Page 373 of Psycho Devils: Aran's Story 2

It was exhausting.

The first few nights after I’d partially revealed my ability, Sadie had tried to sleep beside me in bed and hold me. Dealing with her insufferable mouth breathing had been worse than any migraine.

They thought the worst of my transgressions was wiping their memories.

If only they knew.

The truth was heinous.

None of them would talk to me ever again.

Not even Jax.

He’d never hug me as he smiled down at me. He’d never call me his little sister like it was something to be proud of. He’d never ask me again if I was okay with worry in his eyes.

I’d seen a glimpse of it the night they discovered I’d wiped their memories.

They no longer looked at me like I was theirs.

I’d felt the distance between us, and a chasm splintered through my chest.

There was no longer a we.

It was a them, and a me.

For some reason the realization hurt worse than the electricity vibrating through my bones.

Moisture welled in my eyes until everything was blurry.

Maybe Dick was an expert at breaking people after all.

It was nights like these where all the facts, logic, and reality coalesced into one throbbing truth: everyone would be better off if I had never been born.

I twitched silently in the sleeping room.

The showcase was here.

I didn’t know how tomorrow would play out, but I knew my heritage had something to do with it.

Aran had somehow convinced herself she had a special relationship with me. She’d deluded herself into thinking she cared about my well-being.

They would use that against her.

The voice I spoke to in the Angel Consciousness wanted her to succeed—he was most likely working on behalf of the High Court—but while the rest of the angels had approved her as a candidate, they didn’t think she’d actually prove herself righteous enough to earn her wings.

The voice had said they’d been pleasantly surprised by her actions in the third and fourth competitions.

They needed her to do something big.

The genes wouldn’t express themselves without a monumental display of selflessness.

I gnawed harder on my teeth.

Aran had sacrificed her physical well-being repeatedly in the games, yet they claimed it wasn’t enough for them.

From what the voice had told me, anyone else would have earned their wings already.

They’d put more blockers inside her than normal. She was being punished for her bloodline.

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