Page 144 of Ashes

I paused, confused, before I waved at him.

He cocked his head for a long time and stared back at me before he raised his hand and waved.

Another knock on the door.

“Seth? Someone’s here,”I called out feebly in my mind, not knowing if his apparent superpower reached this far.“I’m scared. Please. Come back.”

The door clicked and creaked open.

I sucked in a sharp breath and squeezed my eyelids closed.

Please God, don’t let it be Sully and his monsters. Please don’t send me back. Please. Asylum. Seth. Help me. HELP.

If ever was a time for Asylum to prove himself, now was it.

I trembled in my seat as warm fingers brushed against my cheek.

“Rina?” Cady’s soft voice called out. “Hey. It’s me.”

How. . .How is she here? Am I being taken home?

I don’t want to go.

I’m scared.

“Open your eyes,” she pleaded softly. “Come on, Rina.”

I peeked through my lashes to see her worried face peering back at me.

She was really here.

And so was he.

Sinful.

The one who had stuffed me into that damn box in the mausoleum and left me to scream. To be hurt by Sully and those monsters behind the mirror. They saw me. They saw us. Doing things. Things that made me cry. As fuzzy as those memories still were, I knew it was sick and twisted.

I shook as I locked my eyes on him.

He crinkled his brows and took a small step toward me. His hair was tied up neatly into that blond bun atop his head. Nose ring. Lip ring. Ears pierced. Hands that forced me into a fucking box and lips that whispered his sins. His truths and his lies.

Sinful.

Pitiful.

I rocked, my breathing so fast I thought I was going to pass out.

My head spun.

“Rina. Hey. Come on. Let’s go. I want to get you out of here. I have some money. We can run. I won’t let them find us. I brought Sin to help.” She reached forward and unlocked the brake on my wheelchair.

I couldn’t leave. Not with him.

I rocked forward and tumbled out of my chair as Cady made to wheel me out.

“Damnit! Sin! Help me. I-I have to get her out of here. Please. Please help me save her.” Cady’s voice cracked as I curled into a tight ball, my face wet with tears.

Seth. Asylum. Where are you? Please. WHERE ARE YOU?

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