Page 15 of The Black Lotus
Spinning around, I snatch the gun to examine it myself and, sure enough, it is a musket.
“Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Serena asks, coming up behind me.
Instead of answering, I walk over to the sleeping guy and reach into his pockets, pulling out a musket ball. I turn the rusted ball over in my hand, seeing the initials CK on them. Myhand tightens around the ball like a snake constricting around its prey. Anger seeping from every crevice in my body at the thought that this waste of space would dare attempt a shot at Serena, my vixen's life.
“Aster?”
“It’s the Concord Killer,” I mumble, lifting the ball into the light. She takes the cool steel from my hand, squinting at it.
“He makes these himself, doesn’t he?”
“I do.”
Coughing echoes behind us, and we spin around to see the Concord Killer is awake.How is he awake already?In all the years I’ve used ketamine, no one has woken up that fast. It usually takes me doing something to my victims to begin the fun. Squinting at the man before me, I examine his state without touching him, trying and failing to understand how he is speaking right now.
“You’ve heard of me.” His eyebrows dance in an arrogant way, his nose turned up at us like the pompous ass I expected him to be.
I stalk over to him, a snarl ripping from my throat, peering down into his unbothered eyes, his black hair falling across his face. “What Iknowis you’re cocky, arrogant without cause, and shunned in our world.”
He rolls his eyes. “Just because I use a gun doesn’t mean I’m not a better serial killer than any of you assholes.”
“It means you’re a coward. Someone looking for prestige without earning it.” Serena sneers, walking into his line of sight.
He lets out a low whistle. “You are a sight for sore eyes, beautiful. Heaven sent. Too bad you have to die.”
My knuckles connect with his face, spit and teeth scattering across the floor. “Shut the fuck up.”
He laughs, blood dribbling out of his mouth and coating his teeth. “I could have her screaming around my coc-”
A pop echoes around the room and my thumb digs into his eye, blood cascades down when I pull it out. I drop it, letting it dangle off the side of his face. He screams as his body lurches off of the table, his hand desperately trying to break free to cover the pain. My fists slam into him over and over again even after his one eye closes and his screams cease. The red I see isn’t just his blood, it’s the rage I feel realizing how little Mother, and everyone else in our world, cares about Serena.Who the fuck does he think he is speaking about my girl that way?I wanted to get answers, but I crave his death more. It isn’t until I feel Serena’s hand touch my shoulder, my name a whisper through the angry fog, for my rage to fade and my wrath to cool. My hands are bloody, but I'm not sure if it’s mine or his.
“We need him alive,” Serena says, pulling me away from CK’s unconscious body.
“I know, but-” Her hand caresses my cheek, my breath catching at her softness.
“But you let your emotions get the better of you.”
“Yeah.” I hang my head in shame. How am I supposed to expect Serena to keep her emotions in check when I lose all control.
“Sounds like we both need to work on that.”
I kiss the inside of her palm, my heart slowing. “When it comes to you, I lose all sense of rationality.”
She brings her lips to mine, effortlessly erasing the high I was in. “Want to talk about what just happened while we wait for him to come to? If he comes to…”
I hold onto her hand like a lifeline, keeping me from tipping over the edge again and place my fingers on his neck. “He has a pulse.”
She smiles softly. “That’s good.”
She opens a couple drawers, searching for something until she finds and pulls out a rag, tossing it at me. “Clean yourself up and meet me in the library.”
With that she opens the kill room door and leaves. Her eyes showed understanding and her touch felt compassionate, but I can’t help and feel like I’m a child who is about to get scolded for his behavior.
After I clean myself off, taking my time to get every speck of blood, I join her.
She pats the spot next to her, and I climb onto the chaise. I lay my head on her lap, her fingers brushing my hair, bringing me a sense of calmness I have never experienced. My mother never showed the kind of love Serena shows me, she showed it through food and lessons.
