I couldn’t hold it in any longer. A sob escaped me, and I rushed to my room, my heart shattering.
But all I could think about was how I had to fix this. If it was the one thing I could make right, I was going to do it.
For both Bryce and Sin.
And even Mirage and Asylum.
I was in too deep and didn’t have a ladder.
All I had were three watchers who loved me dearly and who were going to completely lose it on innocent people, starting with Sin.
The darkness within me stirred, making me sob harder as I curled into my bed.
It was a place of protection. A place of bravery. A place where another me lived, the me who could handle it all.
I wanted to let it out.
Squeezing my eyelids closed, I focused on how to fix things. How to escape the monster I was slowly becoming.
STITCHES
“What the fuck is happening?” I demanded. “Where was she?”
I’d been pacing the room since Ashes called to let me know she’d left Cady’s and gone with Bryce. Ashes instructed me to stay behind in case she came home. It took all I had not to bound out of the house and find Bryce before introducing him to my fists.
Again.
Ashes went to the couch and settled on a cushion. He stared into the crackling flames of the fireplace before pulling out his lighter and flipping it open and closed as was his way.
I scrubbed my hand down my face and sat on the L of the couch as I waited for him to speak. Whatever it was had to be bad because this Ashes was subdued. Worried. Angry.
A full ten minutes of silence passed by, his flipping of the lid on his lighter beginning to slow.
“Asher?” I ventured.
“I went to Bryce’s. I was walking the path to his dorm when I heard Sin yelling. I stopped to listen,” he said, his voice soft and shaking.
“What was he saying?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t stupid shit that would get his ass kicked. This time, it really would end in his death, the stupid bastard.
Ashes shook his head and went silent again.
It took several long beats until he finally spoke.
“He told her his feelings. Then. . . they kissed.”
I stared into the fireplace at Ashes’s words. Stunned didn’t even begin to describe my feelings. While I could easily see Sin was developing something for Sirena, I never thought he’d do anything about it.
But I’d be a fool to not think so because I was there when he’d brought her back to us. I’d heard his words and seen him kiss her then. Granted, she wasn’t conscious, but this was huge.
Especially if Church caught wind of it.
He explained in great detail to me when Ashes left earlier what he’d do to Sin if he caught him getting close. Church was stubborn. So was Sin. This was a fucking nightmare.
I got where Church was coming from on it. He knew Sin was unstable sometimes. He failed to realize we all were. I was stuck in the middle with Ashes between the pair of them. I wasn’t even sure which side I was on. While I got Church’s side, I was seeing Sin’s too.
I rubbed my eyes. “What now?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Ashes murmured. “Church is against Sin coming back. He’ll lose his mind over this. Sirena initiated it, so that means something. And god knows what she has going on with Asylum or Bryce.”