I will never be.

“She’s dead. And it’s my fault,” I say through gritted teeth.

“What?” Milo makes a face. “That can’t be true.”

Nathan steps forward and grabs me by the shoulders, forcing me to sit up straight. “Look at me. Did you kill her?”

My eyes widen. “What?”

I never thought of it that way, but now that he’s said it out loud … what if I did?

He shakes me. “Did you?!”

My dad pushes him away. “Leave him alone, Nathan. Can’t you see he’s struggling?”

“Levi, if you killed Mavis, I need to know. Now,” my mom says with such a stern voice that it nearly makes the house quake.

“Ask Apollo. He was there too.” Sunny, my half sister, leans against the door opening, offering a way out.

I take it. “He was. He pulled her out of the water.”

“Was he the one who killed her?” Dad asks.

I frown. “What? No.”

“If it’s a possibility, we need to know,” Nathan says.

“Why does it matter who did it?” I yell. “She’s dead. It’s not going to fucking bring her back!”

Everyone’s quietly staring at me as if they’re slowly realizing that I’m right. That this means the end.

The end of everything .

“They will want someone to blame,” Sunny says, folding her arms. “You know that, right?”

“Oh God.” Milo grabs his head with both hands. “This is going to end up in a big fight, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t kill her,” I mutter to myself.

“Did Apollo do it?” Nathan says.

“Apollo didn’t kill her either.” I gaze up at them all. “No one did.”

“Then how the fuck did she die?” Mom shouts.

“She fell,” I reiterate.

She sighs out loud and slaps her hand against her forehead. “This again.”

“It’s the truth,” I say. “Why won’t you believe me?”

“People don’t just fall off a cliff, Levi,” she says.

“We were supposed to make the jump together,” I explain.

“And then what?” my dad asks.

My lips part, but I can’t bring myself to say the words, so I opt for nothing at all.

Mom shakes her head. “This is a nightmare.”

A nightmare I can’t seem to wake up from.

“We can fix this, right?” Milo asks. “Please tell me this is fixable.”

“No, we can’t,” Nathan growls. “Pen’s kid is dead. Sunny’s right. Someone’s going to have to take the blame.”

Someone to blame.

That’s right. Aspen will need someone to hate. She’ll never look at me the same way again.

So why would it matter if I destroyed everything?

“I will,” I say in a single breath.

“What?” Dad looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.

“Blame me,” I say. “They’re already saying I’m a killer.” I raise my eyes and meet theirs without fear. “And if they want a villain, they can have one.”

Aspen

A few days later

Everyone is dressed in black when they come into our house to offer condolences. It was Mavis’s favorite color, and I’m pretty sure this funeral reception is the only thing Mavis would’ve literally died to attend.

Hell, maybe she’s watching over us right now, floating somewhere in the chandeliers.

I snort to myself and take another swig of my drink to calm my nerves.

“What’s so funny?” Xavier, my brother, asks.

“Mavis would’ve loved this,” I say.

He nods. “True. She always had a thing for morbid jokes.”

“This is her biggest one yet,” I reply, rolling my eyes.

“What if she’s turned into a ghost and started haunting us?”

“I was thinking the same thing.” I frown. “Are you digging in my head again, Xav?”

“No. I was just thinking … maybe we should get the Ouija board. Ask her if she’s having fun.”

I punch him in the shoulder. “Ha ha. Very funny. You know that thing never worked.”

“What are you two talking about?” Melody, my other half sister, is right behind me, and her sudden voice startles me.

“Jesus, you scared me.”

“Sorry,” she says with a high-pitched voice. “I tend to do that.”

“Tap your feet if you’re gonna creep up on people. At least then they can hear you coming,” Xav says, sniggering.

Melody rolls her eyes. “And break a foot? No thanks.”

“You’re not that fragile,” he retorts.

“I could be.” She folds her arms. “Want that on your conscience?”

Xav sighs out loud. “No, thanks. I don’t want another death in the family.”

“I said breaking a foot, not a heart, geez,” Melody replies.

Mom stops talking with some friends and heads over to us. “Can you guys please be nice to each other today?”

“We were just chatting,” Xav says.

“Yeah. And I’m bothering them, as usual.”

“No, Mel. Xav’s just being a prick,” I say, wrapping my arm around her. “Ignore him. I do it all the time, and it works like a charm.”

“Oh, grow up,” Xav growls.

“Xavier. Aspen. Melody.” Mom’s stern gaze keeps us in place. “Keep. It. Civil.”

The darts she’s sending with her eyes mean serious business.

“Hey, guys,” River mutters, offering a hand.

His brother, Talon, steps out from the crowd of people and holds out his hand. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” I reply.

River’s eyes tear up. “I’m … I’m …”

I pull him in for a hug, and he cries against my shoulder. There weren’t many people present that night, but he was one of them, and I can’t ever explain to the rest what that means. How witnessing death changes you.

“I’m sorry,” he says between sniffles. River is such a gentle soul.

“Me too,” I say.

Océane comes up to us too, and after River pulls away and wipes his tears, she hugs me tightly. “I’m sorry, girl. I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you.”

It feels wrong to say thanks when someone dies.

I don’t want to need their support.

I wish Mavis were still here so I wouldn’t have to say thank you.

I suck in a breath as she releases me. “Are you okay?”

I nod a few times. “As best as I can manage after what happened.”

She rubs her lips together. “I don’t even know what to say, honestly.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Xavier says. “She’s dead. Nothing will change that.”

I elbow my twin in the side to make him stop.

“What? It’s the truth,” he hisses.

I get that he’s pissed off. I am too, but there’s no use taking it out on others.

“I’m going to go see how your parents are doing,” Océane says, grabbing Talon’s hand and whisking him with her. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

I nod, and River follows along as if he’s unsure of himself in a group of people, as usual.

“My condolences,” my uncle Alec says, shaking my hand. “How are you holding up?”

“Barely,” I reply.

“And your dad?”

I rub my lips together. “Even more deranged than usual.”

Uncle Alec raises a brow. “Is he killing stuff again?”

I swiftly shake my head. “No. More like … trying to burn things down.” I awkwardly laugh it off.

He nods a few times. “I’m gonna go talk to him.”

As he walks off, Apollo Torres looks my way from the hallway, and I clear my throat.

“I’ll see myself out,” Melody says, bouncing off on her light feet. “Have you seen Atlas anywhere? I’m gonna go look for him. Bye.”

Xav looks at me like he’s unsure whether to leave me or to guard me with his life, but he opts for a run to the kitchen for some drinks instead. Traitor.

“Aspen,” Apollo says.

“Apollo,” I return.

He actually put on a suit today. I’m impressed.

Too bad it hides all of his amazing tattoos.

“How have you been holding up?”

“Okay-ish,” I reply.

“Same.” His bright gray eyes seem more dulled than usual. “I don’t normally care when people die.”

Wow.

“But since she’s your family, I just wanted to say that I hope you know I tried my best to save her.”

“I know.” I nod a few times, trying to keep the flashbacks of Apollo swimming with Mavis’s bleeding body at bay. “Thanks.” I swallow back the tears.

He lifts his firm hand and places it on my shoulder, the weight nearly crushing me as he leans in to hug me with the other. It catches me off guard, my heart racing as I’m squashed into his ample pecs, which feel like airbags.