Page 83 of Boys Who Taint (Spine Ridge University #5)

Aspen

Weeks later

Levi approaches the ledge from which we all once jumped the night Mavis died, and places the bouquet of black roses he brought on the ground where we all lost her.

“I hope you found some spirit friends to haunt us,” he says, smiling briefly.

My mom wipes away her tears with her sleeve, and my dad pulls her in for a hug.

Felix nearly crushes his own fingers in the palm of his hand, blood trickling down his skin. I pluck a single flower from my bouquet and hand it to him. “Give this to her.”

He stares at me for a moment, then homes in on the flower.

“Go on,” I urge him.

Finally, he lets go of his pent-up rage and approaches the ledge where we last saw her alive.

He kneels and places it down on the ground, then says something none of us can hear, but I know he’s speaking to his daughter, however far away she may be.

Alistair places down his bouquet too, and Silas snatches a flower from mine to place down something too.

Not everyone brought something, and I don’t blame them.

The very thought of having to buy flowers for a deceased family member is too much for some to bear, even for my disheveled, unhinged family.

They may be violent and vicious, but they are family.

And families hurt together.

Lana and Kai go next, placing their giant bouquets at the ledge, after which all their kids follow with cards, flowers, and candles. Even Apollo’s family showed up to the wake.

“I’ll miss you,” Heath says, as he loses his balance and falls to his knees, crying like crazy. “You were my best friend.”

Ivy hurries to his side along with Max, and they both console him.

My mother approaches Heath and places her hand on his shoulder, squeezing softly before she sets down her flowers as well. “We all miss her.”

Tears well up in my eyes as every person in our collective families pays their respects to Mavis. This was the funeral she deserved.

I’m the last one to go, but instead of placing my flowers down on the ground, I throw them to the wind, scattering the petals like her soul got scattered in the wind.

“Fly high.”

Grey

I pluck the knife from the body and wipe it on my shirt, breathing ragged breaths.

“How many more do you need, man?” Levi asks.

“Until they’re all gone,” I say, wiping the sweat off my face.

The man in front of me is showered in holes, the bloodshed a small victory to my decrepit heart.

“That’s a high goal post, bro,” Apollo says.

“I don’t care. I’m gonna get my revenge, no matter what,” I reply, nostrils flaring. “Those fuckers killed my parents.”

“Understandable.” Levi stabs a Bonesman, who groans from the bullet hole in his chest. “So … this is what you and Aspen were doing the night I found you in Apollo’s bedroom,” Levi says, sucking in a breath through his nose. “Why didn’t you just tell us all the truth?”

“You thought I trusted you? While you were trying to kill me?” I stare him down.

He nods a few times. “Touché.”

“Grey and I first talked while I was grieving over Mavis,” Aspen explains. “We were both hurting when we found each other.”

“Well, I mean … I was stalking you for a while then,” I say, rubbing my lips together.

Levi narrows his eyes. “You stalked her?”

“Don’t act like that’s new information,” I retort. “You’re the one who chased her into the auditorium.”

“That’s different.”

“It’s not, though.”

We both stab the Bonesman a few more times as if we’re both in need of a release.

Aspen snorts. “Sounds like you two have more in common than you’d like.”

“We’re nothing alike,” Levi says.

“Good, then you can both fill a gap in her filthy little heart,” Apollo says. “Are you guys done?”

“Not nearly,” I reply, still feeling my blood boil. “I’m not satiated. I want more fucking bodies to slice up.”

“We can find more, can’t we?” Aspen asks.

“Of course. There’s a ton of Bonesmen Brotherhood locations sprawled across this city,” Apollo says, stomping on one of those fucker’s heads until it’s all blood and brains scattered on the pavement. “Maybe not tonight, though. We’ve got too many bodies to get rid of now.”

“I’m surprised your parents haven’t taken care of them yet,” Levi tells her.

“I don’t think they can,” she says. “They have some sort of truce, I think.”

“Really?” Levi frowns. “That’s odd.”

“Tell me about it,” she says, inspecting one of the dead. “Do you think this’ll come back to bite us in the ass?”

“Nah. I’ll ask Dad to take care of these bodies.”

“And you’ll tell him what, exactly?” she asks.

“That we ran into some Bonesmen who were too eager to kill.” Apollo grins. “He hates them as much as we do.”

One of them still squeaks, and I cut through his vocal cords to make sure he never speaks again.

“Wow, you really hate them a lot, don’t you?” Levi says. “I didn’t know you could be this—”

“Violent?” I interject.

“Unhinged.” A lopsided grin spreads on his face. “I like it.”

“Don’t like it too much.” I stab the fucker for good measure. “You might end up on the tip of my knife if you’re not careful.” I drag it out again and watch the blood drip down the metal.

His brow rises. “Are you threatening me?”

“Do you like to be threatened?” I retort.

“Okay, enough with the sexual chemistry.” She sighs. “We’ve got bodies to get rid of, and they won’t walk themselves out of this parking lot.”

“You grab the legs. I’ll grab the arms,” Apollo tells Levi.

We carry all the bodies into the trunk of the car, and then hop inside. I start the engine, but before I slam my foot on the gas, I grab her face with bloodied hands and kiss her hard. “God, I love it when you kill with me.”

Her lips pull away, her hungered eyes connecting with mine, before her lips latch onto Apollo’s. He leans in from the back just to grab her by the throat, and fuck me, nothing is sexier than watching my woman get kissed by another.

Levi leans in too and squeezes her tit as he presses filthy kisses all over her neck, making her giggle.

“I’ll keep kissing and licking our girl while you drive us to our next bloody kill,” Apollo says.

“Get her hot and bothered,” Levi groans against her earlobe before biting it.

“Fuck yes,” Aspen moans.

I glance at her while hitting the gas. “And when we’re done killing those sons of bitches, we’ll have our way with you.”

Apollo

End of the summer

“A toast. To renewed trust.” Orion’s dad, Blaine, holds up his cup, and everyone does the same. It’s the first time everyone’s gotten back together like this in a long while, and I kind of missed it.

I glance around at the people chatting and smiling. Even though Felix and Dylan still don’t grant Kai and Levi a single look, at least they’re not trying to kill each other, so I guess that’s progress.

I nearly feel bad for wishing for Levi’s demise.

Oh well, I suppose this all works out in everyone’s best interest.

He gets to live, I get to enjoy the juicy plums of our girl, and everyone’s happy.

“So … Aspen, huh?” Orion says as he comes to stand beside me. “No wonder she was searching at the party.”

I narrow my eyes. “What are you going on about?”

He takes a sip of his drink all conspicuously. “Nothing.”

I pause and stare at him for a second. “Are you on drugs?”

He bursts out into laughter, nearly spilling his drink all over. “You’re funny.”

“I’m serious.”

“She was looking for someone at the Phantom Society party. I guess maybe she was looking for you … and Levi.” He wriggles his brows and glances around the room until he finds Levi himself. “I’m gonna go chat him up until he gives me all the deets. I need all the good stuff.”

“I’m not telling you shit, so you’re all out of luck with me,” I say, grinning. “Go write your novel about someone else.”

“Party-pooper,” he says smugly, before walking off.

I snort and take a sip of my drink, only to be distracted by a certain brother admiring Melody painting from afar.

I smirk as Atlas rubs his chin while gazing at the strokes she applies to the canvas, meticulously creating a still life of all the people here.

I tilt my head as he walks into the hallway, a little closer, but still too far to talk.

She puts down her brush for a second and walks off to grab a drink from the kitchen, completely oblivious to the fact that someone was watching.

Atlas closes in on the painting, and his fingers reach for the speck of paint near his own face, and then hers.

“Oh, it’s not finished yet!” Melody says.

He abruptly pulls his fingers away. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I just hate it when people look at my unfinished works,” she says.

“Why?” he asks.

“I don’t know … I just think it’s still … awful.”

He sucks in a breath, still staring at the partially faceless people on the canvas, muttering. “It’s beautiful.”

Her chest rises and falls. “W-what?”

He turns, eyes widened. “Huh?”

I snigger and take another sip of my drink. Guess he forgot he said that out loud.

“How long do you think it’ll take?” he asks.

“I don’t know … weeks, months? It depends on the size.” She sighs out loud and grabs her chest, pausing for a second. “I’m just happy I can finish a painting at all, at this rate.”

He clears his throat. “I’ll definitely check it out when it’s finished.” And he walks off swiftly.

“Nicely done,” I mutter as he passes me.

“Shut up,” he growls back, sticking up his middle finger.

Elliot grabs a cookie off the table and munches on it while he gazes at the painting. “I don’t know what he saw. Do you?”

“I’m not really into arts and crafts, but whatever makes her happy,” I reply.

“I just think she’s not pulling out her true potential,” he says, observing her paint. “I feel like she can do much better than this. It’s just that she’s not given the same opportunities as us.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“You know …” He takes a bite out of his cookie. “With all the sickness and stuff.”

“Oh…”

“She’s going to join us at Spine Ridge next year, though,” Xavier says, stealing Elliot’s cookie right when he was about to take another bite.

“Hey!”

Xavier shoves the whole thing into his mouth in one go. “Delicious.”