Chapter 47 #2
Tina
I can’t go there. I have a work commitment. Keep her for me.
I snort as I shake my head. Fat chance of that.
Me/Unknown
We’re going to kill her. You’re the only one who can keep that from happening.
Dots pop up before disappearing and I walk over to Troy and crouch beside him.
“Yeah?”
Hollis is keeping Aster too busy to notice us and I lean toward Troy until my lips are pressed against the shell of his ear. I notice the way he doesn’t flinch and moves toward me to listen. I place my hand on his thigh to see what he’ll do and he grabs it to keep it there.
Look at that bitch. Tina and Avery wanted to ruin and kill Troy, but they weren’t able to. I’m going to give Tina one of the worst days of her life now. I show Troy the screen and his lips curl in disgust.
“She doesn’t care,” he rasps. “Aster will be collateral damage until she can avenge her. She’s been using her sister all these years for her own sick reasons. She’s not coming.”
I drop my chin sharply to show I agree and stand, kissing his forehead as I rise. He’s having a rough time, and sitting this close to Aster can’t help. He wanted to be here with us, and I trust him to know what he can handle.
Everything out of Aster’s mouth are excuses as to why she helped Emilia.
The botanical gardens in Minneapolis are a place where important people gather for events, and it gave Aster a direct line to both gossip and contacts for Emilia.
When Hollis had an event that directly affected the megalomaniac, she had Aster help her take care of it.
They wanted to deliver a message to Hollis, and they wanted her to rethink going against them. They fucked with the wrong girl. Hollis holds grudges.
“Once you were no longer welcome in Minnesota, how did you hook up with Avery?” Hollis asks, trying to follow the train of their insanity.
“Tina put an ad in the paper as a personal assistant and Avery responded,” Aster says, looking loopy from pain.
I’ve broken quite a few of her bones, but none of them will kill her.
“I got a job almost immediately while Tina worked a few other jobs until she decided everyone else was stupid and she wanted a personal assistant job she could really sink her teeth into.”
“Do you see the alpha over there?” Alisa asks, pointing out Troy. He raises two fingers in the air before dropping his index finger to flick Aster off. “That personal assistant position included hurting him.”
“Your fucking sister sucked my cock to help her crazy boss get pregnant,” Troy snarls. “I don’t know if she ever loved you, but she’s not coming for you, Aster. My pack will end your pathetic life because you don’t have a goddamned backbone.”
And this is why he’s such a great fucking hockey player.
He might not be known as a professional chirper, but he can get under people's skin fast. It doesn’t matter to me if he never gets on the ice with pads and a big stick to play professionally again, Troy wins at life despite the bullshit it’s thrown at him.
Aster pales at his words, but Alisa and Hollis reel her back in.
“Where does Tina live?” my omega asks. “You heard Troy. There’s no reason to give her your loyalty.”
“She’s my baby sister,” Aster hisses. “I’m not fucking telling you that.”
“We’ll see…”
Lyle takes the phone from Alisa as she pulls the knife from her thigh and begins to carve Aster up. Some people crumble during torture and tell you whatever you want, while others try to deflect.
Aster tells us all about how she and Tina have helped Emilia and Avery with various projects, including Emilia’s podcast that is still airing new episodes, despite her disappearance. Tina is a technology genius, and can hide signals and re-routing them to make people disappear.
Despite moving, Tina is still helping Emilia, but Aster isn’t sure of the details. Apparently, Tina has become more and more secretive lately.
“I just want my sister!” Aster screams. “She’s nicer to me when I give her what she wants.”
“That’s not a relationship, Aster. You’re her slave,” Hollis observes. “Being this desperate for her love and acceptance makes it a tool. Honestly, I don’t think she needs you anymore.”
Blood drips onto the wood floor as Aster gasps in pain.
Alisa cut her dress away as she worked, and now she digs her knife into Aster’s shoulder just to watch the bitch scream.
There are multiple knife wounds to match Aster’s broken bones, and a sick part of me enjoys seeing it.
She contributes to the mess of the world and pretends she’s being altruistic. It’s fucking bullshit!
Alisa drags her knife down Aster’s leg, just missing a major artery as she hums under her breath. She matches the fucked up parts of our pack beautifully.
After a few minutes, it’s clear Aster has nothing left to offer, and she’s repeating herself over and over. Also, despite the protein bar Alisa ate on the drive, I can tell her energy is flagging.
It’s time to wrap this up.
“I’m going to show you Tina doesn’t give a fuck about you,” I tell her, dialing the number. I’m careful to disguise my call as an unknown caller, because it appears she’s going to continue to be a menace.
“Hello?” Her voice is distracted and hushed, almost as if she’s trying not to get caught on it.
“I wanted to give you a chance to say goodbye to your sister,” I drawl, my eyes meeting Alisa’s. My gorgeous omega has blood streaked over her skin, and her dress is ruined from her interrogation. Troy will need another to take her on a date. I want to give him things to look forward to.
It’s important.
“I told you to hold onto her until I can come get her,” Tina hisses.
“We’re not babysitting your older fucking sister,” I growl.
While it’s possible she might know Silas or Lyle’s voice, I exist behind the scenes.
It suits me perfectly well when I need to step into the spotlight and scare the shit out of someone.
“You hurt my alpha, Tina. You haven’t been very careful hiding who you are? ”
“I haven’t hurt anyone. You must have the wrong number and sister.”
“Christina!” Aster screams, horror harsh and cruelly drawn into her features.
Little sister dearest is a monster. Welcome to the party.
“Oh. Hi, Aster. I’m sorry, but I’m working. If you’ve gotten yourself into trouble, I can’t help you.”
“She’s in trouble because you wanted my omega,” I drawl.
“Oh. I didn’t ask her to do that. My boss did. There’s a burn brand on Alisa’s body that says return to Clara. You have stolen property and my boss wants her back.”
Alisa’s fear is so palpable, it feels like a living thing. Every alpha in the room stiffens, wanting to kill the enemy. It doesn’t matter that Alisa isn’t theirs to protect, real alphas want to protect omegas.
“Never,” Troy grunts. “Alisa! Listen to me.”
Her pupils are blown out with the strength of her emotions and I can see her trembling from here.
“I’m listening,” she whispers. It’s almost as if she isn’t completely with us, and I walk over to wrap my hand around the back of her neck to ground her. She sucks in breath as her gaze snaps to Troy’s, gathering strength from the intensity in his eyes.
“You can’t take the things you want, Tina,” Troy growls.
“Oh. You didn’t die? Avery really wants to tell her child his daddy died mysteriously.”
My heart thunders as I help Alisa stand and I whisper, “Kill her, Little Fighter. Make sure Tina hears. This is my mic drop. We aren’t going to win this today, but we damn sure will have the last word.”
Alisa nods as she puts her knife away without flashing anyone and pulls her gun from the holster on her outer left thigh.
“There aren’t many things in this world I can control,” Alisa says, raising her voice for Tina’s benefit. “But I can cover this goddamned brand with a tattoo and scrub the earth of a terrible human being. Say goodbye to your sister.”
Alisa stands in front of Aster and shoves the barrel underneath her chin. She no longer seems as out of it, and she narrows her eyes at Aster as her head drops back to try to get away from the gun. A practiced movement disengages the safety and Alisa smiles serenely while Aster screams.
There’s many reasons Alisa reached for her knife instead of her gun when Aster started dragging her away.
A knife is silent and easier to use in a crowd, and her gun doesn’t have a silencer on it.
The sound of the weapon discharging is loud enough to make normal people flinch, but instead, my ears ring out of deference to Aster’s death.
Her brain matter is everywhere, and I vaguely remind myself to pay Niall’s clean up crew extra.