Page 47 of Boys Who Taint (Spine Ridge University #5)

Grey

What is she doing here?

“You followed me?” I mutter, confused as hell.

Oh God.

“Why are you doing this?” she asks. “Levi was right, wasn’t he? You lied.”

She wasn’t supposed to see this.

“I’m sorry. It’s not what you think—he needs to die.”

“Why?” she hisses through gritted teeth. “Are you part of the Bonesmen Brotherhood?”

Oh fuck me.

This couldn’t come at a much worse time.

Suddenly, the gun is snatched from my hand. “What the—fuck!”

BANG!

The bullet hits me right in the leg, and I yelp in agony from the pain as I sink to the ground. “You motherfucker!”

He wraps his arms around my neck and strangles me with the zip ties. I can’t breathe, can’t move, can’t fucking scream her name.

Please …

Suddenly, she pulls out the same knife she used to cut me loose and throws it right at the guy’s arm. It hits, and he finally releases me. I cough and heave as my mask falls to the ground. I scramble away while Aspen grabs the gun and points it at us.

“Tell me who he is,” she commands.

“He’s a nobody. A target.”

“Why does he have to die?”

“Because he broke their rules.”

“Are you part of the Bonesmen?” she asks again.

I shake my head.

She takes off the safety. “Tell me the truth!”

I swallow back the nerves. “I pay them to give me one of their men so I can kill him.”

She sucks in a breath, staring us both down.

“This guy doesn’t deserve to live. He’s a man who snatches kids off the street and sells them off to the highest bidder.” My hand balls into a fist. “The worst of the worst scum on earth.”

She’s still looking at me like she’s processing my words. But I don’t want her to hate me like she hates Levi.

“The Bonesmen Brotherhood are responsible for my parents' death, and I want every last one of them scorched from this earth.”

“Whatever, man, I have nothing to do with any of that,” the man splutters. “Please, help m—”

BANG!

The gun goes off, and I blink.

But I’m not the one hit.

She shot him in the leg. In the same spot I got hit.

He cries and screams in agony, so I pluck her knife from his arm while he’s distracted. She grabs me by the arm, helping me stand.

“Levi was right …” she murmurs. “You are involved with them.”

“Only to kill.” Rain pours down on my face and hers, covering the distinct redness on her face in an aura of gloom. “I didn’t want to scare you away. I’m sorry. I need this. This fucked-up part of me is all I have.”

She looks me up and down as droplets of rain roll down her forehead, and I wish I could suck them all off to show her how much I worship her.

“I need this. I need to feel vindicated. More than I need my sanity,” I add. “Please, forgive me for not telling you.” I grab her hand. “I’m not part of the Bones Brotherhood. I swear on my love for you.”

She looks down at our hands interlocked, as I slowly leave the knife in the palm of her hand.

“If you want to kill me now, so be it. I’ve shown you my demons … How I expel the raging violence in my soul.”

She stares at the knife for a while, as if she’s adjusting to the weight of it.

So I lean in to whisper, “I know you feel the same fury coursing through your veins. Makes you want to hurt everyone around you, even the people you love.”

She shudders in place, and I don’t know if it’s from the rain or my words. “This is what I do it for. Now you know the truth. And even though I know you don’t trust me anymore … I trust you.”

She tightens her grip around the knife.

“Killing someone who deserves it … just feels so fucking good,” I whisper. “Once you start, you won’t be able to stop.”

“What the fuck are you two monsters talking about?” the guy mumbles as he crawls backward.

Suddenly, she homes in on the guy and stabs him in the other leg.

The scream that follows is like music to my ears, and she pulls out the knife and rams it into his thigh.

She crawls on top of him and stabs him over and over, in his chest, his stomach, his shoulder, everywhere and anywhere, screaming like an absolute maniac, until the blood begins to spray and there’s nothing recognizable about his body left.

When she finally stops, the knife clatters on the pavement, and she stands up to witness her own slaughter. There’s nothing left, nothing except bits and pieces of meat and bone strewn together.

Another Bonesman wiped off the face of the earth.

Tears well up in her eyes as she huffs. “He hurt you … so I killed him.”

I grab her face to make her look at me. “And you looked so fucking good while murdering that monster.”

Her forehead collides with mine. “God … Oh God …” Her nostrils flare. “You were right. It felt so fucking good.”

Suddenly, her lips connect with mine in violence and a greed so great it nearly sucks the soul out of my body. She grabs my face with both hands, fingers curling around my hair as she deepens the kiss, and my heart nearly melts into the puddle of rain beneath my feet.

God, I love this woman.

Aspen

Our kisses taste like death and demise, unholy, just like the kill. I’ve never felt anything like it before, and the thrill it left was a kind of high that’s out of this world.

I didn’t know murder could feel this good. This overpowering.

Grey twitches, and the pain in his leg makes him whimper into my mouth.

I pull back, look down, and panic. “Oh shit. Your leg.”

“It’s fine. I can manage.”

I put my arm underneath his shoulder to support him. “We have to go to the hospital.”

“No,” he replies swiftly. “They’ll question me. It’s too risky.”

“But what do we do?” I ask. “You’re wounded. And what about the body?” I glance at the guy behind us. Or at least, what’s left of him.

Grey checks the time on his phone. “They’ll pick up his body in ten minutes from now.”

Shit . “We have to get out of here.”

“I can’t drive my car like this,” he says.

“I’ll drive.” I bring him to my car and help him get in the passenger seat.

“But what about your car?” he asks.

“We can pick it up tomorrow. After we’ve fixed … this.” I glance at his gnarly wound.

“What about the school nurse?”

“God no. Felix instructed her to call him immediately if anything seemed suspicious. I don’t want my family involved. Not in this.”

He caresses my cheek so softly that it makes me pause. I hadn’t even realized I was frowning with worry until he touched me and relaxed my muscles instantly. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out. Let’s just get back to campus.”

I nod and jump behind the wheel. Right then, my phone buzzes, and I check the messages.

Apollo: Wanna talk, Freckles? You know where to find me

Of course, he wants to talk. Of course—

Suddenly, it clicks, and I lift my head. “It’s a long shot … but I might know someone willing to help.”

Apollo

The frantic knocking on my door has me hurrying out of my much-needed bath with a simple towel wrapped around my waist. There goes my moment of leisure. Whoever is at my door better be prepared for some accidental slip of the dick.

“What do you w—”

Aspen Caruso is standing in front of my bedroom door completely covered in blood with a wounded Grey Westbrook on her arms.

“What the hell?” I mutter.

“Oh my— fuck —” Grey immediately turns his head at the sight of my bulging everything, but the flush on his face tells me enough.

“You wanted to talk, so let’s talk,” Aspen says.

I pull them inside, then grasp her face, turning it to all sides so I can inspect her for damage. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” she replies, trying to swat me away.

“Then whose blood is this?”

She blushes. “No comment.”

Now I’m really intrigued.

I stare at Grey, but he won’t budge either. They’re conspiring together. A wide grin spreads on my cheeks. I knew she was fiery.

“Stop staring,” she says.

“Wait, how did you even get inside?”

“I’m a Phantom, remember? People let me in,” Grey responds.

“Oh, right, forgot.” I laugh, but I’m the only one, and that’s sort of stupid, so I cut it off real quick. “This isn’t what I imagined when I told you to come find me.”

“We need your help,” she says as she puts him down on my big leather chair in the corner, ruining the fabric with blood stains that aren’t hers. Goddammit . “He got shot.”

I narrow my eyes. “Since when is that my problem?”

“Since you owe me,” she says, putting her hands against her waist like she wants to teach me a lesson, and I like the sass.

I tilt my head. “And what makes you think I can help?”

She rips open his pants from the bottom and shows me the gnarly wound. “You have a first-aid degree, right? Help him … and we’re even.”

Even?

I don’t want to be even, but I guess it’ll have to do, considering she probably hates my guts right now because I helped Levi concoct and execute his filthy plan.

But those ocean-blue eyes of hers reflect a kind of smugness I’ve only ever seen in the mirror, and it surprises me.

If the blood on her skin isn’t hers … she killed someone.

I’m impressed.

“All right, Freckles…” I fold my arms. “But there will be a price.”

She rolls her eyes and groans out loud. “Always the fucking blackmailing. Fine. Just fucking do it.”

A filthy, smug smile forms on my face. “Come this way.”

We walk farther into my lavish room.

“Shouldn’t you put something on first?” Grey asks.

“Why? Doesn’t this fit me?” I retort, right as the towel drops to the floor.

His face goes from slightly flushed to red as a beet, and the color complements his otherwise pale skin.

“Better?” I chuckle.

“Goddammit, Apollo. This isn’t the time for sexual innuendos. Just help him out. Please,” Aspen grumbles as she sets him down on my giant bed.

I roll my eyes and grab some clean boxershorts to put on before I grab the first-aid kit from my closet.

When I approach them Grey leers up at me with apprehension, which I understand.

After all, our first encounter ended with him tied up, sucking the cum straight from my tip while whimpering like a little twink high on sex.

And honestly, sometimes that’s all someone needs to truly find peace.

Grey

He kneels in front of me, and my heart rate shoots up.

This is the motherfucker who tied me to that chair and had me lick the cum off his length.

He’s dangerous.

And not just because of his muscles.

I glare at him as he grabs my pants, my entire body flinching as he wraps his calloused fingers around my ankle. His icy-gray eyes pierce mine with intent, and I don’t fucking know why I’m so hyperaware of his hand slipping up my leg.

“Go on then, strip,” he says, with that deadly smirk of his.

“Fuck no,” I grit back.

“Grey …” Aspen places a hand on my shoulder, and it pulls me out of my anger.

She’s the calm beneath my storm.

“If we’re gonna take out the bullet, your pants need to go,” Apollo says, grinning. “If I wanted to see your cock, I wouldn’t even have had to ask.”

My jaw drops, but the heat still rushes to my cheeks, and it makes me lash out. I kick him in the face with my good leg, but he catches my foot midair.

“Play nice, Ghost-boy. You came to me, remember?”

“Why are you calling him Ghost-boy?” Aspen shivers. “It freaks me out.”

“He’s got white hair,” Apollo says, shrugging. “Moves like he’s invisible too.”

“I don’t want to be seen,” I reply. “Not by someone like you anyway.”

“Too late for that.” Those intense eyes of his bore into mine again. “Because I’ve most definitely already seen everything I need to know about you.”

I can’t stop staring, and neither does he. Suddenly, he rips down my pants, leaving only my boxers, which apparently don’t fucking help much against his hungered glare.

Goddammit.

“Let’s go somewhere else,” I growl, as I attempt to get up.

But Apollo’s strong grip on my leg keeps me in place.

“Stay.”