SWNOVELS Sinful: Chapter 39
I watched Sin rummage around the room, his hair a wet, tangled mess from his shower, his shirt off with his scars and injuries on full display.
“What are you looking for?” I asked, watching him from the place I sat on the edge of the bed. I noted the new wound on his wrist, my own ugly memories swimming through my head. I shoved those aside and focused on the moment at hand.
“My rosary. It was here a minute ago.”
“It’s in the bathroom.”
He looked at me and frowned. “I put it on my nightstand.”
“Yes. Then you picked it up and took it with you into the bathroom.”
He hesitated for a minute before stalking back to the bathroom. A moment later, he emerged, the rosary clutched in his hand.
“So they’re letting you in, huh?” I watched him grab a t-shirt from his dresser and tug it over his head.
“Not really. I get a week to win her over, then I can deal with Dante.”
“Who will try to kill you,” I said, cocking my head to the right. “But you’ll do the right thing and win him over.”
He turned to me, worry on his face.
“Is he actually going to try to kill me?”
I shrugged. “It’s Dante Church. Of course, he will. I don’t need to be psychic to see that. You just need to have a bartering chip. Well, we need a bartering chip.”
“Do we have one?” He grabbed his jacket and turned back to face me.
“Maybe. I’ve been looking into this shit with the fucker who touched her in the woods.” My chest tightened with the barely control rage I had. I inhaled deeply, hoping to quell the storm within me before continuing. All I’d been doing lately was obsessing over the monster in the woods who hurt her. Who robbed her. She’d always been an easy target, and I was fucking tired of her being in pain. These assholes needed to pay.
“I know it’s not Linley, but it has to be someone in the same mindset as he is. A demented sex pervert.” I closed my eyes briefly, wishing I could get a clearer image of things.
Sin raised a brow at me when I opened my eyes. “Names?”
I sighed and shook my head. “I don’t know. My fucking head feels like a dumpster fire lately. I don’t know what’s going on with it. Is this what it feels like to be. . . normal?”
Sin chuckled. “I’m not sure because I don’t think any of us here are normal, but maybe it’s a shadow of normal.”
“Shadow,” I murmured. “Shadow.” I picked my carrot up from my bedside table and took a crunchy bite before getting to my feet.
“Where are you going?” Sin called out to me as I went to the door.
“Out,” was all I said before heading to where the distant voices led.
I rounded a corner and nearly ran right into Bryce who was walking while staring at the ground.
“Shit.” He let out a gasp of surprise when he realized I was there. “Sorry, Mirage.”
I smiled at him, taking in the way he maintained his distance, his gaze darting around the empty path. I cocked my head to the right, surveying him.
“You’re always so nervous,” I commented. “Or are you?”
He scoffed at me and looked toward the science building. “Thanks for saving me in the woods. I don’t remember if I ever told you.”
“Don’t play games with me, Andrews. You know it wasn’t me who saved you. Right?”
He turned his attention back to me. “Asylum. Mirage. It’s all the same, isn’t it?”
I caught the meaning in his words, knowing no one having heard it would have batted a lash. But me? I saw right through it.
“Sure. We’ll let everyone run with that idea. It’s worked so far.”
He grunted. “OK. Great. I’m meeting up with my friends, so I need to get going—”
“Oh?” I crinkled my brows at him beneath my rabbit mask. “Where are you meeting them?”
“My dorm.”
I nodded. “Where were you?”
“Getting snacks.” He stared back at me without an ounce of emotion on his face. I liked that.
“What did you get?”
“I got some cookies. A few bags of chips. A couple brownies.”
“Not into healthy eating, huh?”
His nostrils flared as he stared back at me. “What do you want, Seth?”
I grinned at the use of my name. “Only making conversation. Sin is off romancing my girl, so I’m out here looking for trouble. Guess I found it, huh?”
“I’m not doing anything wrong.”
“You just stole from the cafeteria. We both know we aren’t allowed into the storage area. It has a damn lock on the door. Big ass combination, if I remember correctly.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Right?”
He looked away from me. “Seriously, I’m going to be late—”
“Well, you guys always seemed pretty OK. I’ll come with.”
He hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh.
“Fine. You should know the group is afraid of you.”
I waved him off. “They’re afraid of Asylum. I’m Mirage. You know that.”
He went silent and began walking, me at his side. I let him be in silence, hoping maybe he’d spark up a conversation. I wasn’t exactly sure how he’d fit into the watcher dynamic with the guys because everyone had their thing. Bryce was just. . . normal.
Well, outwardly, but I knew better than that.
We rounded the path to his dorm before I decided to break the silence.
“Are you going to ever tell her?” I asked while we walked.
I could feel his tension at my question.
“Tell her what?”
“You know what, Bryce. Don’t play stupid. We both know your truth. Are you going to tell her?”
“What would it matter?” he asked glumly.
“For starters, she’s under the impression you’re a sweet, normal boy. We both know that’s bullshit.”
He stopped and turned to face me. “Listen, Seth. I don’t need this shit right now. I’m not in the mood to be taunted and fucked with, OK?”
“You’re still pissed me and Sin showed up, huh? Ruined that kiss you wanted so much.”
He let out an angry snarl at me and looked away.
“What would you have done had it happened? Huh? What could you do given the circumstances?”
“I don’t know.”
“And that’s your problem. You don’t know shit about what you’re doing. Get your shit sorted, Andrews. You keep hesitating. Pull the fucking trigger already.”
“And end up like Sin? Like I was in the woods, nearly gutted?” He scoffed. “No thanks.”
I shook my head at him. “You’re not this person. Why are you pretending to be?”
He let out a bitter laugh. “I am who I need to be in order to survive. I think we all are here. You’re more than Mirage and don’t claim your identity, do you. . . rabbit?”
I stared him down for a moment. He didn’t back away. He showed no fear, further confirming what I knew of him.
“She needs to learn to protect herself,” he continued in a low voice.
“You’re supposed to be helping me find the guy who did this. So far, you have jack shit for me.”
He stepped up to me, meeting me nose to nose.
“I don’t take commands from you, Mirage. I’m doing this because I give a damn about her. This has nothing to do with you or any other dick on this campus. Get that through your head. It’s her. Believe me when I tell you I’m logging the fucking man-hours on it.” He licked his lips. “I have a lead.”
“Names,” I snarled, ignoring the other shit he’d said.
He shook his head and backed away from me. “Nah. I need to confirm it before I give names. Don’t need you choking him with your carrot like you did to Linley, or beating him like you did to Eric Phelps.” He eyed me. “That’s right. I know you beat the shit out of him on the lowdown and are the reason he’s been put into the med ward.”
“Of course you do,” I said to him. He was really starting to anger me. “I’m sure you know about Jason Winkle and Austin Daly too.”
“Broken arm. Broken nose. Of course, I know.”
I gave him a dark smile.
“You’re good at what you do, Bryce. It’s why you’re here, but I expect better. I want a name. I want to kill this guy. Put that incredible mind of yours to work.” I was done. I turned to walk away, but he called out to me.
“Hey, Seth.”
I paused and looked over my shoulder at him. “Yeah?”
“Asylum said you can’t read minds. That you can’t get into them. If that’s true, how did you know about me?”
I cast him a sinister smile.
“Sometimes we lie. You already knew that, though.”
And with those cheerful words, I left him to mull it over.