Page 102 of Mine

Carefully, I reach into the other pocket and gently wrap my fingers around the small clear syringe.

It’s time.

After taking a quick breath to recenter myself, I enter the room.

Astor and Cillian look up from the map they’re hovered over, covered in red lines and circles, all paths leading to a large X in the middle.

“Pri.” Astor frowns at my boots, which are speckled in mud. “Where have you been? You okay?”

“Yeah. I was outside when I got your text to come here. Sorry. What’s going on?”

“Cillian and I have something we need to attend to immediately. Sabine’s coming with us. Instead of going to the beach house and gathering Valerie’s things like I asked you to, I want you to stay here and wait for orders.” He turns to Cillian. “Bring the car around. Sabine’s in her room. I’ll grab her, and we’ll head out.”

Cillian nods and exits the office.

“When will you return?” I ask, sweeping my long braids into a ponytail.

“Not sure. Just make sure to stay on your toes while I’m gone. Keep an eye on the property.”

“Don’t worry,” I say with a smile. “Everything is in good hands, Mr. Stone.”

Sixty-Two

Sabine

I’m staring out the rain-slicked window with my arms crossed over my chest. The landscape behind the glass is a distorted prism of bleak colors, swirling together in chaos.

It’s exactly how I feel inside.

Yesterday, the view was pristine. Perfect. Today, everything is still there, but now it’s all running together in blurred confusion, and like the rain, I can’t control it.

Just like that, everything has come tumbling down.

I’m accompanying Astor to “save” his wife. Okay. Do I just wait in the damn car? Then what? What the hell does he think is going to happen when the three of us are together?

How is he going to introduce me to her? Or is he going to introduce me at all? Am I going to be discarded at the nearest bus stop? Because I sure as hell know that he will not discard her. Not with the guilt that plagues him.

For Astor’s demeanor to shift so drastically—in an instant, from declaring his love for me to vowing to save her—shows how much he cares about his wife. To not save Valerie wasn’t even considered. And I’m a total bitch for even thinking that, I know.

Maybe I shouldn’t go. Maybe I should leave now and tell him to call me when it’s all sorted out. Or how about don’t call me at all. After all, he’s married.

Holy shit—he’s married.

I’ve slept with a married man. Told a married man I love him.

I am not Astor’s woman. I am his mistress.

Sabine, the mistress.

I choke on the word when the air around me shifts. All at once, my body jolts to alertness, my senses piquing.

I am not alone.

Before I can turn around, a hand covers my mouth and the tip of a blade presses into my lower back, piercing the skin.

“Not a word,” Prishna hisses in my ear.

She jerks my head, presses the knife deeper into my flesh, and like a bridle on a horse, she guides me out of the bedroom and into the hallway.

---