Page 63 of Sin

“Sin?”

The sense of falling only lasted a moment as I disappeared into the dark pit. Glass broke as the car hit the bottom, and then gravity thrust me forward. An agonizing pain stole my breath as I was impaled on a broken pipe sticking through the now crushed windshield.

My hands grappled with the pipe protruding from my stomach, and I couldn’t catch my breath as my pain overtook me. Each time I tried to inhale, my breath stuttered in my throat.

Oh, dios, I was going to die.

Someone sucked in a sharp breath, and a sharp tug brought me out of my nightmare.

I jerked awake, clutching at my stomach as phantom pain lingered. I ripped my shirt up my chest, checking for blood. But the injury was a faded, circular scar on my lower stomach, just left of my newest stomach wound. Nothing like the gaping hole the pipe had left me.

My erratic breathing slowed some, and it was only then, after making sure I wasn’t bleeding out like back then, that I looked around to find the team surrounding me with similar faces of concern.

London still sat beside me, his hand clutching mine. But Mare sat on my other side, her hand on my knee.

I jerked my gaze to hers, finding shock and pain there. Had she… “Was that you?”

For a moment, she looked confused. Then her eyes hardened. “Was I the reason you had that nightmare? No, asshole. I am, however, the reason it stopped.”

I blinked at her, surprised. “You can do that?”

She retracted her hand and crossed her arms over her chest with a scowl. “Yeah, duh. I can control fear, remember?”

“I thought you could only see people’s fears and make them live it. Even get stuck in them. Not… I don’t know. End them.”

She huffed. “Well, I can.”

“Are you okay?” London asked, turning my head to look at him. His warm eyes scanned my face, and an unasked question lingered in his gaze.

I swallowed. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks,” I mumbled to Mare as I tried to sit up. My body was stiff, and my neck hurt like I’d slept funky. How long had I been out?

“Well, when you’re ready, it’s time to go. President Osborne has a van waiting outside to take us to the Citadel,” Lewis said, and I glanced out the plane window to find we'd landed. Damn, I really had conked out.

I didn’t remember falling asleep. I remembered driving to the airport and boarding the private jet. London chose to sit beside me and had even shared an earbud with me so we could watch a movie on his phone.

I’d definitely used it as an opportunity to get super close to him.

I must have been more tired than I’d thought, too. Because one moment I was watching the chonkiest dragon I’d ever seen chase after a group of misfit vigilantes, and then, I’d been tossed into that nightmare.

Releasing London’s hand, I rubbed at my eyes, trying to remove the last remnants of sleep there. I’d had nightmares ever since my father’s terrorist attack, but they usually only ever happened at night. These days, it seemed like they were happening more and more, and I never knew when they’d come.

London stayed glued to my side as we ditched the jet for the van, and I tried to pretend I didn’t notice the concerned glances he kept tossing my way.

Even though I could tell he didn’t want to, he sat up front again beside Lewis. Mare climbed into the back with me like normal, and after everyone was buckled and we took off for the Citadel, I noticed Mare fidgeting.

Pinching the zipper on her jacket, she slid it up and down, up and down. She chewed intently on a piece of bubblegum, using it almost as a stress ball in a way. Like she was attempting to take out her tension on the poor gum with those sharp teeth of hers.

While Lewis drove us through the busy streets of the capitol, I leaned over the middle seat separating Mare and me. “Hey,” I said quietly, trying not to draw attention from the others. Luckily, Lewis was playing some pop music, and Jinx and Blade were deep in their own conversation. “Are you okay?”

She flicked her gaze to me. “Yeah, why?”

I gestured to her zipper still pinched between her fingers. “You just seem like something’s on your mind. But I guess I’m just overthinking things.”

Her lips pursed as she studied me, and I tried not to be unnerved by the direct attention. There was something so intense when Mare focused in on you, and it left me squirming. After a moment of deliberation, Mare let go of her zipper and turned more in her seat to face me.

“What was that nightmare? The car crash?”

“You could see it?”

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