Page 72 of Exhale
“Leave me alone, Black.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“You’ve been gunning for me for months,” Lucas snarled, his hand tightening around the handle.
“That’s because you’re a rotten apple,” Black said almost conversationally.
“You should never have tried to get between me and Micah. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, it’s sickening!” Lucas snarled.
“We’re not related.”
Shock swept through Lucas’s gaze. “But…”
“That’s just what we told people so CPS wouldn’t take Micah into custody.”
Lucas stared at him as if he had horns, but then threw up his hands.
“So what? Micah was mine first!”
“Your mistake was trying to rape him,” Black said flatly.
Horror swept through Lucas’s eyes with the knowledge that Black knew everything.
“I didn’t,” Lucas said, but his voice shook.
“The fuck you didn’t. I was there, I tore you off of him. I saw you run, but what you didn’t know was that I followed you.”
Lucas’s eyes went wide. “Not possible.”
“Yeah, possible. I saw you tear off the hood you wore. I saw you, Lucas, in the fucking light. I should have killed you then and not left it until now.”
“You can’t kill me! Micah and Jordan will never forgive you.”
“I’ll live. You, on the other hand, won’t. How many more boys have you raped?”
“None!” Lucas hissed angrily, but Black wasn’t sure he believed him.
“In this life, I have zero regrets, except letting you live. Not to mention you had a hand in that assassination attempt.” Black closed the distance between them by a foot. He was still a good distance away, but close enough.
“Fuck you! I saw you kill Remy! He didn’t die of cancer like you told us,” Lucas sneered. “You’re not so innocent.”
“Just like you, Remy deserved to die.”
“You think you’re some saint? You’re just street trash like the rest of us,” Lucas said, desperately looking for an escape in the dark, deserted alley.
Those were the last words Lucas ever spoke.
Black avoided the stabbing blade and flipped Lucas around. He pressed the man’s face into the wall and avoided the skillful kicks. He squeezed until Lucas gasped and stopped struggling.
Using gloved hands, Black pulled a syringe from his pocket, flipped the cap, and stabbed it into Lucas’ arm before he hit the plunger. He left the needle hanging and let Lucas fall to the ground.
Black walked woodenly from the alley, careful to cling to the shadows as he reached the locked gate. He removed the padlock and left it open as he disappeared through.
Lucas had been fucking scum, but the man’s words still rang in Black’s ears.
You’re just street trash.
“Don’t give me any shit,” Black said when he answered the phone over an hour later.
