Page 22 of Wicked Devotions

“That sounds unsafe.”

She releases a sardonic laugh. “The walk there will probably be the safest part of the night. I’ve never gone to one of the parties, but I’ve heard they’re straight debauchery. Drinking, drugs, sex, fights. Everything andanything goes.”

“That definitely doesn’t sound like my scene. The guys said they had to go, though, I wonder why?” I ask mostly to myself.

“Because Declan owns the land, and the parties are always thrown by him.”

“Oh.” I didn’t realize he owned anything more than this house, and to be honest, I actually thought it was owned by Cillian.

The tiniest bit of guilt surges through me. I haven’t given myself a chance to actually get to know Declan. I just keep the wall up between us from years of my dad filling my head with negativity about the Ambrose family. Maybe I should give him a chance.

We switch to FaceTime, so she can help me choose what to wear. The outfit we settle on is a pair of olive green shorts with a tie belt and a basic white tank tucked into them. Normally I’d wear a pair of dainty sandals, but since I’ll be walking through the woods, I grab a pair of sneakers. As always, I pull my hair back into a ponytail and tie my signature ribbon in a bow around it.

As soon as I walk into the kitchen, all three of the guys look me up and down. Instinctively, I stop at Cy’s side, letting him pull me against him in a side hug. Declan’s gaze hardens as he looks at Cy’s handon my hip while Emerson looks at us like a puzzle he’s trying to solve.

“When we get there, you need to stay with one of us at all times,” Declan says.

“Don’t accept drinks or food from anyone but us,” Emerson adds.

I’m naïve, but I’m not a total idiot. “I don’t drink anyway, so that won’t be a problem.”

The three of them share a look but don’t say anything to that.

“Let’s go, then,” Emerson says, leading the way to the jeep.

He and Declan take the front seat while I share the back with Cy. I’ve only seen him in the back, and I wonder if it ever bothers him to constantly be relegated here. It obviously makes sense with them both being significantly taller than he is, but still, I know it would annoy me.

The sun is just barely over the horizon at this point in the night, but the air is still thick and heavy with heat and humidity. Even as we drive down a winding road into a thickly forested area with the wind whipping around us, I feel a light sheen of sweat build on my skin.

Emerson pulls up next to an iron gate, and Declan jumps out to unlock the padlock. He waitsfor Emerson to drive through and then locks it again behind us. As soon as he hops back in, we drive further into the woods over a bumpy dirt path. At the end of the road, a small clearing has been made just large enough for a car to turn around, which Emerson does before putting the jeep in park.

Declan grabs me by the waist as I’m about to jump down, saving me from landing in a muddy puddle. I look up into his jade-colored eyes, slightly obscured by his windblown hair as I try to figure him out. He’s a mystery to me. Sometimes abrasive, sometimes considerate, the only thing I can count on is that I never know what I’m going to get with him.

“Thank you.”

“No problem. Just saving your shoes from being wet all night.” He drops his hands from my body and steps around me to grab a cooler from the back.

Emerson and Cy grab a couple duffel bags and start walking through the trees. I have no choice but to follow the three of them. It only takes a few minutes until we come across a clearing where the ruins of an old church are located. Piles of stones litter the grass, and in the center are three still-standing stone walls and one that has collapsed. I follow the guys through the arched door frame tofind hand carved pews placed along the perimeter of the building and a beautiful marble altar standing at what would have been the front of the church.

Vines and vegetation have pushed up through the soil, claiming the structure as their own. It’s tragically beautiful. I run my fingers along the walls, admiring the work that must have gone into building something like this hundreds of years ago. Shards of stained glass crunch beneath my feet as I keep exploring.

A crucifix sits propped in one corner, answering what type of church this was. I bend down and pick it up, surprised by the solid weight of it for its size. Jesus’s body is carved from marble that looks similar to the altar. The attention to detail is mesmerizing and makes me want to take this home with me. It deserves to be preserved, not left out in the elements to decay.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Declan says from behind me.

“Yes. Why haven’t you taken it home?”

“This is its home. Who am I to take it away?”

I look around as Cy and Emerson light torches throughout the ruins. “It's just that it is so exposed out here.”

“It survived longer than the chapel.”

“True.” Now is as good a time as ever to try to get to know my new stepbrother. “How did you even find this place?”

“This land was one of my first purchases when I got the first part of my trust. I bought it because I heard your dad was looking at the land for some reason.”

“So you bought it out of spite?”

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