Page 192 of Sinful

I let out another huff of laughter, knowing things were going to end badly.

As I lay beneath him, staring up at the dusky sky in the cold snow, I prayed for my strength. I prayed for my Sinful. I prayed for my darkness. I prayed for anyone who crossed me. It’s what we learned to do at Chapel Crest. Pray for the sins of others. Pray for ourselves. Pray for strength. For guidance.

But for me, I let my last prayer be for Adam’s death.

And sometimes, as I was quickly learning, prayers were answered.

MIRAGE

She was gone. Taken. I knew she was.

Church came home to find the house empty. He reviewed his outdoor cameras. We watched the screen as she raced outside in nothing but her thin pink dress, her boots on her feet.

We’d been searching for the better half of an hour for her. Instead of breaking up, we did it as a team.

It was why we were racing through the cemetery towards the mausoleum, the only place we hadn’t been yet on campus.

The door was open.

Fuck.

Night had fallen, but it was too hard to see inside the place.

Bryce’s phone rang. He pulled it out as we surged forward.

“Cady? OK, yeah. We’re here.” He hung up as we continued our run. We were halfway across the snowy, dark cemetery.

“What’s going on?” Church demanded.

“They’re in the mausoleum. They’re hurt,” Bryce panted, trying to keep up. We really needed to work on his cardio, but I wasn’t about to focus on that right then.

She’s not there. She’s not fucking there.

Then where is she?

I-I don’t know. Fuck. I can’t see anything. She’s. . . not there.

Church was the first to enter the mausoleum, Ashes and Stitches close behind him. I came in next, with Bryce at the rear.

My insides wanted to become my outsides as I stared at the mess. Cady and Sin, naked. Cady sobbed over his body.

Church fell to his knees at Sin’s side, and Ashes took his jacket off and wrapped it around Cady, his hands shaking.

“A-Adam,” she choked out. “It’s him.”

“I knew it,” Bryce murmured, moving back to the doorway.

“No. No. NO!” Stitches shouted, falling next to Church.

“Sin. Please, man,” Church choked out. “Hey.”

Nothing. Silence greeted us.

“C-call the wards. We need help.” Church looked wildly at me. “Call the fucking wards! Find Adam.”

Bryce pulled his phone out and made the call while I continued to stare down at the scene. The knife protruded from below Sin’s right lung. His breathing was barely visible and was uneven. If I had to guess, the blade was firmly embedded in his lung.

An arc of pain cut through my head, sending me to my knees.

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