Page 52 of Bells

He inclined his head at me in a quick nod. “I love you too, brother.”

“Thank fuck,” Stitches said, sitting back in his seat and raking his fingers through his dark hair. “You guys were stressing me out! Like, what the hell, man?”

“Me too,” Ashes said, smiling. “Stitches and I were talking about getting our own dorm together. And you know how much I hate dorm rooms.”

I let out a soft laugh, the act making me feel good. It had been far too long since I’d had any semblance of humor in my life.

“Now, let’s talk about what we’re going to do about her,” Church said after another moment of silence.

“Just let her go. She’ll fuck herself,” Ashes said. “We get a DNA test on the baby. Then we go from there.”

Church shook his head. “It’s more than that. She’s not just some innocent girl. She works for my father. You know what he does. Flesh trade. Cannibal market. Trafficking. The whole nine yards.”

I frowned. “What aren’t you saying?”

Church sighed and locked his eyes on me. “My father told me how he left her with a little girl only nights ago. He gave her permission to do whatever she wanted. He wanted to test her. To let her get her anger out. She took that permission and stomped on that little girl’s head until she stopped screaming.”

Ashes looked ill as Stitches blinked rapidly at the information.

I crinkled my brows and wrapped my arms around my midsection in a sad attempt to hold the nausea inside.

“How do you know he wasn’t lying?” I finally managed to ask.

Church pulled out a bloody blonde ringlet and dropped it onto the table. “My father had this delivered to me today. There were photos of her with the little girl too. Holding her body.” Church rubbed his eyes. “Isabella was covered in blood. Smiling. The note from my father said,I know you like trophies. Here’s one to behold.I have the photos if you want to see them, but they’re really brutal and I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

I got to my feet and went to the railing and vomited over the side, my head spinning.

Ashes patted my back as I heaved once more over the railing.

She was a liar. A murderer. She hurt children with the king of all monsters. Everything had been a lie.

Everything.

I straightened and wiped at my mouth. Ashes pushed a bottle of water into my hands, and I quickly swished a mouthful before spitting it out and then taking another drink, swallowing.

Calmly, I went back to my seat and sat.

“I. . . I need to think,” I finally said, getting up again. All this energy was pinging through my body. Rage. Anger. Hurt. Pain. Betrayal. It was a whirlwind, and I didn’t know which way to go.

“Take it easy, man,” Ashes called out. “Just rest.”

“Sin—“ Church called out to me.

I stopped and turned to him. “We’re good.”

He gave me a nod. “We’re good.”

And we were. I forgave him. I got why he did what he did. He was trying to save me.

The problem was, I wasn’t good anymore.

I was very, very bad because the thoughts rushing through my mind could get someone killed. I was a breath away from complete destruction.

BELLS

Istared up at the main building at Chapel Crest, loathing this place. Hating the people inside it. I’d had a bad week. Everett banished me. Sent me back here without so much as a backward glance.

I had to prove to him I wasn’t worthless. I hated feeling like I was. I’d done everything he’d wanted. At least I thought I had. My plan was simple. I was going to get rid of Sin and claim Church.

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