Page 83 of Claimed By Ruin

Saw exactly what I needed to do.

Jack

Levi looked at me, giving me the faintest nod.

And then I moved. Threw open one door, another. Uncaring of the feet I heard behind me. Threw open a third, the knife that I always kept in my belt ready.

Realized I didn’t need it.

Asia stood there, looking down at Christopher, who rolled on the ground, trying to push his intestines back in. She had a knife in her hand. When she saw me, she let it go.

“Jack, gun,” she said.

I went for the knife, worried about crossfire, but reached for my handgun and handed it to her.

Pop.

A bloom of red and a light pink misted in the air and then went down, settling on Christopher’s body as it flopped to the floor.

I looked at Asia.

She looked at me.

Then we looked at the door.

Uncle Levi was there, one of the women at the table standing behind his wheelchair. He leaned back.

“Never did like that boy.”

There was a rumble of feet rushing down the hall. Two heads, a third, someone behind them all pushing in.

“What happened?”

“Christopher’s dead.”

Asia didn’t even look at Christopher, just looked at the men. “Get him into the burn pit.”

“Burn pit?” one of the men said, his eyes narrowing. “We don’t have a burn pit.”

“Then start one,” Asia said. “And clean up that mess. Don’t want to stain the carpet.”

She leaned over and grabbed the handkerchief out of Christopher’s pocket, wiping her fingers, then dropped it on his face.

She looked at me. Smiled. “Can we go home? I’m freaking starving.”

THIRTY

Jack

“Somehow you managed to live this long without stealing a car. I really am a bad influence,” Asia said to Levi as I settled him in one of the pickup trucks outside the mayor’s house.

He tried to chuckle but grimaced and grappled for the seat, trying to steady himself. I grabbed his shoulders and set him upright. He held my gaze for a moment, then looked at Asia.

“If you say so, girl,” he said, his voice wavering.

Asia smiled at him, but her brow furrowed. She reached into her pocket and pressed two pills into his hand.

He took them without protest and swallowed them without water.