Chapter 234: 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 leg is pinned 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 blast was messy, 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.
Rooster is on 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 back there. Where we lost
everyone.
His pupils are wide. His whole body shakes. He’s not talking, he’s growling.
“Rooster,” I say, stepping closer. I keep my voice calm. Even. Just like 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.
Chapter 234: 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’s face is bloodied, but it’s him. The same bastard from years ago. The one who brokered the deal and didn’t keep it. The one who used a little git’s face in a photo to scare a kid into selling his soul.
He sees me.
And he goes still.
Good.
I crouch beside him. I don’t smile. I don’t blink. I want him to see me–really see me.
“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 who let you live.”
His eyes widen.
“You made a big mistake,” I continue. “And you dared come after her.”
He tries to speak but I tighten my grip.
“You don’t get to talk. You don’t get to breathe unless I say 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. You never come near me, or anyone I love, again.”
He laughs. Broken. “You don’t scare me.”
I crouch again, slow. Steady. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
They might think that we came here tonight for the first time. But we’ve been watching, listening. We wanted them to know we were coming today. I reach into the inside of my jacket. Pull out the small, blinking recorder. His voice plays:
“You fucking idiots mean nothing to me. I pay you to do a job. I pay you to launder the money, to beat people up, to stalk women, and I pay you good. So you will stop complaining, and you will stop whining, and you will do what you’re told. So Jasper is dead? Boo–hoo. Get over it before I kill one of you myself. I don’t care who we have to hurt as long as I get my goddamn money and…”
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 dealer you’ve ever crossed, and everyone you’ve ever dealt with. They know what kind of coward you are now. They know you send your boys, underaged boys, 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.
2/3
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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