Page 153 of Ashes

When I knew she’d had enough, I slowed to a stop, having cleaned her thoroughly with my tongue. I pulled her down beside me and held her against my body, her back to my stomach.

I wasn’t going to fuck her.

I enjoyed the pain my aching cock brought me. It meant that when I finally got her again, it would be so fucking worth it.

She hadn’t forgiven me for the shovel incident. That was fine. I didn’t deserve her forgiveness for it, but I would make her see she was meant to be mine. I remembered the first time she acknowledged my existence. The way she’d stopped to wave up at me as I watched her from the attic window.

“Sleep,” I commanded softly to her. “My forever girl. Tomorrow will be busy.”

Her body relaxed against mine as I held her.

I hadn’t been lying. Tomorrow would be busy.

Tomorrow, we’d see the watchers.

ASHES

“Can we talk?” Cady dropped down in the seat next to me at the watchers’ table.

I looked up from my lunch. “Yeah. What’s up?”

She stretched her arms across the table and leaned forward. “I spent some time with Rina last night. With Sin.”

I blinked at her words. I hadn’t been home when they’d gotten there. Stitches and I had gone for a ride on our motorcycles along the edge of the lake to burn off some steam. He was so quiet since coming home that I felt like he needed to get off campus.

He’d seemed happier once we were on the road, but he still hadn’t been himself. I’d tried talking to him, but he was quiet and simply shook his head at me and smoked a joint.

I was surprised she hadn’t told me sooner she’d been to see Sirena.

“OK. What’s up?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound like I was a lost, eager puppy and she was someone with treats.

“I-I tried to take her.” Cady gave me a worried look.

“Wait. What?”

She launched into her story, ending with Sirena screaming from Sin getting too close to her.

“You guys still don’t have any leads on who helped Seth put her into that coffin?” She leaned in, her voice soft.

I shook my head. “No. No one is talking. I can see why. It’s Asylum. He probably has dirt on them or threatened whoever it was. A guy who can pop out an eyeball with a fork and make you eat it probably isn’t one anyone wants to betray.”

She chewed her bottom lip for a moment before her words came pouring out of her mouth. “I think it was Sin.”

I blinked rapidly at her words, not sure I’d heard them correctly.

“What?”

“I think it was Sin,” she repeated. “Rina hasn’t spoken in years. Not a single word. He got near her in the beginning, and she kept sayingSinful. Her reaction to him then was off, all things considered. Then, last night, she screamed and curled into a tight ball when he’d tried to help her. To add to it, Asylum told him he’d tell his secret if he didn’t leave. Sin is a fighter. He didn’t fight. He looked at Rina and left the room. I-I really think it was him. Or that he knows who did it.”

I frowned at her words. They made sense, but Sin wouldn’t have done that to hurt her. That was too far, even for him. I couldn’t deny that I’d been suspicious of him lately though.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. “He wouldn’t have done that to her.”

“Come on, Asher! I know you’re smart. Think about it, OK? I know he’s your friend, but I’m telling you that something isn’t right.”

She was right. Sin had been acting oddly since Sirena’s incident with Asylum. My guts churned with the implications of what it could mean. I didn’t want it to be true.

I’d beat him to death if he had a hand in any of this because this shit had snowballed into Stitches trying to kill himself and Church and I nearly losing our minds over it all.

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