Page 36 of Sin

“Look, I think we all need the rest tonight anyway,” Lewis said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture when London turned his scowl in his direction. “Even if you managed to locate him, we’d still have to drive. Whether it’s to the airport or whatever. And it’s not safe for us to travel right now. Not when we’re this exhausted. We need to sleep before we try again.”

“Then let me track him right now and we can rest after. At least we could have a better sense of direction to go.”

Blade threw her hands up in defeat. “Why are you being so obtuse?”

London glanced away, but not before I glimpsed the guilty expression he wore.

Ah, guilt. Now, that was an emotion I was proficient in.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Mare said gently, as if she’d realized the same thing. “It looked like Jessica had been dead for a few days. You wouldn’t have been able to save her.”

“I know, but I don’t want that fate for anyone else,” he said, tone grave. “What we saw today was more than killing. It was torture. And I can’t… I don’t…” His teeth ground in frustration. “Just, please. Let me do this.” A breath. “I can do this.”

The five of us looked at each other, but it was clear that despite the entire team being against it, London needed this. For us, for himself, who knew? I was just concerned that he’d already exerted himself last night and was still recovering. This would take a toll on him, likely giving him a debilitating migraine for days until he rested his body fully. He’d probably need a lot more sleep than normal.

But I recognized guilt. I think we all did, to some extent. Not a single one of us, with maybe the exception of Lewis, had stood by or caused horrific things. We knew how irrational guilt could be.

He blamed himself for missing Lucas today, for finding Jessica and her cousin too late. And though it wasn’t his fault, he wouldn’t be convinced otherwise right now.

“Fine,” Blade finally conceded, looking away from the rest of us. She stabbed a finger into London’s chest. “But this is a one time only thing, agreed? And then you’re going to go straight to sleep and take it easy until we catch up to him, understood? That means you have to agree to leave the planning to us.”

London looked relieved we were giving in, and his shoulders relaxed their defensive tension. “Agreed. I’ll use the other room, so you guys can keep working.”

He headed to a door which connected this room to the one next to it and pulled it open. The other room was identical to ours, and as he crossed the threshold, I followed after him. Surprisingly, so did Mare. The door shut after us, leaving the others in the other room.

“This is going to suck for you,” Mare said, pulling out some earbuds from her pocket and tossing them to London as he sat on the edge of one of the beds. “But if you want to suffer, that’s on you.”

He rolled his eyes but hesitated, glancing around the new room and swallowing hard. “Thank you.” Then he stuffed the earbuds in his ears, not giving her a chance to respond. “Let’s cross our fingers he’s not too far and I can catch up to him fast.”

He laid back on the questionable bedding, scooting around for a few moments while he tried to get himself comfortable.

Taking several deep breaths, he zoned everything out as he centered himself. Within minutes, his breathing slowed, and his posture relaxed, as if all his tension melted away. The last thing I saw before he was consumed by his gift was the milky whites of his eyes.

I stood there by his side for several minutes, waiting to see if he’d come out of his trance-like state, but knowing he’d likely be a while. It was too much to hope that Lucas was still close by.

London would have to follow Lucas’s signature. He once explained searching for someone or something felt like a tug. Everything in this world had a unique energy signature, and London’s powers allowed him to track and locate them. He’d told me that he would get glimpses of areas the signature he was tracking had been. Which was why it was always easiest for him if he knew where the person or object had been last. Less area to comb through.

“Come on, Sinister,” Mare said, moving to the spare bed and patting the seat beside her. She smirked from her sprawled out position on her side. “Let’s have some fun, you and I.”

My brows rose, but I did as she suggested and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “Shouldn’t we see if the others need help?”

“They’ll come and get us if they need us. Right now, I think there’s something else we need to prioritize.”

“What did you have in mind? Want to watch a Disney movie?” I teased.

She rolled her eyes. “Maybe another time. No, I got thinking about it earlier,” she said slowly. “How are your mental shields?”

And then she was grabbing me by the back of my shirt and wrenching me down on the bed beside her. I let out an oomph as my back met the mattress and prepared myself for her attack. Only, it didn’t come.

Mare simply laid back down on her side, facing me, an amused grin on her face. “Well?”

I swallowed down my anxiety. It felt… weird to be this close to her in this sort of capacity. The gold flecks in her hazel eyes almost seemed to glow under the yellowed motel lights, and she tucked a blue strand of hair behind her ear.

“They’re okay,” I admitted, suspicious as hell of her right now. “At least, I think they are.”

Her mouth downturned. “What do you mean by that?”

I shrugged, though it was awkward in my current position. I shifted uncomfortably. “I haven’t really had a lot of practice, I guess. My psychic shields are naturally pretty strong, thanks to my gift. But there hasn’t really been anyone strong enough to get inside my head. And… they’ve definitely seen better days. Without being able to use them regularly in prison, my shields have weakened.”

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