Page 6 of Depraved Desires

“Took you long enough,” Hunter snapped, shooting me a weird look as he shoved past me. Myles and Foster followed, leaving me to close the door behind them.

Relief consumed me and I leaned against the door. I couldn’t keep living like this. In fear and paranoia, just waiting for the cops to show up and haul me away.

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, my heart still beating a mile a minute.

They were all sitting on my bed now, staring at me like this was some kind of intervention. The thought made me want to laugh. Myles literally tortured and raped people, yet I was somehow the problem. Fuck…maybe I wasn’t much better now that I thought about it.

“We need to have a serious discussion,” Foster answered, his blue eyes holding no room for argument with the stern look he was sporting.

My gaze flicked to Myles and then to Hunter. Neither one of them were easy to read and I wondered what was going through each of their minds. I’d always considered Hunter to be more like me, but as of late, he was acting more like Myles. Foster too. Was I the outsider?

Sighing, I pushed myself off the door. I already knew what they wanted to talk about. “You aren’t going to get caught on my account,” I assured them with an eyeroll. “Even if for some reason, they paint me as suspect number one, I’ll go down alone for it.”

“This isn’t just about that,” Hunter intervened, a look of concern washing over his features. “We’re worried about you, man.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I’d managed to keep down my lunch, so that was something. I’m sure I’d be okay as the days went on, but this was…a lot for me.

“They were innocent,” I murmured. Murder wasn’t the thing that twisted my insides so much. It was the fact that they didn’t deserve it. Raven was just protecting her friend and Aspen was defending herself in the only way she knew how to.

Hunter shifted uncomfortably on the bed, that statement seeming to strike a chord with him.Good.He needed to feel something about this. Myles was his own brand of monster, but the other two…I knew they had morals. They just needed to reflect and channel their humanity.

“We couldn’t risk it,” Foster cut in. “Raven knew too much and Aspen…she witnessed a murder. She would have snitched on us the first chance she got.”

I shook my head, refusing to believe that what we did was justifiable. “They werepeople,” I reminded him. “They had their whole lives ahead of them. Aspen was different. She might not have told anyone. She didn’t snitch when we tortured her all those times.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Hunter snapped, drawing my attention over to him. “She walked in on us murdering her best friend and you think she would have kept that a secret?” He scoffed. “Why would she do that?”

Maybe he did have a point. Sighing, I threaded my fingers through my hair once again. This was all so fucked up. As messed up as murdering them was, they didn’t feel like they had a choice in the matter. I understood that was the only way at the time, but after thinking about it more, I started to question everything.

As if sensing my inner turmoil, Foster stood. “We wouldn’t have done it if there had been another way. You know that don’t you?”

I didn’t even need to think about it. I’ve known them long enough now. So, I nodded. They weren’t murderers. Not usually anyways. Myles might have been, but he was pretty quiet aboutwhat he did in his spare time. The point is…I could trust them. They’ve had my back since I got here. I didn’t agree with what happened, but it was my job to stick by them. They never left my side even when everyone else did; I owed them a lot.

“We’re good then?” Myles questioned, speaking up for the first time.

“We’ve been good. I’m just struggling with this whole thing a bit,” I admitted truthfully. The guys all stared at me in understanding, another thing I loved them for. We didn’t talk about our feelings a lot, but when I needed to, they never made me feel like shit for it. It was easy opening up to them. Most of the time at least.

“Good,” he said. “We’re going out this weekend to forget about this shit.”

My eyes widened in surprise. Was this weighing on Myles too? The guy who fantasized about carving up bodies on a daily. Why else would he need to forget? It felt good knowing that I might not have been alone in this like I thought.

“Where are we going?”

Myles just shrugged in response. “Let me think on that and I’ll text the details to the group chat before Friday.”

I really hoped we wouldn’t be going to club Euphoria. I wasn’t in the mood for it. Maybe a casino or bar would suffice. Maybe even a regular club. The thought of drinking my pain away had me yearning for it. Even if it was only temporary. Anything to take the fucking edge off.

“Okay, sure,” I agreed.

“Great. Now I have some shit to do. Might stop back by tonight, but if not, I’ll see you assholes tomorrow.” He gave us a half-wave before sauntering to the door and leaving the three of us alone.

“Shit to do?” Hunter questioned, staring after him.

I just shrugged. Myles always hadshit to do, and it usually ended up with us cleaning up after him. I’m guessing he had a girl he wanted to assault. Images of what we did to Aspen burrowed through my brain and bile rose to the back of my throat. He’d taken her ruthlessly. Like it was something he’d been wanting to do for a long time. Swallowing the acidic substance down, I released a ragged breath.

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to,” Foster replied with a snort. “If he wants us to know, he’ll tell us.”

“Speaking of questions,” I began, wanting to talk about anything at this point to keep my mind off everything. “Have you and Jess made up or what?”

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