Page 177 of Sinful

He quickly recounted the tale.

“Then Mirage found her and called me to come help. Now we’re here,” Bryce finished. “I really think she needs to be seen at the facility—”

Church rounded on him in an instant. “Fuck the facility.”

“What about O’Brien? The doc?” I asked, looking to Church.

He was quiet for a moment before he nodded and pulled his phone out. I knew O’Brien was one of the few good ones left here. If Church trusted him, then I trusted him. It helped that I’d seen him in action with her. He appeared to give a damn and hadn’t put out there anything which had gone down with her before after all that other shit happened.

Church turned away from us and spoke quickly but softly into the phone.

“Siren?” I called out, taking her other hand.Damn, she was ice cold.“Hey, it’s me. It’s Sinful. I know you’re in there. Come on. We need you to come back. We can talk. I-I have our notebook.”

I watched as she didn’t respond to me. With each passing second, I could feel parts of my heart begin to crack.

Please, don’t break it, baby. Please. I’m begging you.

“He’s not here,” Church proclaimed, hanging up. “He said he won’t be back until tomorrow. He had a family emergency and is traveling back as we speak. He said to keep her comfortable, and if anything changes, we need to call the wards.” The way he said that made me think he wasn’t going to follow through.

Knowing what I knew about this place, I was with him on it.

“He’s going to call me when he’s back in the morning. He wants us to bring her then if she hasn’t improved,” Church continued, his voice thick and wavering. I glanced at him to see the muscle thrumming along his jaw. He was going to lose it.

Three. . . two. . . one. . .

“I want Adam Larson,” he snarled, backing away. “I want that motherfucker on his knees, begging for his life.”

“I’ll go with you,” Stitches said, backing away, a fierce look on his face.

I was torn between ripping Adam to shreds and staying with Sirena. Sirena won easily, though, so I stayed and looked to Church.

“Make it hurt,” I said in a rough voice.

“You can count on it,” he answered before walking out the door, Stitches on his heels.

Ashes leaned over her and placed a kiss on her forehead before he backed away.

“I’m going to go with them. That pair isn’t a good combo. Take care of her,” he murmured before departing, his lighter in his hand.

Bryce took a seat at Sirena’s feet and said nothing. All he did was continue to watch her. If I had to guess, I’d say his mind was going a mile a minute. He looked like someone who was thinking. And worrying. That part was apparent as his hands trembled.

And Mirage. He kept humming to her and holding her hand.

I sat on the edge of the couch beside her, just watching. Whispering to her. Praying, the rosary she’d given me in my hand, the beads making a soft tinkling noise as I moved through my prayers.

Eventually, Mirage fell asleep and lay on the floor beside her. Bryce did the same, none of us having spoken to one another the entire time. I looked at the clock finally and saw nearly three hours had passed.

Carefully, I reached out and gently shifted Sirena so she was on my lap. Her eyes were still open, and she had no reaction at all to my touch. Her skin was colder than usual, so I covered us with the blanket once more and cradled her in my arms, whispering my entire fucking being to her.

“Please don’t go away again, siren. I need you to stay. This life is nothing without you. I don’t want it if you’re not here with me. Please. You still haven’t gotten to hold Bill. Or dance more. Or even tell the others you love them too,” I finished softly. “We need you here. You don’t even know how much you’ve saved us by coming into our lives. Don’t go. OK? Stay, siren. Please.”

I closed my eyes and continued to hold her tightly until sleep took over.

Maybe when we’d wake, she’d be back.

It was the last thing I prayed for right after Adam Larson’s death.

ASHES

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