“I hate you.”
“I know.” He cocked his head at me. “But you shouldn’t. I’m just helping fate. It needs my help sometimes.” He nodded to my stomach. “It’s too bad. It really is. Everything happens for a reason, Isabella. Every frantic whisper. Every scream. Every death. All of it. This time, I get to benefit."
I was done with his brand of crazy. He made me feel like I needed to scream and tug my hair out.
“OK.” He nodded. “This is goodbye then. Enjoy your night. Give Sin my love.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I turned away from him to answer it, needing a moment to breathe.
“Hey, you want pizza?” Sin asked. “We were thinking of ordering in. Figured I’d ask.”
“Yeah, that sounds great,” I said, putting false cheer into my voice.
“Cool. I’ll see you soon. Love you.”
“Bye.” I ended the call and turned to tell Asylum he could tell me what the hell he was talking about or just fuck off, but he was gone, the woods around me silent.
I sighed.
He was a weirdo.
I’d have regretted fucking him if it didn’t make me feel good to know I’d done it.
He’s just trying to scare me. It’s what men do to good girls like me.
With that thought in mind, I shoved Asylum’s words out of my head and continued down the path, the eerie feeling of being watched sticking with me until I reached Sin’s house.
I turned to look back at the darkening forest and could have sworn I saw Asylum disappear into the shadows.
A shiver raced over me.
Fuck that nut job.
Well, not again, but seriously, he could piss right off. We’d had our fun. It was time for the next round. I knew he was just as twisted as I was. We were both tangled in the web Everett Church spun. The only difference was, Everett loved me and simply used Asylum’s crazy to his advantage.
“I thought I saw you,” Church said, answering the door.
My heart fluttered at the sight of him.
“Hey,” I said, smiling up at him.
He raised a brow at me and stepped aside. “Sin is in the living room.”
I brushed past him, dragging my fingers along his hand as I went.
I could have sworn he was smiling too.
BELLS
Weeks passed by, and I managed to hang on. Sin had relaxed quite a lot and wasn’t nearly as clingy. I noticed with him that when he felt safe, he was easier to deal with. Of course, I did like getting him upset from time to time because it made me feel like I mattered since he’d always plead and apologize to me and beg me to love him.
I still hated and loved that about him.
We’d not had sex without protection since that day in my dorm.
It had been stupid on my part to let him inside me like that, but I liked to push his boundaries. And Sinclair Priest had a lot of them.
Of course, I’d also fucked Asylum.