Page 12 of The Black Lotus (Fatal Florals Duet #2)

SEVEN

SERENA

I t’s the witching hour as we drive to the dump location Aster has yet to disclose to me. He says the destination is a part of the journey and, just like when he disposed of his little lambs, every location is different but secluded.

I wanted nothing more than to lay down curled up next to Aster and fall asleep after we killed him, but Nate’s body needed to be dealt with.

My needs were not as important as completing what we started.

If we waited too long the body would start to decompose, making it harder to relocate.

It had to be at night when no one could see what we were doing.

Unlike his little lambs, he did not paint Nate's body, so the world will know the true face of the Concord Killer. When I asked Aster why he didn’t want to paint Nate, he said since the Morbid Monet has a partner in crime now, he wanted to recreate his signature with me.

When I asked why he painted them to begin with he said that he wanted his lambs to remain his, no one was to ever know who they were after they laid on his table.

The thought that I was almost his lamb has me grateful I’m now his vixen, the match to his crazy.

My crazy is different from his since I was seeing a person who wasn’t actually there, but we both crave power.

Taking a life, watching the blood splatter is the kind of chaos our love was made in.

He may have been bred to be a serial killer, but he was always meant to be mine, and together we will paint the world crimson.

During my interrogation to find out more about Cynthia’s plans, I expected Aster to join in, to give me hands-on learning experience, and for us to kill Nate together.

But, just like Bradley, he stood off to the side watching.

I understand that he loves watching the beast within me break free and run amuck, but I want his darkness to join mine.

I want to create a bloody masterpiece of our victims. Together.

The car slows to a stop in front of an old, abandoned warehouse.

There is a chain link fence blocking our entry, so Aster reaches behind him and grabs the bolt cutters he had laying on the floor.

“Stay here,” he demands, his voice almost unrecognizable.

Without waiting for a response, he leaves the car, his door left open as he cuts the lock and pushes the gate all the way open.

You would think with how old this place looks the hinges would squeak, but nothing except the sound of the harsh wind hits my ears, the cold bite and my killing high slowly fading has me shivering, even in a long sleeved shirt.

He gets back in the car and we pull around to the back of the building. “Have you been here before?” I ask, placing my hand against the window.

“I have several places picked for dump sites I have scoped, but not used yet.”

My breath fogs the window. “For your little lambs?” I turn to look at him. “Or for our victims.”

He smirks leaving my question unanswered and hands me a black bonnet. “What’s this for?” I ask, wrapping my hair up and placing the cap over it.

Aster reaches over, tucking a fallen strand of hair into the cover. “This is your first time disposing of a body; we don’t want any chance of your DNA being left behind. Here.” He hands me a pair of matching black gloves.

“No fingerprints.” I smile, pulling them on.

“Exactly.”

He gets out of the car, and walks to my side holding small boots in front of me. My mouth drops open, my nose scrunching in disbelief. “My feet will be squashed in those.”

“We need to make them fit.” He bends down and takes a cloth out of his pocket.

“If we leave any kind of footprint behind, they need to never track it to us.” I hiss as he wraps my feet, kissing the top of them after each one is secure.

No wonder he hasn’t been caught or has never been a suspect; he goes to extensive lengths to make sure no trace of him is left behind.

Just evidence of someone that doesn’t match his well, anything .

“After we’re done here, I promise to give you a foot massage.”

He slips on the boots, each one entering without resistance. “It better be a toe curling, orgasmic foot rub.” I wink.

He chuckles, getting off his knees and holding his hand out for me. “Look at you being all gentlemanly,” I tease, wrapping my fingers around his.

“Even monsters are taught manners. How else do you think the lambs fall at my feet?” My eyes travel down his body. Your dick.

His hand captures my wrist as I try to smack his chest. Asshole is goading me on purpose.

The fog from our breathing clouds the air between us, his eyes taking on a predatory look through the mist, one that has every instinct in my body screaming at me to run as my core begs for him to fill it, but we still have a body to dispose of.

Reluctantly, I pull my hand from his, breaking the spell, and walk to the trunk.

“This body isn’t going to take care of itself,” I tell a still frozen Aster.

“You can chase me and live up to the promise in your eyes later, fox.” He shakes his head, clearing his shock before sauntering over to me.

“Grab that bag.” He points to a black duffel he must’ve put in here when I was getting ready.

I huff, dragging the bag out of the trunk. “Why is it so heavy?”

“You’ll see,” Aster chuckles, a deadly smirk stretching across his lips.

He effortlessly hefts Nate's body over his shoulder, grabbing his musket in the other hand, and I follow, taking note of my surroundings as we walk to the building.

We drove for quite some time, and this warehouse, along with several more flanking either side, are all abandoned.

Broken and boarded up windows make up most of the building's features now. We walk towards the door and I flinch when I step on a piece of broken glass. A loud bang has me dropping the duffel in my hand, my wide eyes locking on Aster’s laughing ones.

“What the fuck, Aster!” I whisper shout, picking up the heavy bag with a growl.

He shrugs. “Had to open the door somehow.” And alert everyone to our presence.

Storming through the door, no longer caring about being quiet. If he doesn’t care about being loud, then neither will I. “What’d you do? Kick it down?” I ask sarcastically, already knowing the answer.

He gives me a cheeky grin. “Exactly.”

I roll my eyes while striding past him into the dark pit of Nate’s new resting place.

“Welcome home poser ,” he says, laying Nate’s body down on the cement floor.

Dropping the bag, I sit beside the body, out of breath from our trek into the building.

Plus, my feet are killing me. Sitting criss-cross, I massage one foot through my boot, trying to relieve some of the ache.

I really hope I won’t have to do this every time we kill someone; I’d rather just burn them.

No body, no evidence. Glancing around the gloomy space, my nose curls at the damp smell I can’t escape.

Easier than all of this . But Aster said we need to send a message to the others coming after us, to let them know what will happen if they try their hand for my head.

And I agree. We know it won’t deter all of them, but some have to be smart enough not to go up against us.

My lips thin at the thought. Only time will tell.

“Hand me the bag,” Aster says, reaching behind his back and waiting for me to place the bag in his hand.

“Get it yourself.”

He grabs the bag, effortlessly and walks back to Nate. “Come here,” he demands.

I crawl over to him, a second failed attempt at easing some of the pain from my feet. Man, I wish I could rip these boots off. I sit quietly on my knees watching Aster sit Nate's body up against a pile of rubble.

When I was in my killing space, taunting and torturing my first assassin, it felt like an out of body experience.

Looking at a different version of me, someone darker and more twisted, I was the monster who had finally been set free.

I just know when Aster finally joins me it’ll be euphoric and end with us naked and fucking next to our victim.

I bite my lip at the thought as I rub my thighs together, failing to ease the ache between my legs.

After he places him how he wants him, he pulls out a blue rose and black lotus from his back pocket.

When did he grab those? My eyes zero in on the beauty of them both, thorns protruding from the rose and barely visible on the lotus.

Both flowers are lovely, but one wrong move and they both can make you bleed.

Aster tries to hand the lotus to me but I stop him before he can, a devious idea crossing my mind.

“What are you doing?” he asks as I stand on wobbly legs offering me his arm. I grab it and pull myself up. Once I’m steady I walk over to grab the musket.

Checking to see that there is still ammo in the gun, I point the barrel at Nate's chest, motioning with my head for Aster to move.

His eyes widen as he steps behind me, covering his ears, watching as I blow Nate’s chest cavity wide open with his own weapon.

Shot heard around the world. I chuckle as my ears ring, somehow having not dropped the gun in the process, my bright idea biting me in the ass.

After the buzzing in my head stops, I wipe the sweat mixed with gunpowder and guts off my face, and lay the gun back down. “All done, you can continue.”

Aster closes his mouth, shaking his head in disbelief and places the rose where Nate’s chest had been. He looks back at me, features softening as he hands me the black lotus. “You choose where you want to leave your signature, vixen.”

My heart swells as I contemplate where to leave my mark.

This is a big decision. What I choose today is where I will need to leave my flower every time.

I need it to mean something. Something only Aster and I will know the true meaning behind.

My eyes scan Nate’s body, moving from each part until finally landing on the one.

I can’t believe it took me this long to figure out where I wanted it.

It’s so obvious that if I’d waited any longer deciding, the dead body would have come back to life and bitten me.

Leaning down, I place my lotus right next to Aster’s rose, answering him before he has the chance to ask why. “Your signature was about the heart you didn’t have. Mine is to show who owns it.” He leans down and kisses the top of my head before we both sit back and admire our work.

He reaches into the bag to grab a different rose, taking two petals off, but I stop him. Shaking my head, I limp over to where the bag lays, my feet screaming to be set free. I am going to burn these shoes when we get home .

I kneel down to examine the contents in the duffel.

No wonder it was so heavy . This is a kill bag, most likely Nate’s since there are extra balls and what looks like gunpowder in it.

I grab what I’m looking for, a mischievous smile splitting my cheeks.

Placing the items over the eyes, I look down at our handiwork.

Aster pulls me to my feet and spins me around. “You have quite the sense of humor.”

I laugh along with him. “You have a partner now, my fox, and I’m just getting started.”

“My, my what do we have here?” A familiar voice sounds from the doorway startling us both.

We turn around to find Zephira standing with her arms crossed.

“When I heard the gun go off I thought that the Concord Killer might have won the bid after all.” She pushes off the wall and steps closer.

“But then I thought no way could that wannabe killer get the jump on my big brother or his lamb.”

“Vixen,” Aster growls, correcting his sister.

“For now,” she says, placing her hands behind her back as she stands next to Nate's body looking down at him. “Quite the number you did on him. I’m assuming this is your finishing touch, brother?” She turns around at the last word.

I answer before Aster has a chance to. “Actually, this was my idea and my work.”

Her eyebrows shoot up and the corner of her lip lifts. “Impressive. Who would have thought that a killer was lurking inside you. Very poetic, killing him with his own weapon.”

“There is a lot about me that you and-” I spit the next word, “-your mother will never know.”

“Indeed.” She walks past me, her shoulder brushing mine, sending a skitter of goosebumps trailing up my arm. “It’s going to be hard to let you go.”

“She’s not yours to let go!” Aster yells after her, but she has already left the building, leaving us standing there in the silence. “Even in death I would never let you go.”

“And I you.”

He kisses me, lifting me into his arms bridal style, my feet finally getting the break they needed. I smile up at him as I relax into his hold and we go back to the car, leaving all the evidence of who Nate is behind, ready and waiting for anyone to find.