Page 98 of Sinful

I stareddown at the note on the moving box. Asylum’s scrawl met my eyes.

Sinclair,

I promised you a friend. I think he’s perfect for you. You’re welcome.

Your Neighborhood Forking Madman,

Asylum

“Fuck.”I sighed, hoping whatever it was wasn’t venomous.

Carefully, I opened the box and peered inside. It took me a moment to realize what it was.

A smile touched my lips as I reached inside and lifted out a fairly large reticulated python from the box. He curled around my arm and hand as I turned to see his face. His tongue darted out, checking the air.

“Hey, there,” I murmured gruffly beneath his weight.

He stared back at me for a moment before twisting around to check out the rest of the room.

One night after the events where the watchers nearly killed me, I’d told Asylum I’d love to have a snake again. Growing up, I had one my mother hated. When she married Rudy, he’d made me get rid of it and reprimanded me for only caring about myself and not my mother’s feelings about the snake. I think a lot had to do with the fact that it had been a gift from my father years before, and it reminded her of all the shit we’d gone through.

But I loved that snake. I guess I loved my mom a little bit more, however, so I let my snake, named Log, go. I’d cried over it, but I never let anyone see that.

Somehow, though, Asylum saw all. So did Mirage, but he just didn’t talk about it often. I liked that about him.

“What will I name you?” I studied the snake, trying to come up with the perfect name for him. When nothing settled, I took him over to the other larger box on the floor and opened it. Inside was a complete setup for him. Smiling, I placed my snake back into the box he came in and closed it before going about setting up his new habitat.

Asylum went all out on it. I appreciated that he’d done this for me. I had no way to repay him, but I’d at least tell him thank you.

Once I had it all put together, I took the snake out and held him for a while before kissing the top of his head and placing him in the large habitat. Once the lid was closed, I looked at my watch to see nearly two hours had passed. It was almost time to get Sirena. If I made it back in time I might be able to see her before her last class. I checked the snake’s habitat once more, making sure everything was secure, before heading back to classes.

I’d made it right before the bell rang. Sirena came out of her class with Cady. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I waited eagerly for her.

Her eyes found me immediately, and a tiny smile teased the corner of her pouty lips.

Her smile did something whenever she turned it on for me. My heart beat faster. My palms grew sweaty. I felt like I was flying.

It scared me.

“Hey, weirdo,” Cady greeted me as I fell in step with them. “Getting brave lately, huh?”

I ignored her and pressed the note I’d written earlier into Sirena’s hand without Cady seeing. She took it with ease from me.

“Sinclair, you missed therapy this afternoon,” the droning voice of my therapist called out.

Fucking hell.

I watched as Cady and Sirena rounded a corner, Sirena looking over her shoulder at me before disappearing into the crowd.

I sighed and turned back to the asshole who was annoying me.

“I wouldn’t say I missed it,” I muttered.

She raised her eyebrows at me. “We can do a make-up now. I have a free hour.”

“Whatever.” I followed the bitch to her therapy room, not wanting her to know I felt anything other than annoyance.

But in my heart, I was elated.

---