See, my stepfather doesn’t have hobbies like a normal person. He thrives on pain, discomfort, and repartee edged in violence. Asshole.
“Costume blood,” I say, worrying about Callum, about all the boys really. Wondering if Danny Ensbrook really would’ve shot me in the face if given the chance. Aaron is stone-still behind me, so I reach back and grab his hand. It kills me a little bit, to touch him like that, but there are bigger things at play here than our bullshit feelings for each other. “What are you doing in Aaron’s house?”
I don’t acknowledge my ex-bestie Kali Rose-Kennedy or our disgraced Principal Vaughn; they’re not worth my time.
Mostly, I'm concerned with making sure Aaron doesn't start anything violent just yet.
Or … maybe I'm the one most likely to start something violent? If I find out that the Thing laid a single finger on my sister, God help him. I'm more than happy to go down and take Neil Pence with me, engulfed in flames and enjoying the burn.
Anything to see him suffer.
Principal Vaughn watches us warily, and I can tell Havoc has done it: he's really and truly afraid of them … of us?
Us.
Havoc Girl.
Kali smirks at me, and I come to the understanding that if she weren't pregnant, I might just leap across this table and hit her as hard as I could in the tit. Maybe I still will? Her flat-ass boobs aren’t currently enveloping a fetus, now are they?
The worst part about the whole situation though, is the way Neil looks at me. He stares at me like he always does, like I’m a horse that needs breaking. He undresses me with his eyes, too. He does that to every girl—even his flesh and blood daughter. My mouth fills with bile, and the step-thing grins like a crocodile. He’s loving every minute of this interaction.
“Where the fuck are our girls?” Aaron asks, still bleeding, still with a goddamn bullet in his arm. He resists when I pull him down toward the sofa, but he hasn't got a lot of strength left and finally gives in. This couch is gonna end up drenched in blood … Aaron and I, we're covered in it. The smell is actually starting to make me dizzy.
“Your girls?” the Thing asks, lifting one scarred eyebrow. Want to know how that happened? Our neighbor's super sweet golden retriever broke out of the fence one day, charged Neil, and attacked his face. Clearly, he knew something about Neil that nobody else but me seems to notice.
He's a bigger monster than all five Havoc Boys combined.
“You heard me, you pedophile piece of shit,” Aaron grinds out, his hands shaking but his gold-green gaze steady and fierce. I have no doubt that he'd bleed himself out going after Neil if he had to. He'd do anything for his girls, even bully me. But would I want a man that wouldn't do those things for the children he loves like his own?
No. No, I would not.
I squeeze Aaron's hand a little harder. Sometimes, it feels almost impossible to see past one's own hurt, like looking directly into the sun. The brilliance of it is blinding. But if we close our eyes, we can feel the warmth of those rays on our skin.
“Our. Girls.” Aaron lifts his chin up and flashes the nastiest smirk I've ever seen on his face. It's a mask, I see that now, but we're both players in a much bigger game. What choice does he have? His father is dead; his mother is gone. This is all he's got left, the grinning maw of a master thespian. “Because you lost that right when you raped Penelope Blackbird. Matter of fact, you lost the right to life.”
“I told you this was a bad idea,” Vaughn simpers, and I flick my green gaze his direction, making him flinch. “They probably killed somebody tonight. That blood … that's not costume blood at all, is it?”
“Keep talking and maybe you'll get to see the difference for yourself?” I say, my voice a cold deadpan that doesn't quite match the frantic beating of my heart.
“Oh, Penelope,” Neil says as Kali bristles and glances his way with narrowed eyes. “She certainly was a pathetic little fuck-up, wasn't she?” The step-thing turns toward Kali, like he's about to explain a sad truth. “Brought her into the station drunk on more than one occasion. She was a fucking delinquent, but nothing like this bitch.” Neil gestures my way. “This bitch has