Page 57 of Sinful

“That’s the first correct thing you’ve said all day.”

Fury rose like roaring flames in my chest. “Stop talking to me like that!” I shouted. “You’re a horrible man, Sebastian Thorne! You took advantage of me. I was nothing but nice to you, and you used it against me!”

He smiled. “Maybe. But if I remember correctly,youwere the one who made it so easy for me.”

“What?”

“You practically threw yourself at me, little Rosebud. Talking about your visions and dreams, and how you always thought my arrival in your life was some sort of sign from the Entity. You even approached me about the hot springs, begging for me to make you come. Remember?”

Molten shame flooded me as he spoke. Once again, he was right. I’d begged for him. Dripped with arousal for him. Spent sleepless nights with him. Like a lamb walking straight into the lion’s den, asking to be devoured.

“How did you do it?” I asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“Speak up, Rose. This glass is very thick.”

I raised my voice and took a step closer. “How did you do it?” I repeated. “How did you make yourself appear in my vision? It was years ago.”

“That’s how long I’ve been planning this,” he replied, baring his teeth in another vicious smile. “When you saw me… that was no vision. You only thought that because you’ve been raised on a diet of crazy magico-religious shit, so I guess a vision made more sense to you than a stalker.”

I shook my head. “No, I remember it. Clearly. You appeared right before me, looking like death had reached out to claim a part of you. You knew I’d be right there in that exact moment.”

“Yeah, because I’d been watching you, and I knew you’d come back to that spot,” he replied. “I painted my face like that to scare you. It was just a bonus for me that you took it so personally, thinking it was a sign from God and all that. But I’m not a dark spirit, or a vessel, or whatever the fuck you said earlier. I’m just a man.”

“So you… you…” I trailed off, head slightly shaking. “It was a lie. All along. The visions, the dreams… none of it was real.”

“Oh, it was real, baby girl. Youreallydid see me that day, and whatever dreams and drunken hallucinations you had after that were all based on that real event.” Sebastian grinned wickedly again. “I made it all happen for you.”

I felt sick to my stomach. All these years of shame, fear, guilt, and confusion were based on nothing but a mortal man’s trickery. That was even worse than falling for a dark spirit’s trickery. Dark spirits were practiced in their malevolent ways, having existed for millennia, so it was easy to fall for them. But a mortal man like Sebastian? He’d only been alive for twenty-eight years. I should have seen right through him, easily, but I’d been blinded by my own lust.

That was what it all came down to in the end, really.Lust.I fell for his handsome looks and the way he made my body ache and twinge in such a pleasurable way, and then I let my morals and logic fall to the wayside like they never existed in the first place. I was so, so weak and so, so stupid. Like a hormone-riddled teenager.

Now that I was really thinking about it, I actually couldn’t believe how stupid I’d been. If the Entity had truly sent Sebastian to me as a reward… why couldn’t anyone else know about it? That didn’t make sense. The fact that I’d felt the need to hide the true nature of my relationship with him should have been a glaring warning sign, but I’d blithely brushed it off like it was nothing.

It was all because I knew I was lying to myself, somewhere deep down. Knew I was doing the wrong thing. And yet, I’d gone ahead and done it anyway. Been tempted by the Darkness and jumped headfirst into the void.

“I’m so stupid,” I murmured, sinking to my knees.

“Don’t feel too bad, sweetheart,” Sebastian replied. “There were a few times I thought you might be onto me. Like last night, for example, when you asked if we needed documents to cross the border. We do, of course, but thankfully, you wound up buying that bullshit story about the friendly deal we have with the Canadians.”

I slowly shook my head. “Did you ever tell meanythingthat wasn’t a lie?”

“Sure. A lot of things. But none of that matters, Rose. All that matters is the fact that I got you here, where you belong.”

I sprang to my feet, fury spiking in me all over again. “I don’t belong here!” I screamed, pounding my fists on the glass. “Tell me why you did it! Tell me why I’m here!”

“You know why,” he said calmly.

“No!” I smashed my fist into the glass again. “I don’t know! Tell me,now!”

He stayed silent, watching as I pounded on the glass wall until my knuckles bled. Then he sighed, stroking his jaw with one hand. “I told you the glass is unbreakable, Rose,” he said. “You should be careful, or else you’re really going to hurt yourself. And I’d like it ifIwas the only one hurting you.”

I stepped back and gathered up some of the blood from the back of my left hand with my right index finger. Then I used the blood to draw a large circle on the glass. Within that circle, I drew a four-pointed star. In the spaces between each point, I drew tiny, intricate runes, followed by a large symbol featuring three interlocking triangles at the top.

Sebastian watched me, dark delight flickering in his eyes. “What the fuck is that supposed to be?”

I stepped back and met his gaze with a look of grim determination, still panting from the exertion of having pounded on the glass for so long. “It’s a protection symbol,” I said. “It will stop you from going near me.”

He snorted with laughter. “Nothing will stop me, baby girl. I can come in there whenever I want.”

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