Chapter234:Asher
It’s the ringing that wakes me.
are
High pitched, slicing through the static in my head like piano wire pulled taut. My ears maybe, dust and glass–and it takes me a few seconds to register the rubble all around me.
Smoke coils through the air.
Everything is haze and concrete dust and the throb of an explosion that went off too close.
Rooster.
buzzing. My ribs ache. There’s pressure on my legs–bricks,
I push myself upright, shoving debris off my chest with both arms. The ache shoots through my side, but nothing feels broken. Bruised, yeah. My legispinned under a wooden beam but I shift and it comes loose.
1 stagger to my feet.
My phone–shattered on the floor.
I scan the warehouse. The structural damage isn’t total. The blastwasmessy, small, amateur. Enough to make a point. Not enough to kill.
They’re toying with us.
But that’s their last mistake.
I yell Rooster’s name. My voice bounces off scorched steel and crumbling plaster. Nothing.
Then–screaming.
I take off, sprinting down a hallway where the smoke is thickest, dodging broken piping and wires that hang from the ceiling like tendrils. A blown door barely hangs on its hinges. I shoulder through.
And freeze.
Roosterison top of a guy. One of theirs. Fist raised, teeth bared, and the look in his eyes–God.
He’s gone.
The trigger’s been pulled and he’s locked inside the worst memory of his life. The explosion didn’t injure him. It pulled him backthere. Where we lost
everyone.
His pupils are wide. His whole body shakes. He’s not talking, he’sgrowling.
“Rooster,” I say, stepping closer. I keep my voice calm. Even.Justlike they taught us.
He doesn’t move,
I shift again. I have to try another method. “Alpha Echo One. This is Two Sierra Delta. Confirm position.”
His jaw ticks. No answer. His hand clenches again like he’s ready to finish the job and not stop.
“Rooster. Mission complete,” I say sharply. “Target neutralized. Repeat. Neutralized. We need exfil and recon. Say it.”
“…Mission complete,” he grits, barely a whisper. Like someone dragged it out of his chest.
“Stand down.”
He flinches. Breathes. Shuts his eyes.
Chapter234:Asher
Thank God.
I catch his elbow as he staggers back. Ile nods once. Pale. Ashen. But present again.
Then I look down at the guy beneath him.
And I recognize him.
The man’sfaceis bloodied, but it’s him. The same bastard from years ago. The one who brokered the deal and didn’tkeepit. The one who used a littlegit’sface in a photo to scare a kid into selling his soul.
Heseesme.
And he goes still.
Good.
I crouch beside him. I don’t smile. I don’t blink. I want him to see me–reallyseeme.
“You remember me?” I say softly.
His breath stutters.
“You should.”
I reach forward and grab the collar of his jacket, dragging him closer until our faces are inches apart. “I’m the idiot wholetyou live.”
His eyes widen.
“You made a big mistake,” I continue. “And youdaredcome after her.”
He tries to speak but I tighten my grip.
“You don’t get to talk. You don’t get tobreatheunlessIsay so.”
I let go and stand. My voice is dead cold. “You’re going to leave. This city. This country. I don’t care where you go. You disappear. Younevercome near me, or anyone I love, again.”
Helaughs. Broken. “You don’t scare me.”
I crouch again, slow. Steady. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
They might think thatwecame here tonight for the first time. But we’vebeenwatching, listening. Wewantedthem to knowwewere coming today. I reach into the inside of my jacket. Pull out the small, blinking recorder. Hisvoiceplays:
“Youfuckingidiotsmeannothingto me.Ipayyouto doajob.Ipayyoutolaunder themoney,tobeatpeopleup, tostalkwomen,andIpayyougood. Soyouwill stopcomplaining,andyouwillstopwhining,andyouwilldowhatyou’retold.SoJasperisdead?Boo–hoo.Getover it before I kill oneofyou myself. I don’t carewhowehavetohurt as long asIgetmygoddamnmoneyand…”
I click pause, because I’ve heard enough of this disgusting asshole.
“See, I sent this little monologue of yours to every rival gang and dealeryou’veevercrossed, andeveryoneyou’veeverdealt with. They know what kind of coward you are now. They know you send your boys,underagedboys, to take beatings while you hide behind explosions and women.”
His mouth opens. Shuts. He’s pale now. Shaking.
“Run,” I tell him. “While you still have legs.?
He starts to stand.
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Chapter 234: Asher
Rooster blocks the doorway. Arms folded. Covered in soot. The guy whimpers.
Two of his guys artive, and I just know that they overheard the recording. I leave him there to suffer their wrath. At the end of the day, killing is my least favorite thing to do. Hell, I wanted to kill him a thousand different ways for sending people after Penny. But that’s not who she would want me to be.
The moment we step outside, the cold hits. 1 let the silence settle around us as we walk back to the truck.
Rooster finally speaks. “You think it’s over?”
“No,” I say. “But this chapter is. And the danger for her too.”
I slide into the driver’s seat. “Now I just have to face het.”
He’s quiet for a second.
“You gonna tell her everything?”
“I don’t know.” My hands tighten on the wheel. “After what they did to her, I might not deserve to. She might not let me.”
Rooster leans back and exhales hard. “She loves you, man.”
God, I hope so.
But I know one thing for certain.
I will do everything in my power to get her back. To get her to forgive me.
Because I am no man, no one, without my princess.
Chapter Comments
Ness C
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It’s nice that you’re keeping Asher’s sense of humanity intact….but if you feel like getting a little murderous, I’m sure a poll would find we’re all ok with Asher ending any…
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