Page 10 of Sin Like the Devil

Gritting my teeth hard enough to physically hurt, I swallow down the barrage of abuse that wants to escape. Being cuffed and dragged about like sacks of meat feels fucking degrading after all we’ve done for the powers that be behind our captors.

“What’s happening?” Raine grunts.

“Stick with me.”

“I can walk alone.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to.”

Awkwardly gripping his guide stick in one cuffed hand, he purses his lips. He’s at a disadvantage without the gift of sight, but no matter his pride, Raine knows we’d never let anyone set a damn hand on him. Not while I’m breathing. I’ve lost enough people I care about.

We all follow the guards inside. Xander will have a plan. I trust his judgement. The tap of Raine’s stick against the interior’s hardwood floors breaks the oppressive silence as he searches for obstacles.

Harrowdean is as lush as expected. It’s all dark, stained wood, glinting crystal chandeliers and panelled walls covered in fancy as fuck artwork. The well-lit reception is small and leads to a grand staircase, splitting off in different directions.

CCTV cameras are fixed at multiple strategic angles, of course. Heaven forbid management fail to capture the material they’re so desperately seeking. That’s another dark secret, though. One of many.

“Stick.” A guard stops at Raine’s side.

He tilts his head. “Nope.”

“Not a request, little freak.”

Forcing Raine behind me, I move to block the guard’s approach. “You really gonna stoop that low?”

The asshole sneers at me. “Just doin’ my job. Lord knows what illegal contraband he’s got stashed in that thing.”

“There’s nothing in it,” Raine defends.

“Hand it over, inmate.”

Meeting Xander’s eyes, his mouth is a flat line, the only hint at his underlying emotions. The fucking robot isn’t going to intervene? Fine. He may wield his words as a bloodless weapon, but these wankers don’t listen to reason.

“Nox,” Raine warns, doing his weird, mind-reading perceptive shit.

How he somehow manages to read us despite not being able to see our bodies or facial expressions, I’ll never know. Raine’s perceptive by necessity and highly attuned to other people’s emotions.

He sees beyond the usual social cues the rest of us are so easily distracted by. But I don’t need analysing right now. Ignoring him, I seize a handful of the guard’s black t-shirt and wrench him closer.

My movements are limited with the cuffs cinched tight around my wrists, but I can still smash my forehead into his nose to elicit a delicious crack that makes me drool with satisfaction.

“Leave him the fuck alone,” I threaten.

The guard’s wail of pain is music to my ears. I manage to lift my hands quickly enough to get two awkward punches in, causing him to fall flat on his ass, blood dribbling down his chin.

Tackled from the side by another guard, I’m soon eating a faceful of the polished wood floor. My entire body hums with electric rage, setting my nerves alight and incinerating all sense of reason.

I buck and thrash, attempting to throw off whoever is pinning me to the floor. I’ll kill them all. If we’re not gonna rule this place, then we’ll burn it to the ground instead. I won’t go back to being a specimen.

“Ah. Mr Nash, I presume?” Davis crouches down on my left. “Your reputation precedes you.”

“Gee, thanks.” I turn my head to look at him.

“It isn’t a compliment. Are you that determined to spend your first night here in solitary confinement?”

“You wouldn’t dare. Don’t you know who we are?”

He casts a critical eye over me. “I think it’s quite clear that I do.”

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