CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CASPER
“Someone needs to deal with Charlie. He’s had more than enough time.” Rebel glanced around at the four of us. “Grabbing him during the day will be easiest. He’s probably still sleeping off his bender from last night. Who wants to go?”
The five of us had gathered outside on campus to discuss a problem we were having. A guy we’d hired to source us a hard to get pharmaceutical drug had taken our money without producing the goods. Rebel was understandably growing impatient. We’d given him a solid ten grand.
Auryn shook his head. “I’m out. I have an exam today that I can’t miss.”
“It’s not a great day for me either,” Stray said. “I can swing it though, if I have to.”
Rebel’s gaze landed on me, his blue eyes inquisitive. He scratched a hand along his tattooed neck before rubbing the faint stubble on his chin. “I do have a class that I shouldn’t miss, but I’m sure I can catch up. Do you want to take this one together?”
I nodded. As much as I would have loved to hang around campus and grab some time with Luna, I was always up for a good enforcer job. Unleashing the pent up feelings roiling about inside me through violence was exactly what I needed.
“Fine. Casper and I will handle it. We’ll catch up with you guys later.” Rebel pulled out his phone as we walked toward the parking lot, firing off a few text messages to Storm. A glance at his screen showed me a few red hearts followed by an eggplant and a peach emoji. Pervert.
Luna and I had texted a few times throughout the day.
Little things like asking how the other slept.
What she was up to later today. That kind of thing.
I wanted to see her again. I couldn’t help but be curious about this ex-boyfriend of hers, especially because Codie didn’t know a damn thing about him.
We got into Rebel’s freshly painted black BMW. He’d had a new paint job done after several repairs due to a small collision. The inside of the car smelled like a mixture of his cologne and Storm’s perfume.
I momentarily envied him. I wasn’t sure if I wanted what they had. Marriage sounded intense as hell. All legal and shit. Yet I kind of liked the idea of being bound to someone that way.
Would Luna ever want to tie herself to a guy like me? A man who would kill without a second thought. A man who would do anything for her.
I thought about the way she’d squirmed on the bed beneath me as I ate her delectable pussy.
Fuck she was a delicious little thing. Pulling my hair while she came all over my tongue.
I couldn’t wait to taste her again. To stretch her wide open with my cock.
What kind of noises would she make? I wondered if I could make her scream.
“Casper?”
I glanced over to find Rebel watching me expectedly. Like he’d asked me a question I hadn’t heard.
“Sorry, what?” I signed, feeling embarrassed at having been caught daydreaming about my flower.
“I asked you if Charlie still lives in that shithole off Brighton Ave. What’s with you?
You seem spaced out.” Rebel turned his attention to the street ahead as we pulled out of the campus parking lot and into traffic.
As he drove he absently tugged on the blonde chunk off to one side in the front of his dark brown hair. A quirk I didn’t think he was aware of.
I waited until we pulled to a stop at a red light to sign, “Nothing. Just lost in thought. Yeah, pretty sure he’s still at the same place.”
“Obsessing over Luna,” he said with a smirk. It wasn’t a question. “How long have you had a thing for her?”
He glanced over to watch my hands as I replied, “She caught my eye a while ago. It was at your wedding that I knew I wanted her.”
I saw no reason to lie to Rebel. He was one of my best friends. If anyone understood, it would be him.
“Do you think she’s the one?” He directed his attention back to the road as the light turned green. “Your whole fucking world turns upside down when you find the one. Storm made me fucking crazy sometimes. She still does. I love every second.”
I wasn’t sure I would use that terminology. It felt too specific. Too fantastical. All I knew was that looking at Luna was enough to punch me right in the gut. Being around her made me feel things I’d never known existed. Feelings that cut right to my core. Shaking me up inside.
That’s what I told him when we came to another red light. Rebel merely chuckled, shaking his head. “Yep. She’s the one.”
His words sent a cold chill through me. I wanted Luna, no doubt. However, I wasn’t sure what that meant for me. I already struggled with the monster inside me that had been birthed the night my trauma began. What if I couldn’t keep it contained? What if it ruined everything?
We arrived at the rundown apartment building where Charlie had been living.
Hiring a guy who lived in a place like this had probably been our first mistake.
We worked with all kinds of people. Some of them were millionaires who lived in swanky penthouses.
Others were street scum like Charlie. We did whatever it took to get the goods our clients requested.
There was no lock on the building’s main door to keep us from entering.
We walked right inside with no problem. Up to the third floor, following a staircase draped in stained carpet that looked like it hadn’t been changed since the place had been built.
As we strolled down the hallway toward his apartment, a crash came from behind one door.
A television blaring daytime talk shows came from behind another.
We stopped outside Charlie’s door, listening for a moment. Rebel tried the door handle, finding it locked. Although we could simply kick the door in, he raised his hand and knocked.
“This motherfucker better not try anything,” Rebel muttered.
The door cracked open a few inches as Charlie peered out. I didn’t give him the chance to shut the door in our faces. Giving it a kick, I forced it open, driving him backwards.
“Oh, hey guys. How’s it going?” Charlie’s voice shook with nerves. “Come on in. I was just waking up and rolling a joint.”
Charlie looked pathetic as hell in a stained wife beater and boxer shorts. His hair was greasy and unkempt, dark circles under his eyes. He’d most likely been in a cycle of getting drunk and high.
Rebel closed the door, turning the lock. Not that anybody in this building would come to Charlie’s aid.
“Where’s our money, Charlie?” Rebel demanded, advancing on him. “You were supposed to have our drugs by now.”
Charlie backed down the short hall toward the living room with Rebel and me stalking toward him. “I talked to the guy. Really. He said he’ll have it tomorrow. I just need a little more time.”
“That’s what you said the last time we asked about it. A week ago. No more time, Charlie. No more chances.” The sinister expression Rebel wore had Charlie shaking.
He raised both hands, pleading for mercy. “I swear it this time. He’s good for it. I’m good for it. You’ll get your dope.”
Rebel pretended to consider for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I think we’ve changed our minds. We want our money back. Now. We’ll give you thirty seconds to produce it before we start breaking your body parts.”
We herded him into the small living room. It was little more than a worn brown couch that sagged in the middle and a coffee table littered with empty bottles and a tray filled with marijuana. Charlie almost tripped over a random running shoe in the middle of the floor.
“I don’t have the money. I gave it to my guy so he could get your stuff. You need to give me one more day. That’s all. One day.” His words were frantic, his eyes wide.
My entire body thrummed with anticipation. My skin felt tight. Like I needed to let loose the violence within me to feel comfortable. To ease the tension that made it hard to breathe.
I grabbed Charlie by the throat, giving him a shove that sent him flying. He crashed into the coffee table as he went down on the floor. Since I was just getting started, I reached to drag him to his feet.
He snatched up a knife that had been hidden in the trash on the table, taking a swing at me. The dirty blade slashed across my forearm, cutting me wide open. I made a sound low in my throat, a barely audible snarl. It wasn’t often that I made a noise of any kind. It didn’t come easily.
Rebel moved quickly, grabbing Charlie’s arm before he swung again.
He snapped Charlie’s wrist back at an awkward angle, forcing him to drop the weapon as he screamed in pain.
Not wanting to bleed on the carpet since we would soon have a dead body on our hands, I went to the kitchen in search of something to wrap the wound.
All I found was an almost empty roll of paper towel.
I wrapped it the best I could, the blood immediately seeping through.
“Now you’re dead,” Rebel said, holding a gun to Charlie’s head. “We were going to beat your ass, but now we have to kill you.”
“Fuck you, man,” Charlie spat, making a pathetic effort to crawl away. “You’ll never get your drugs or your money if you kill me.”
I was done holding back. There was no caging the monster once it was free. Grabbing Charlie by the hair, I slammed his face into the coffee table repeatedly. I followed that by pounding my fist into his face several times.
He was dazed and bloody, too weak and pitiful to fight back. Too bad. I liked it better when they fought back.
Grabbing an empty vodka bottle from the table, I smashed it over Charlie’s skull. He let out a wail, trying desperately to cover his head with his arms. I took advantage of his stupidity to bury my boot in his ribs over and over. I didn’t stop until he coughed blood.
Since a gun would be far too loud, I fetched the knife he’d dropped and plunged it into his throat. For good measure, I pulled it free and slammed it into his chest. There was no coming back from that. Blood bucketed from the wound in his throat, quickly soaking the carpet beneath him.
“Damn, Casper,” Rebel laughed. “That was especially brutal, even for you. Exorcising some inner demons, are you?”
I shrugged and signed, “Something like that.”
Staring down at Charlie’s bloody corpse, I wondered if Luna could accept this part of me. Sure she’d seen me kill someone while defending her. This was different. I killed Charlie simply because I wanted to.
I needed her to accept all of me. Especially the darkest parts. Otherwise, there was no telling what I might do.