Page 88 of Sinful

“Like a mangy kitten.”

She gave him the finger and turned to leave.

“Cadence?”

“What, psycho?” She stopped and turned to look at him.

Mirage bit into his carrot again. “There are better men out there than Adam.”

“Like you?” She smirked at him. “You want my sister. Are you doing it because you love her, or are you selfish?”

“Both,” he answered simply.

Her lips parted as she stared at him, apparently surprised at his honest, direct answer.

“You’re not good enough for my sister.”

“No, but sometimes the bad guy wins.” He offered her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

She shook her head at him and left us.

We didn’t say a word until she’d rounded the corner and disappeared.

“I wonder what little old Adam said to upset Church and the watchers. I wonder what he did to scare Rinny.” Mirage stared at the space where Cady had disappeared.

“We could always just ask the guys,” I said, knowing Ashes would be the one to go to. He’d answer without dancing around it.

The edge of Mirage’s lips curled up. “We could, or. . .”

“Or what?”

“We could pay a visit to Adam. I get a much better feeling from people when I’m near them.”

“Yeah? Or do you mean when you’re choking them?”

He chuckled. “Same thing, right?”

I shook my head. “In your world, I suppose it is.”

* * *

We didn’t find Adam.He wasn’t on campus or in his room. His name wasn’t registered as the day’s patients in the med facility, so we simply returned to classes. I was bored out of my head in some Bible course when I remembered Sirena’s note.

Eagerly, I pulled it from my pocket and stared at the perfect square in my hand before glancing around to make sure no one was watching me. Satisfied no one was, I carefully unfolded the paper, my heart bumping a hard rhythm in my chest.

Her words were scrawled perfectly across the page.

Sinful,

I had a good time with you the other day. I know it’s been quite some time since then, but I needed to tell you how I felt. I’m trying to be a stronger person. A better person. It’s not only for myself but for everyone who has to be around me. I don’t like being me sometimes, and I get the feeling you don’t like being you sometimes, either.

Stitches told me they were going to ask you to stay with me tonight. I hope I’m not out of line when I say I’m looking forward to seeing you. I want to get over the trauma of our past and move forward. I hope you want the same. I feel like we’ve both changed a lot since then and are better for it.

Hopefully, I’ll see you later. Maybe we could watch another movie? Or we could talk like this. I really enjoyed it.

Yours,

Sirena

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