Page 236 of Vile Boys

“It’s the rain,” I reply.

He pats me on the back with a snort. “Sure it is.”

But I can’t stop looking at her.

No wonder Ares calls her his little rose.

She truly looks like a flower spreading its leaves under the pouring rain to catch all the droplets. And all we ever did was tear off her petals one by one.

Ares

She standsin the rain with her arms opened wide, gorging on the freedom of the outside world.

And I think, out of us three watching her, I’m the only one who truly understands.

I take in a breath and revel in her beauty under the pouring rain, letting her soak it all in for a moment longer. Then I walk up to her and place a hand on her shoulder, whispering into her ear, “I will kill them all for you. All you have to do is say yes, and I will be your vessel for slaughter.”

Her body freezes under my touch.

“But when I’m done … you will be mine.”

She takes a short breath, still gazing into nothingness as she says, “Yes.”

Such a simple word for such a significant choice.

Even now, after everything I’ve done, she’d still let me be her justice.

I smile against her ear. “That’s my girl.”

Crystal

He wantsto risk his life by going back in there and kill them … for me?

Even though I longed so much for him to die, the prospect of it actually happening makes it hard to continue breathing.

His, forever more, if he survives. My father’s slayer, a tool for revenge.

And I just said yes.

When I turn around, he throws off his jacket to reveal a godly amount of guns and knives all tucked away neatly, and the second he pulls them out, Caleb’s eyes begin to twinkle.

“Fuck, I’m so goddamn ready to split them open,” Caleb grits, and he pulls out his pocket knives. “Let’s go butcher some animals.”

The guard watching us does a double take, but Blaine pulls hiskatana out of his umbrella and, with one fell swoop, cuts the head off his body.

My eyes widen at the sight of the blood spraying around.

They run inside and screams erupt from the auction room.

BANG!

BANG!

Shots are fired left and right, and I peer in through the door opening to see what they’re doing, too curious to back away. Caleb and Blaine are killing guards that pour in from all sides, thrusting their weapons into their abdomens like they’ve done it a million times before, while Ares guts the men bidding on me one by one, slicing them open from their abdomens to their necks.

Suddenly, one of the guards comes out of a room near the exit, blocking my only way out. I make a fist and punch him in the face, but it doesn’t seem to faze him.

His eyes look murderous. “You bitch!”