Page 107 of Pretty Monsters

"I'm sorry if that was too much for you. I should have asked."

She needs more of an explanation, but I don't know how to tell her why I was driven to take her in front of Ford.

Raven snuggles in closer to my chest. "You were feeling laid bare, and you needed to reclaim how and when you chose to reveal yourself. Also, despite what you've told me, my friendship with Ford is threatening to you."

I guess I don't need to explain myself after all. "I won't be threatened by him anymore."

"It was pretty hot though." She giggles, and I tighten my grip on her. "Not because it was Ford, although I was more comfortable with it being him. Sorry if that bothers you."

It would have, but for now at least, those feelings are suppressed. "What made it hot?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. The taboo nature of it. Knowing someone saw what you do to me, how wild and free I am with you."

"Don't get used to it," I grumble. "I don't particularly like sharing you. Not even if they can't touch you."

She kisses me, a quick brush of her lips on mine. "I'm yours. Whatever you want, whenever you want. It makes me happy to know I'm the one giving it to you."

Finally, the chains binding me to the past fall off. "I love you, Raven. Even if the word isn't big enough for how much I feel for you, I love you."

She smiles at me. "I know. I love you, too."

33

Full Circle

Raven

Voices float from downstairs,rousing me from what was more like a coma than actual sleep. My body is deliciously sore when I stretch. I roll over and find Sin's side of the bed empty, but still warm. Wherever he went off to, it hasn't been very long.

I do the bare minimum to get decent enough to see people. I've never been a big fan of make-up, so I'm ready in about five minutes. Teddy has returned from the apartments, and it appears he's brought Agent Holbrook back. Three times in two days seems like a lot. Hopefully he's back with news of a safe house, or another means of protecting ourselves. We've already had one close call, and I can't help but feel we're living on borrowed time the way we're going right now.

"–safe to go back to class. Campus police have been provided with pictures of all known soldiers of Damien Blackthorne, including those provided by Lucien and Sin." Agent Holbrook stumbles over Sin's name; he clearly doesn't like it.

"That moves us to the next order of business. Mr. O'Brian–"

"You know I don't use that name anymore," Teddy interrupts.

"As I was saying, he mentioned you don't have any legal documents whatsoever, is that correct, Mr...uh...Sin?"

Sin tips his head. "No birth certificate, social security number, driver's license, hell, I don't even have a library card."

Holbrook takes a second to write something on the tablet he's holding. "Right. I had missing persons run a search for anyone that matches your description starting at infancy to elementary age. There weren't any matches."

Sin crosses his arms, and leans against a filing cabinet. "Not surprising. I doubt parents who sell their children go on to report them missing. You could search hospital records for births, and compare those to children actually enrolled in school, but you have to have a general location to begin the search."

I step closer to the office door, and with his sharp reflexes he sees me before I'm even out of the shadows. His arms drop to his sides, and I take it as a signal to move close to him. Once I'm within reach he tugs me closer by hooking his finger into the belt loop of my jeans. With my back pressed against his front, he wraps one arm around my middle, holding me in place.

"Well," Holbrook looks up from his device, "I'm not going to stop looking, but in the meantime we need to make you a legal citizen. Of course, until we determine your birth place and parentage I can't say for certain you are in fact a citizen. But I also can't say you aren't. I've had some colleagues push through the necessary documents."

Next to his chair he pulls a brown envelope from the bag he seems to always have with him. He dumps the contents on the table. "You've been assigned a social security number." He pushes the blue paper card forward. "The lack of a birth certificate is tricky. Since we can't find any coordinating missing persons reports as I mentioned earlier, assigned you a birthday of January 1, 1999, and chose to list the local hospital of Devil's Crossing as your place of birth. Your legal name on both your birth certificate and social security card is Jackson Sinclair. If we are able to discover your birth parents, you can choose to adjust these documents."

Sin's hands shake as he reaches out to take the two pieces of paper. "So, this means–"

Holbrook smiles sadly at him. "You're now a legally recognized person. For that matter, go get a driver's license."

Sin leans down and rests his chin on my shoulder. "You know what this means?" He whispers.

"No," I reply.

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