Page 15 of Sin

And with that, he stepped through the open door.

Right. So his family was a touchy subject right now. Noted.

I swallowed down the guilt and quickly hurried after him. This next hallway had several closed rooms along it, but London continued until we reached the end where it led to some basement stairs. He typed something out on his phone as we descended them, and I didn’t know how he did it since I almost tripped several times and that was with me watching every step.

The door opened up into a room that resembled a hacker’s playhouse. Along every wall were various monitors, LED lighting, and artwork which looked questionably acquired, like the one on the far wall depicting a bouquet of yellow and red poppies in a vase.

I was so distracted by everything in the room I almost didn’t notice the people waiting inside. Almost.

Because it would be impossible to miss the goliath which was Jinx. He leaned against the wall to the left, his phone out as he messed around on it. His size made the phone appear toy-like in his massive paws. His light brown hair was shorn short, and as I stepped into the room, his brown eyes flashed from his screen to stare me down.

Blade sat cross-legged on the desk, black hair tied in a bun on the top of her head, tossing up several daggers and catching them without even having to look. Her ability to direct her weapons with pinpoint accuracy made her one of the deadliest weapons the former UAS ever acquired. Both she and Jinx were part of the UAS’s task force, the Mercenaries. Most of the force slacked off and used their title as a way to abuse their powers, to get what they wanted. Though, from the little I remembered about Jinx and Blade, they’d never abused their titles like the others on their team had. No, but they’d also never done anything to stop the rest of the Mercenaries when they’d taken situations too far.

Dressed head to toe in tactical gear with daggers, throwing knives, and all other sorts of sharp objects sheathed in her belt, she was the epitome of violence. And when she spun one of the daggers between her fingers in quick rotations, I wondered if it was a nervous tic of hers or if she just did that when she was bored.

And of course, it would have been completely impossible to ignore the absolute nightmare draped along a couch in the back of the room. Mare, unlike Jinx and Blade, had been a Merc who’d abused her powers. With a single touch, her power could draw out a person’s biggest fears and regrets and make them live it. Weaker minds could struggle to break from her power and become stuck in their nightmares if she willed it.

I shivered just thinking about it. If she touched me, what would she see?

I didn’t even let myself go there.

She popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth with fingernails filed to needle-sharp points. When she realized she had my attention, she grinned at me with a smile full of sharpened teeth.

En ese momento, yo tenía un cagaso bárbaro. She was terrifying.

Lewis shoved me further into the room as he came in behind me, and it was only then that I realized I’d stopped in the doorway.

My face warmed because I didn’t know when I’d become this shell of my former self. But this wasn’t me. This hesitant, scared person. Or maybe it was now. But I didn’t want it to be.

Rolling my shoulders back and straightening my posture, I met each of their stares as Lewis left my side to take a seat on one of the multiple office chairs in the room. He sat on it backward and smiled around the room like he expected a fight to break out and couldn’t wait for the chaos to begin.

London stopped to stand beside Blade and waved his hand at me. “As you all are aware, Sin will be temporarily joining us for the remainder of this mission.” He emphasized the word temporarily, making my shoulders stiffen. “You probably already know everyone here, but I think it’s important you know everyone’s roles on the team. Blade is our weapons specialist and co-captain. She works alongside Lewis to make suits and weapons individualized for each teammate.”

I remembered her specialized weapons well. She’d equipped me with some when I’d planned to take down my father. I’d never gotten a chance to use them before I’d been injured that day.

Blade eyed me up and down. “I’m always looking for volunteers to test out my designs on, if you’re interested?”

“Blade,” London chastised, confusing me.

She sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I know. No more testing weapons out on team members. But maybe—”

“No.”

“You never let me have any fun,” she pouted.

London ignored her and pointed to Jinx. “Jinx is our intel coordinator. He’s the reason this operation ever runs smoothly. Once we have a target, he makes sure we have the connections and supplies needed to reach them.”

Jinx continued to scowl at me, the line between his thick brows a deep valley. I sent him a little finger-wave because I just didn’t know what to say. The last time I’d seen any of these people was when I’d been about to end things with my dad. They didn’t like me, and I personally didn’t find them all that enjoyable to be around either.

This was going to be fun, wasn’t it?

Mejor que la cárcel.

And with that thought, I turned my attention to the last person in the room. Mare didn’t even bother straightening as London pointed a finger in her direction. “And Mare, well, Mare’s here because she’s one hell of an opponent.”

Those chills returned.

“Are you going to actually talk or just stand there awkwardly all day?” Mare drawled around a mouthful of popcorn. One of her eyebrows lifted in challenge.

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