Chapter 36 – Aster
ASTER
Crime: My alcoholic stepdad hits me and my siblings but my mom won’t leave him
Preferred Punishment: Rough him up. Make him leave.
“I’m really digging those overalls,” I tell Lily, lifting one of her pigtail braids and tugging it as we pass a fried Oreo stand. My eyes trail her body, down to the adorable pink cowboy boots she has on, and dirty memories flood to the forefront of my mind.
She puts a finger under my chin, nudging my eyes to meet hers, and cocks a brow at me. The multicolor lights of the fair rides reflect off her face, only enhancing her beauty. “Can you at least pretend to remember the reason we’re here?”
“And why can’t we also have some fun?” I ask, the Ferris wheel in view behind her. “I know I’m going to.”
“Okay, but just a reminder, you’re not here to kill Paul. I did the recon last week to confirm. And for the punishment, you’re only to injure him and scare him enough that he’ll leave that poor family alone.”
“But I wannaaaa!” I whine, mimicking the bratty child who just passed us losing their absolute shit.
“Sorry.” She fights a laugh while patting my head. “Tonight you will be on your best murder-free behavior.”
I release a sigh. “Fine.”
“Good boy,” she teases, and I glare at her. “Sorry, tonight will also be sex free, so get your mind out of the gutter.”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re a bit of a buzzkill?”
She smirks. “Only this psychopath I’m dating.”
“Dating?” I grin as we pass a house of mirrors, and I grab her, pulling her to a stop. “Are we having… the talk?”
She rolls her eyes. “Sorry, I mean the psychopath I’m fucking.”
“No, no.” I wag my finger while spinning to face her and walking backwards. My cheeks hurt as I struggle to stop smiling. “You said dating.”
“Well.” She tries and fails to wipe the grin off her face. “I take it back.”
“No take backsies.” I throw an arm around her and continue our walk to find the fun house.
She groans. “You make my brain hurt.”
“I could make something else hurt later,” I tease, and she fakes a gag, but I don’t miss the way she leans her head against me. I place a kiss in the blonde of her hair, and it all just feels so normal.
For a moment I allow myself to wonder what it’s like to be ordinary.
To not have the weight of the world’s responsibility on me to rid it of horrible people.
I wish I could pass off the baton to someone else, but I don’t trust anyone the way I trust myself.
What if they target those undeserving? What if they can’t handle the pressure? What if they get caught?
She pulls out her phone, the word Unknown on the caller ID, then shoves it in her pocket.
“You don’t want to answer it?” I ask.
“Nah, it’s probably spam.”
“Would the lovely couple like to take a chance?” a man calls out as we pass by a carnival game. It’s one of those where you have to toss the ball in the bucket and get all three in to win.
“No, we’re—”
“Yes!” Lily cuts me off. She leans to my ear. “I’m good at this one.”
Five minutes later, I’m grinning, holding a stuffed tiger as we continue along, nearing the fun house. My eyes find Paul immediately, a forced smile on his face as he lets another group of kids inside.
“Let’s hang back for a few,” Lily says, tugging me towards a crowd. “Wait for him to take his break?”
“Yeah. That’s a good idea. Have you found anything in the file Liam gave you?”
She gnaws on her inner cheek. “I haven’t looked yet.”
“Really?” I ask in disbelief. “I assumed you’d crack it open the second you got it.”
She plays with her nails. “Liam said there’s stuff in there he doesn’t think I can handle.”
“You can handle plenty.”
“I know. But maybe he’s right. If what’s in there is what I think it is… it’s going to be hard to get those images out of my head.”
“We can look at it together later?”
“How about tomorrow? We could have one normal karma-fulfilling night and do it in the morning?”
I know she’s avoiding it. Delaying opening a folder that could blow to pieces this ideology she’s built about the life of her best friend—and especially about her death.
So even though I truly feel time is of the essence, I say, “Okay.” My gaze returns to Paul.
Where the hell is Paul? “Lily, where’d the target go? ”
She follows my line of sight. “Shit!”
“It’s okay, he probably just went to the back to take a smoke or a piss,” I say, and we head towards the side of the structure.
I throw my arm around Lily, and she tries to shrug me off. “What are you doing?”
I bring my lips to her ear. “If someone sees us walking here all lovey dovey, they’ll assume we just want a moment of privacy.”
She laughs. “Why is your solution to getting caught always faking a quickie?”
I grin. “Easy to be convincing when it’s what I’d rather do anyways.”
“Shameless.”
“You’re going to stay out of sight.” I grab the mask out of my pocket.
She scoffs. “Negative.” And pulls her own pink mask from her bag. Hot.
Glancing around, I note no cameras, and with a nod, we put on our disguises. Rounding the corner, we find Paul leaning against the rear wall of the fun house, a cigarette hanging out of his lips. I set the tiger on the grass, and his gaze finds ours, his brows furrowing.
“The freak show is over there,” he grumbles, gesturing in the opposite direction while taking another drag.
“Actually,” I say, marching towards him, “we’re here for you.”
His brows furrow, and before he can open his mouth, I land a punch right along his jaw, the cigarette fluttering to the ground. My knuckles scream, and I grab him by his collar, hoisting him in the air.
“You think it’s fun beating kids?” I growl out.
He spits in my face, and I flinch in disgust. “How I keep my house is none of your business.”
I take a calming breath. Lily said not to kill him. “It is if you’re an abusive prick.”
“Which one of them little shits put you up to this?” he grits out, blood trickling from his nose. “It was Adam, wasn’t it?”
“Time for you to move on.”
“Piss off.”
“If I find out you haven’t left them by tomorrow night…” Grabbing his arm, I straighten it, then bend his hand until a snap fills the air and he screams in agony. “I’ll be back.”
“Oh my god,” he whimpers, grabbing his broken wrist. Thankfully, the fair is loud as hell, so it’s unlikely someone heard him.
“Do you understand?” I ask.
“Go fuck yourself!”
I glance at Lily. Please let me kill him?
She shakes her head, and damn if her little ghost mask doesn’t turn me on.
Stop thinking of sex, you horny idiot!
“You’re a dead man,” Paul grits out, pulling my attention his way, and I laugh as a putrid familiar scent fills the air.
“Awfully bold words from someone who just pissed himself.”
“What. Do. You. Want?” Tears prick the corners of his eyes.
“Keep your goddamn hands to yourself and leave that family you’re tormenting, or my next visit won’t be a warning.”
He looks towards Lily, and I’m grateful we opted for the masks because if he knew what she looked like, I’d ignore her directions and gouge his eyes out with my bare hands.
“You like this, sweetheart?” Paul asks her. “Your kink watching this ripper wannabe beat innocent people?” I land another punch against his mouth, and he laughs, spitting blood. “I got a bitch like that at home too.”
I go for my knife, but Lily’s unsheathed her dagger and brought it to his neck before I even reach my pocket. I don’t know what the hell she has planned, but whatever it is, I’m on board.
“Your days of abusing are over,” she grits out.
“Those little shits need to learn to behave,” he says between gasps, clutching his arm. “If your parents taught you manners, maybe you wouldn’t—”
Lily stabs her blade into his shoulder. He shrieks, and I use both hands to grip his mouth shut. “If you’re not careful”—her tone drips with disdain—“I’ll leave you alone here with my partner.” She tilts her head, huffing a small laugh. “And believe it or not, he’s holding back.”
Paul’s body trembles. Eyes blazing.
“Are you going to leave?” I ask, and his eyes swing to mine. Lily twists the knife, and he groans. “Are you?”
He nods begrudgingly.
“Good.” Lily yanks the blade from his shoulder with a squish, blood dripping off. She retrieves a small bottle of alcohol from her bag and a towel, then cleans the blade.
Fuck, I’m in love.
A hand knocks me in the jaw, disrupting my ogling of Lily. Thankfully, my mask took most of the brunt. “Ouch,” I say, glaring his way. Another knock to his nose, and he’s out.
“Oh my god!” Lily’s voice is muffled behind her mask. “Did you kill him?”
“No.” I release his body, and it slumps to the ground. “But he shouldn’t wake for a bit.” I kick his side. “And may need an ambulance when he does.”
She sheaths the sanitized dagger, then hides away the alcohol and towel in a Ziploc. “We should get out of here then.”
She takes a photo of Paul’s unmoving, yet unfortunately still alive, body, and I retrieve the tiger trophy, tucking it under my arm.
We opt to walk behind the rides for a few minutes so we’re not witnessed emerging near the fun house.
Once we’re far enough away, we remove our masks and hide them away.
“How’d I do for my first Karma request?” I ask, hooking an arm around her waist.
She cocks a brow. “I mean… you didn’t kill him, so that’s a positive.”
“I do have self-control, you know.”
We slip between two rides and disappear into the crowd. “And the criminals of Cleosville are lucky for that.” She glances down. “Damn it!”
“What’s wrong?”
She stops in place, staring at the ground, then mutters, “He got blood on my boots.”
“Have no fear.” Glancing around, I spot a bench and a drink stand.
“Go sit over there,” I tell her. A minute later I’m kneeling in the dirt before her, taking her boot-wearing leg in my hands and setting the sole against my thigh.
Our eyes meet, and I can’t help the grin on my face at the sight of her in her cute little overalls, legs partially spread as she awaits my assistance.
Damn, I wish I could take her right here.
Right now. She cocks a brow, and I shake away the dirty thoughts to deal with the task at hand.
Using cold water and a bundle of napkins, I gently rinse, then wipe off the blood. “When the water dries, it should look good as new,” I tell her.
“Maybe you are the local hero,” she says with a teasing grin. I set her foot on the ground, then lean forward, taking her chin between my fingers.
“And don’t you forget it.” I press a claiming kiss to her lips.
Gripping the bench, I slowly stand, leaving my body in close proximity to her. Does this look totally weird for any onlookers? Maybe. But she’s sure as fuck turned on, so who gives a shit.
Once at my full height, I hold out a hand. “Want to get something to eat before we leave?” I ask, pulling Lily to her feet.
“Yeah, can we stop by the bathroom first? That lemonade flew right through me.”
“Sure.”
A few minutes later, I’m walking away from a corndog stand to wait for her outside the restrooms. Faint yelling infiltrates my ears, with a voice that sounds all too familiar, and panic settles in my gut.
I round the small building where I left her and drop my food on the ground at the sight of Lily pressed against the wall with some guy’s hands on her neck.
Blinding rage flows through me, blood whooshing in my ears while I run towards them.
Clutching the back of his shirt, I toss him away from her.
He stumbles to a stop, eyes meeting mine, and I recognize him instantly.
It’s that guy from the bar Lily took down for drugging girls.
My body trembles with rage. This is why it never works leaving these scumbags alive.
He’s huffing, dripping in sweat and blood. Looks like Lily’s been putting up quite a fight. My eyes find hers, and they’re full of hatred. Fear. Pain.
Lunging forward, I grab him by his neck, dragging him towards me. He’s stronger than Lily, but I’ve got fifty pounds on him. “You have a death wish?” I ask, slamming his head against the concrete wall.
“That bitch deserves what she’s getting,” he grits out, face shiny with sweat.
“Aster.” Lily’s voice comes out a warning, but it fades to the background as I cock my fist and slam it into the second nose of the night.
He groans, dropping to his knees, and holds his face with a laugh, glancing at Lily.
“What? Is this your boyfriend?” he asks, then looks my way.
“You’re defending her? Last week that little cocktease was all over me.
Practically sucked my d—” Both my hands are around his throat, squeezing as his face reddens.
“Aster!” Lily warns under her breath, placing her hand on my wrist. “Not here.” I glance around, and while no one has seen us, I do know better than to kill spontaneously.
Murder without planning gets you caught.
Thirty more seconds, and I’d have quite literally squeezed the life out of him.
And the world would be better off. I told Lily this piece of shit deserved the six-feet-under treatment.
Why does she keep ignoring my advice? Anger thrums through me, and I shove him to the ground.
He gasps for air, coughing and wheezing while holding his neck. I crouch to the piece of shit’s eye level, spit directly in his face, and say, “If you ever come near her again, you’re dead.”