Page 62 of XO Karma

I brace myself, knowing she won’t like my answer. “107.”

“One hundred and—?!” she shrieks. “Jesus, fuck, Aster! You get started on that when you popped out of your mother’s vagina?”

“Lily! Shh!” I attempt to remind her of our proximity to the estate, then whisper, “My mother would roll over in her grave if she heard you say that.”

A silence falls between us. “Oh my god.” Another beat of silence. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t know.”

I wave her off. “It’s fine. It’s not a fresh wound, but damn, baby.”

Her scowl returns. “Okay, then back to my point. You’ve killed people.” She holds up a finger. “One hundred and seven people to be exact. And you intend to kill again?”

My eyes narrow on hers. “If the situation calls for it, yes.”

“Right, so that would make you a…” She waves a hand, as if that should help me finish her ad-lib.

“Hero,” I say, smiling smugly.

“No,” she deadpans. “Serial killer.”

Frustration courses through me. “I am not a serial killer!”

“Aster.” She brings her fingers to her temples. “You kill people… serially!”

Yeah, and every one of those pieces of garbage deserved it tenfold. “You know what? There’s no time for your judgy high horse semantics right now. Can we refocus on the task at hand?” I gesture towards the vast estate before us.

“Fine,” she says, her tone sticky sweet. “We’ll return to labels later.”

“Can’t wait,” I grumble. Here I am, imagining how fun it would be to chase her through these woods and fuck her against a tree, and she probably thinks I want to run through them and murder her. And that I’m also her buddy.

The only way she’s allowed to refer to me as such is at Christmas if she wants to straddle me while I’m dressed like Buddy the fucking Elf.

Returning my attention to the Westerford estate, I focus on security. Two guards stand on each corner, and after timing a few shift changes, we confirm they rotate every ten minutes. It takes one minute for them to walk the side of the house, and three for the front and back. The place is massive, I’ll give them that.

I’ve been assaulted by beetles three more times.

Flinching, I flick another off my arm.

Four.

“How are we gonna get inside?” Lily asks.

“I think tonight might be a recon night. At the event there were two guards in each room and four by the front door. We know there were others throughout the estate, but I’m not sure how many there are for a normal night. And unfortunately, I don’t think our ruse to get out of being caught would work this time considering we’re here uninvited.”

“Well, then let’s get invited,” she recommends, as if it’s truly that simple.

“And how do you suggest we do that?”

“These people are pretentious.” She waves a hand at the expansive yard. “The only thing they love more than their money is showing it off.”

“Okay…” I say, entirely unsure where she’s heading.

“They’re for sure having another party soon, and we need an invite.”

“Well, Jude Westerfuck actually hated me, in case you couldn’t tell,” I remind her.

“True.” Lily breaks into an unabashed smirk. “But he couldn’t keep his eyes off me.”

“Oh, so you noticed?” I ask, ignoring the rumble of jealousy within me.