Page 72 of Boys Who Taint (Spine Ridge University #5)

Apollo

I kick open the front door, aim, and shoot.

BANG!

The bat is knocked out of his hand.

“What the—” Silas turns, gaze blinded by hatred. “How the fuck did you—”

“Step away from him,” I growl. “Now.”

Behind me, Max’s motorcycle comes to a grinding halt, and he casts his helmet aside as he runs up to me. “Levi? Silas? Are you in here?”

“What the fuck?” Silas grits at me. “You brought him here?”

“I did what I had to do,” I reply, walking closer.

“I think the fuck not,” Silas warns, picking up his bat again so he can point it at me.

I swiftly look over Levi, but he’s in such bad shape that I wonder if he’s even going to be able to walk out of here. “Levi? Levi!”

He’s not answering.

Goddammit.

“Oh my God,” Max says, as he grabs his own hair. “What have you done?”

“I gave him the pain he deserves,” Silas responds.

“Oh God …” Cecelia muffles her own mouth out of shock.

“Sisi, free Levi,” I bark. “I’ll take care of him.”

“The fuck you will,” Silas warns, pointing a knife at Levi’s eye. “Stay where you are, or I will make sure he never sees the light of day again.”

I keep my gun aimed at him. “Don’t do it, Silas.”

Silas narrows his eyes. “You think you can stop me?”

“Silas, please, stop this,” Max begs.

“No, Max, he killed my fucking sister. She lost her life, so now he loses his,” he responds.

“He’s my brother!” Max yells, stepping closer.

Silas puts a knife under Levi’s throat. “Don’t. Don’t try anything or I will slice his throat.”

The door slams open again, and Heath barges inside with Ivy, who immediately grabs Max’s hand when she sees Levi. “Oh God. Silas?”

“Wow, I have a fucking audience now?” Silas growls. “Great. You came just in time.” He points at Levi. “We’re about to butcher this dude.”

“Silas, stop this, please,” Ivy begs.

But he’s still only glaring at me. “You really thought this through, didn’t you? How the fuck did you even find me here? Did Heath tell you?”

Heath’s eyes widen, but I step in front of him to protect him from Silas’s wrath. I know the type of rage he feels, but I won’t let it control my heart like he’s let it devour his.

But I guess the death of a family member would turn me into a bloodthirsty monster too.

“I know what your hideouts are,” I lie. “Where you like to kill your victims.”

“Bullshit!” Silas yells. “You’re all conspiring against me.”

“We’re not,” Ivy responds. “What do you think killing him will accomplish?”

“Justice,” he growls.

Max pulls his phone from his pocket and calls someone. “Elliot, come to the Shack. Bring Sunny.”

“Calling big sis now?” Silas laughs, making an o-shape with his mouth. “Ooh, so scared.”

“Spilling blood doesn’t end with more blood,” Heath says.

“Please stop this insanity,” Cecelia begs.

“I know you think you need this, but if you do this, it’ll never end,” I say.

“Listen to him, Silas,” Ivy says. “You know this isn’t right.”

“You’re only saying that because he’s Max’s brother,” Silas grits, pushing the knife further into Levi’s neck.

“Please, stop,” Ivy begs, stepping closer. “This’ll destroy our families. This’ll destroy us.”

Silas snorts. “ He already destroyed everything .”

“You wanna destroy your relationship with Ivy? By all means, be my guest,” I say. “But don’t drag my cousin into it.”

“You’re just as much of a piece of shit as he is,” Silas growls, pointing at me. “Did you even fucking tell them you’re banging my sister and her boyfriend? Hmm?”

Ivy’s eyes widen, and she looks at me like she’s seeing double.

“And Levi didn’t just fucking kill Mave!” Silas growls. “He fucked Aspen!”

The door slams open again, and Grey, Xavier, and Aspen burst in, and everyone immediately gazes at my girl. I guess that’s out in the open now.

Silence has never felt more unnerving to me than it does now.

I clear my throat. “Well, this is awkward as hell.”

Aspen

Oh God.

Everyone’s looking at me. They know the truth now.

“He destroyed both of my fucking sisters, and now he’ll fucking die for it,” Silas grits, breaking the silence.

When he attempts to slice Levi’s throat, Apollo aims and shoots.

BANG!

The knife is knocked out of his hands, but not before it manages to cut through a piece of Levi’s skin.

He groans in agony, and I shriek. “NO!”

“That’s it,” Silas growls, before he suddenly storms at Apollo with the bat, wildly flinging it around. “Fight me then, pussy!”

Apollo aims, but Silas knocks the gun from his hand. No one dares to get close because he’s flinging that bat around. He pulls out a new knife and slices the air between his bat swings, cutting his way through Apollo’s shirt like it’s child’s play to him.

“You think you can win this?!” Silas screams. “Kill me then, or so help me God, I will fucking kill Levi Torres!”

Cecelia tries to hook him with her right foot, but Silas sidesteps and knocks her off-balance with a single shove.

Then he punches Apollo in the stomach, but Apollo grabs his wrist and twists his arm, forcing him to release the bat.

Another slice cuts through the air, carving into Apollo’s cheek.

The look on his face grows incensed, and he punches Silas in the gut so hard he’s knocked to the floor.

“No one fucking touches my sister.”

Apollo jumps on top of him and goes ham on his face, punching wildly out of control, while Silas attempts to slice him in the arms.

“What the fuck is happening?” Xavier asks with his jaw wide open.

Apollo doesn’t even seem to notice the blood rolling down his arms as he hammers down on Silas with immense force.

Good God.

“Don’t hurt him!” Ivy screams, jumping on top of Apollo.

But Apollo accidentally hits her with his elbow, and Heath rolls up his sleeves. “That’s it. I didn’t want to fucking do this again, but you leave me no choice.”

Heath throws himself on top of the two others, punching and hitting both of them to get them to stop, but it’s only getting worse.

“Stop, fucking stop it!” Max yells, trying to pull them all away from each other, but it’s no use.

In the midst of the chaos, I rush toward Levi’s chair and pick up the first knife Silas dropped, then cut through the ropes. “Goddammit,” I hiss to myself when it’s not fast enough.

“Here,” Grey says, as he slides to his knees and helps me out with the last knot. “Grab his arm, I’ll take the other.”

We both throw Levi’s arms over our shoulders and try to make our way to the door, but Silas grabs Grey’s ankle and twists him until we both fall.

“Not so fucking fast,” he grits, crawling out from underneath the pileup.

“Let go of me!” Grey yells, kicking around.

Apollo pounces on Silas again, snatching his knife away.

“Get off my brother!” Xavier yells, and he throws himself into the fray too.

“Xav, fucking help me kick their asses and kill Levi!” Silas growls.

Silas kicks Apollo in the balls so hard that he rolls onto the floor, groaning while grasping his junk. Cecelia picks up a fallen knife and threatens Silas with it, cutting away into the air. Ivy steps away and tries to drag Max and Heath out of the fight, while I struggle to haul Levi to the door.

I can’t do it by myself. He’s too heavy, and Silas is on my back.

“Aspen, what the fuck are you doing?” he yells.

I nearly collapse against the shoddy, half-broken wall, but Grey finally catches up and helps me bring him out the front door.

“No, don’t let him go!” Silas growls at both Max and Heath. “Don’t you fucking understand? Levi didn’t just fucking kill Mave, he assaulted Aspen! He deserves to rot in hell!”

Max and Heath throw one look at us, and the anger that slowly fills their irises makes me swallow back the lump in my throat.

Oh fuck.

“Run.”

Grey

We rush across the muddy ground as fast as we possibly can, dragging Levi’s lifeless body with us. Every glance I take over my shoulder, I spot more people coming out of the Shack, still punching and kicking at each other to keep the others from following us.

It’s a giant mess.

And I can’t help but wonder … why didn’t she tell them the truth?

First, everyone was trying to stop Silas, but now it seems Heath and Xavier have joined the fight to help Levi, all while Max, Ivy, and Apollo are trying to stop them from chasing us.

We have to get out of here fast.

“Where do we go?” Aspen asks.

“My car,” I say.

I parked it on the road close to the house, and when we finally get there, I rip open the passenger door, and we push him into the back seat.

Suddenly, someone grabs me and shoves me aside.

“Get out of my way so I can fucking finish this!” Silas yells.

Aspen jumps into the front seat and starts the engine.

“Wait!” I yell, but it’s too late. She’s already raced off in my car with the door still open, and Levi’s feet are dangling out.

“You motherfucker.”

PUNCH!

Silas’s fist hits me right in the nose, and I groan in pain as the blood begins to roll.

“Not again,” I mutter to myself.

“You think you can stop me from killing him?” he screams.

Suddenly, Apollo pulls him off me and drags him away. “I thought I told you to fucking lay off. I’m gonna have to fucking teach you a lesson now.”

“Fucking bring it! I’ll chop off your fucking arm!” Silas pulls another knife from his pocket.

Where the fuck does he keep pulling out even more knives? How many does he even have?

Fuck, her brother is even more of an obsessive psycho than I am.

He stabs Apollo in the arm, but it doesn’t even seem to faze him. Apollo snatches the knife out of his hand and thrusts it into Silas’s hip, who howls out in pain.

“Fuck you!”

Ivy jumps on Apollo’s back and punches him in the shoulder. “Don’t fucking hurt him!”

But Apollo drags her off him with just a single hand and throws her onto the ground.

Heath rushes out the door and punches Apollo square in the face. “Don’t fucking touch my girl!”

BANG!

I jolt up and down and look up at Max shooting the ground near the three of them, but they don’t even pay attention to him, so he tosses the gun away and bolts at them.

They all start fighting again, and I crawl away to get out of the mess, when suddenly I spot a motorcycle and a bunch of cars all headed toward us.

My eyes widen. “What the fuck—That looks like—”

“Oh, fuck no,” Max murmurs, while Heath, Apollo, Silas, and Ivy briefly stop punching each other just to look up at the road. “It’s my mom.”