Page 135 of XO Karma

“Hey, Lil—” His words halt as his eyes land on me, move to Lily, then drop to the bed. In one swift motion, he’s unholstered his gun and has it pointed straight at me. I throw my arms up, and Lily jumps in front of me.

“Stop!” she shouts.

“What the hell is going on?” Liam yells, and I hook my arm around Lily, moving her behind me, opposite hand still in the air. I’m aware it’s me he wants to shoot, but I’m not about to cower behind her or let her think she’s shielding me from a bullet.

“Maybe put the gun down, and we can talk about it,” I suggest.

He narrows his eyes, gaze dropping to the head, then back to me.

“Liam!” Lily shouts. “Put down the goddamn gun.”

He huffs a breath, lowering it, then ultimately returns it to the holster, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Jesus,” Lily says, waving a hand at her brother. “Little trigger happy there, aren’t you?”

“Well, forgive me!” He stomps into the room. “I come home to the sight of my sister, the freak who’s always at my crime scenes⁠—”

“It’s my job to be there,” I interrupt, and he glares at me.

“And,” he continues, glancing at the mattress, “a severed head on your bed.”

“So, you thought shooting my boyfriend would get you an explanation faster?” Lily snarks, and my eyes swing to her.

“Boyfriend?” Liam and I say in unison. She rolls her eyes, and I can’t fight the shit-eating grin spreading across my face. Boyfriend. I think I’d prefer a more permanent title, but it’s a start.

“It was left outside my bedroom door,” she tells him.

“Outside your…” He brings a hand to his temple. I’m right there with you, buddy. “How?”

“I don’t know.” Lily throws her hands in the air. “Maybe because you refuse to get an alarm.”

“Those things never work! They just blare whenever the hell they want to. And the beeping always woke you when I had to leave the house at night.”

“Okay, well, the alternative is a serial killer delivering gifts to Lily like fucking Santa Claus,” I point out, and he glares at me, brows knitting.

“Serial killer?” His eyes bounce between us. “Wait, do you think this is…?” He paces. “Lily, is this the first time? Have there been other gifts before?”

“No,” she says, and I try to mask my surprise. Looks like she’s not interested in telling the full truth.

“So why now?” he asks her.

“I. Don’t. Know,” Lily grits out. “Can’t you just take it in and have forensics run some tests or something?”

“I can’t just walk in the precinct with a head in a box, Lily!” He laughs, but there’s no humor in it.

“Kodak delivered photos of a new victim today, and the body was decapitated.”

“We know,” she replies, and he runs a hand over his face.

“Lil…” He steps closer and points to the head. “Is this the guy you told me about who was drugging people at the bar? The guy you Karma’d?”

She taps her foot. “Yes.”

His eyes practically bug out of his skull. “Do you realize how guilty you look right now?”

“What?” she screeches. “A severed head appears on my bed, and I’m the suspect?”

“Unless your boyfriend here would like to admit to anything?” Liam says, glaring my way. “Next time try flowers, bro.” I flip him off.