Aaron turns to look at me, narrowing his eyes like he thinks I'm playing dumb here or something.

“Are you kidding me?” he asks, his voice dry and bitter. “Vic is goddamn obsessed with you.” I shiver and lick my lips, but I don't say anything. I can't let Aaron know that I like hearing that, that I want Victor Channing to be as obsessed with me as I am with him. “He's been obsessed with you for years. Even in elementary school …” Aaron starts, trailing off.

“Even in elementary school, what?” I ask, but then Kara's tearing the back door open and scrambling into the van.

“Bernadette!” she says, reaching around the seat to hug me. I grin as I turn around, and she settles into her own seat, reaching out to take Ashley's backpack so her cousin can get in, too. “Are we going shopping for makeup? You said we could get makeup.”

“I don't see why not?” I start, looking back at Aaron. He smiles at me, as if he didn't almost just admit something happened in elementary school, of all places. “Let's grab Heather, and we can go to the drugstore or something.”

“Your wish is my command,” Aaron says, but with a surprising lack of sarcasm. He starts the van and we head over to grab Heather. I feel like a shitty sister-mom, pulling her out of the afterschool program so often, but it's whatever works, right? Whatever it takes to keep her happy and away from her father's idle hands.

We go to the same drugstore where Hael and I got the morning-after pill, and I help the girls choose their makeup carefully. Aaron stands back at first, but Kara and Ashley are far more skilled at engaging him than I am.

He ends up posing with his hands out so they can use the tester makeup on his skin, deciding what they think will look best on their own eyelids. Aaron’s gaze lifts up to find mine, and we both smile. It’s a surreal moment, like something out of a fairy-tale that can never last. If Aaron hadn’t joined Havoc, if we lived in a different world …

“This one,” Kara declares, the last one to make her selection. She’s picked out a sparkly pink shadow that I know Penelope would’ve loved. My own sister can’t abide by pink in any way, shape, or form, and has chosen a neon green that makes my teeth hurt. But that’s okay, we’ll figure out a way to blend it, so it doesn’t look garish.

“What happened to your face again?” Heather asks as I grab some concealer and foundation for the angry pink gash on my cheek. I glance down at her and then lift my eyes up to find Aaron’s. He’s pursing his lips, a fire burning in his gaze that makes me awfully glad that I’m not Billie Charter.

“I got hurt at the Halloween party, I told you that,” I say, refusing to lie, but unable to tell my little sister the truth. She narrows her eyes on me, and we both know she’s smart enough to figure out that I’m not telling her the most important part of the story. I’ve been beyond careful to keep the stab wound on my arm hidden from her, too, but I know she doesn’t miss the bloodstained bandages in the trash can in our bathroom. “Why don’t you each pick out a piece of candy, too?” I suggest mildly, and it only takes the three girls a split-second to race toward the front counter together.

“Candy, huh?” Aaron asks, following me as I switch aisles and pause in front of the pregnancy tests. I don’t even care that he’s watching as I grab a few boxes. “Shit, Bern,” he murmurs as I tuck them under my arm, grabbing some tampons and a box of disposal menstrual cups in case I get my period. “Do you think you might be pregnant?”

“I have no idea,” I snap back at him, even though he’s honestly being pretty damn nice right now. “I hope not.” Closing my eyes, I take a calming breath and then glance over my shoulder at Aaron. He looks as ridiculous as Hael did in here, tattoos bathed in fluorescent light and silhouetted by sterile white walls. “If I were, would you hate me for it?”

He cocks his head at me, like he can’t even fathom where I’m coming from right now.

“Are you fucking with me, Bernie? I could never hate you.”

I look down at the items in my arms, and I feel so goddamn stupid all of a sudden. Victor is going to be the death of me. I’m going to end up pregnant and ruling the underworld of this stupid city. My breath escapes in a strong exhale, and I just feel so heavy all of a sudden.

“I’m not stupid; I understand how birth control works,” I say, more to myself than to Aaron really. He reaches out with an inked hand and takes the boxes from my overburdened arms. The brush of his fingertips across my skin leaves me breathless as I lift my gaze again.

“You’re not stupid at all,” Aaron says with a bit of a scowl, his attention fixing on the kids for a minute, calculating their distance from us, determining their relative safety. It’s what he lives for, after all, to protect his girls. “It’s Vic. He’s too intense for his own good. Havoc might be an acronym of our names, but it’s his brainchild.” Aaron turns back to me, expression softening as he taps his fingers against the side of one of the boxes. “Don’t let him get to you, Bern. If you want to be with him, fine, but don’t let him rule you.”

There’s no time for me to respond to that. Heather comes slinking around the corner, like she thought she might be able to eavesdrop on us for a minute. Too bad for her that I’m a master at that game.

“Ready to go?” I ask, ignoring her inquisitive stare as she tries to puzzle out what I’m holding in my hands. Luckily for me, Aaron has the pregnancy tests, so she doesn’t see shit.

“Yeah, I guess,” she says, getting pouty on me. She doesn’t like how much time I’m spending with the boys. She hasn’t said anything, but I can see it in her eyes. The thing is, she doesn’t understand the half of it. I’m not just hanging out with friends here; I’m seeking justice for Pen. For her.

For myself.

We head to the front and Aaron pays in cash, taking the paper bag in his right arm as I lead the way to the door.

I’m not two steps into the parking lot before I realize something’s wrong. The air smells strange, like gasoline and burnt rubber.

“What the hell is—” I start as Aaron reaches out and grabs me by my upper arm, yanking me back and out of the way of a speeding car. Several boys in clown masks lean out the window, chucking Molotov cocktails at the rear windshield of Aaron's van. They smash right through it, turning the vehicle into a blazing inferno within seconds. The fire sweeps over it like a gluttonous demon, gobbling it up with orange tongues and oppressive heat.

“Say hi to Vic for us!” one of the boys shouts as they speed off in fits of laughter.

Meanwhile, the girls scream, the van burns, and people come pouring out of the store to watch.

Guess that's it, isn't it?

This war is officially fucking on.

“Hell is empty, and all the devils are here,” Oscar murmurs, frowning as Aaron paces ruts in the freshly mowed grass of his backyard. That’s the first thing he did when we finished with the police and got Vic and Hael to pick us up, mowed his damn lawn. He did it shirtless, too, with a lit joint hanging out of his mouth.

Despite the shitty turn our Friday afternoon has taken, I won’t lie about my panties being soaked from the sight. Sitting in a plastic chair with my knees to my chest, I wrap my arms around my legs and give Oscar a strange look.