Sins Chaos

Chapter Two

Roz

"I need to know what is going on."

I looked up from cleaning my rifle, a dark eyebrow raised. "Well, now. That was deceptively vague. Would you care to elaborate? There's a lot currently going on here."

My best friend and work partner, Kasian "Wicked" Wickham—hi, I'm Joker, the guy who swapped vests with the real Wicked for rounds tonight—gritted his teeth as he resisted the very obvious urge to throw his bottle of Magic Brew at my head. Okay, maybe it wasn't obvious, but seeing as his mental walls weren't up, I had the mental image playing in his mind currently playing out in high definition in my own head.

Being a Haruspex—which was just a fancy word for a natural born mind reader—wasn't as cool as you think. Most of the time it was a giant pain in the ass and head.

By the smug look on my face, Wicked knew that I knew exactly what he was talking about. I was having fun with the fact that he felt the need to even ask about this.

"You know, your weapon may be unloaded, but mine's not," he sullenly pointed out, dropping onto the bench next to me.

I nodded to the black concrete table beside us. "Yeah, I guess it's too bad that the modified Glock on the table beside me is loaded then," I returned, going to work on the barrel of the rifle. "Now, why don't you grow a pair and ask me the question that is burning a hole in that small mind of yours. I promise to answer honestly. Maybe then you can return the favor when I ask the burning question on my mind."

Wicked grinned. "Absolutely. I have no problem telling you how to get to Hell. Take a right on Kiss My Ass Lane. Follow the curve, turning left onto Fuck Off Way. Pull into any parking spot at the intersection of Eat Me Road and Go Fuck Yourself Avenue."

I flipped him off.

He groaned. "Please don't make me ask. Why can't you be like any other eighteen-year-old male and brag to your best friend about the sexy, mysterious women you literally ran into all on your own?" he whined, shoving a hand through his light hair.

I sighed, setting the rifle down on the bench between us, dropping the oiled rag onto the silver case on the ground at my booted feet. "Maybe because I'm not your typical male of any age. My, uh, unique situation doesn't allow for that. I shouldn't have to explain this to you, Kasian." I grabbed a clean rag off the table, wiping the dark oil off my hands. Tossing the rag back onto the small table, I picked up my own bottle of Magic Brew and took a long swig. "And then, there's always the fact that we aren't talking about just any girl, we're talking about her."

Wicked scrubbed his hands over his face. "Yeah, man. I know we're talking about her. That's why I don't want to directly ask. I want deniability when this blows up in your face. And, dude, you know damn well that it will. That girl is toxic."

"She's not toxic, Wickham. She's just as screwed up as the rest of us. She may have more secrets to uncover, but same level of fucked up."

"True that." Wicked raised his bottle to mine. "And it's not just that. You have a girlfriend. We don't need any more drama than we already have."

I laughed, downing the rest of my beer. "Mate, I don't know exactly what you think is going on between me and a girl I literally just met, but I can say with all honestly that it ain't like that. You really need to get your mind out of the gutter."

"Dude, I have eyes. I observed the two of you closely during that security sweep. Besides, after twenty years, you should know by now that my mind takes up permanent residence in the gutter. It has its own address and everything. Working on buying up the whole zip code."