Page 173 of Boys Who Taint

“Tell me who he is,” she commands.

“He’s a nobody. A target.”

“Why does he have to die?”

“Because he broke their rules.”

“Are you part of the Bonesmen?” she asks again.

I shake my head.

She takes off the safety. “Tell me the truth!”

I swallow back the nerves. “I pay them to give me one of their men so I can kill him.”

She sucks in a breath, staring us both down.

“This guy doesn’t deserve to live. He’s a man who snatches kids off the street and sells them off to the highest bidder.” My hand balls into a fist. “The worst of the worst scum on earth.”

She’s still looking at me like she’s processing my words. But I don’t want her to hate me like she hates Levi.

“The Bonesmen Brotherhood are responsible for my parents' death, and I want every last one of them scorched from this earth.”

“Whatever, man, I have nothing to do with any of that,” the man splutters. “Please, help m—”

BANG!

The gun goes off, and I blink.

But I’m not the one hit.

She shot him in the leg. In the same spot I got hit.

He cries and screams in agony, so I pluck her knife from his arm while he’s distracted. She grabs me by the arm, helping me stand.

“Levi was right …” she murmurs. “You are involved with them.”

“Only to kill.” Rain pours down on my face and hers, covering the distinct redness on her face in an aura of gloom. “I didn’t want to scare you away. I’m sorry. I need this. This fucked-up part of me is all I have.”

She looks me up and down as droplets of rain roll down her forehead, and I wish I could suck them all off to show her how much I worship her.

“I need this. I need to feel vindicated. More than I need my sanity,” I add. “Please, forgive me for not telling you.” I grab her hand. “I’m not part of the Bones Brotherhood. I swear on my love for you.”

She looks down at our hands interlocked, as I slowly leave the knife in the palm of her hand.

“If you want to kill me now, so be it. I’ve shown you my demons … How I expel the raging violence in my soul.”

She stares at the knife for a while, as if she’s adjusting to the weight of it.

So I lean in to whisper, “I know you feel the same fury coursing through your veins. Makes you want to hurt everyone around you, even the people you love.”

She shudders in place, and I don’t know if it’s from the rain or my words. “This is what I do it for. Now you know the truth. And even though I know you don’t trust me anymore … I trust you.”

She tightens her grip around the knife.

“Killing someone who deserves it … just feels so fucking good,” I whisper. “Once you start, you won’t be able to stop.”

“What the fuck are you two monsters talking about?” the guy mumbles as he crawls backward.

---