Page 23 of Headcase
“Where do you ping on that danger scale?” Zane asked.
“Scale of one to ten?” Asa asked, considering the question. “Twelve, maybe?”
Zane shivered but fell quiet again.
Asa had brought his Range Rover so there would be plenty of room for their guests, but it had also put too much space between him and Zane. While he found his scent distracting, he also wanted to bathe in it. He shook the thought away, attempting to put himself in game mode. Though, usually, game mode involved far more carnage than this.
The shop was closed, but the boys Asa looked for were still inside. They would just have to wait for them out back by Dimitri’s car. It couldn’t be too much longer. As soon as he stepped free of the Rover, he heard the door lock behind him. Asa snickered. Zane was as petty as he was pretty. Asa walked around to the passenger side and rapped his knuckle against the window. Zane continued to ignore him until Asa pressed the key fob in his hand, disengaging the lock and pulling the car door open.
Zane offered no help in Asa’s endeavor, forcing him to unlatch his seatbelt and pull him from the car like an unruly child, only contributing when Asa laced their fingers together. Zane pulled his hand free. Asa laughed. “You can’t stay mad at me forever, sugar.”
“Watch me,” Zane muttered.
“Now you want me to watch you?” Asa asked, wrapping an arm around Zane’s bicep to guide him along to where Dimitri’s Toyota sat in the gravel behind the shop.
Zane’s lip curled. “I hate you.”
Asa laughed again. “I can feel how much you want that to be true. But it’s not, and that’s what’s making you truly crazy. It’s alright. I won’t tell.”
When they reached Dimitri’s Camry, Asa turned Zane and forcibly leaned him against the back driver’s side door before moving to stand beside him. “I feel like you’re wasting a prime opportunity to ask me about my family.”
Zane shifted and, for a minute, Asa thought maybe he would continue to ignore him. Finally, he asked, “Your whole family kills people?”
“Our whole family has killed people, but they don’t actively participate in killing. My father oversees the operation. Noah killed the pedophile who shared him with a bunch of strangers. Lucas killed his colleague who was massacring vulnerable women. Jericho… No, yeah, Jericho kills because he likes making people pay for their sins, just like the rest of us.”
“How is it possible that you all are killers?” Zane asked, some of the stoniness leaving his voice.
“Because we’re all psychopaths. It’s why my father adopted us.”
Zane turned to him, incredulous. “All of you? I mean, I know I said it earlier but I didn’t really think you were all actually clinically insane.”
“We’re not insane, Lois. We’re… evolved. Our lack of empathy allows us to do what needs to be done.”
“And what’s that?” Zane asked, his tone implying Asa was full of shit.
“Take out the trash.”
Zane opened his mouth to say something but, before he could, the door banged open and slammed closed again and Dimitri appeared with a boy tossed over his shoulder.
“What’s wrong? What’s happening? Why did you stop?” the boy asked. “I’m getting dizzy.”
Dimitri carefully set the boy—Arlo—on his feet before turning him to face Asa and Zane. Arlo gasped, backing directly into Dimitri, who put an arm around him to steady him. It was nice to see he’d made such an indelible impression on the boys. It would make this much easier.
“What are you doing here?” Dimitri asked, not sounding particularly concerned by his sudden appearance. But then, Dimitri was a psychopath, too. The lack of fear made situations like this less ominous.
“We need a favor,” Asa said.
Dimitri squinted, peering into the darkness. “Which one are you?”
Asa stepped out of the shadows. “Asa. This is Zane. We need your help.”
“What kind of help?” Dimitri asked warily.
“Does it matter?” Asa asked, the question weighted.
Dimitri gave a heavy sigh. “Have you cleared this with my mom? I really can’t afford to get on her bitch list again.”
Asa grinned. Dimitri was the son of their resident hacker, Calliope. Asa understood not wanting to get on her bad side. She sounded deceptively perky, but knowing now that she’d raised a psychopath of her own made Asa view her in a whole new light.
