Page 19 of Sinful

He shrugged. “I live an exciting life, Sinclair. I’m chaos. I relish it. It’s my job to kill people. I was different growing up. My mom hated that I was. She tried to keep me contained, but when that failed, she let me go. Sold me.”

“Sold you?” I blinked at him.

He nodded. “To the Underground. To Everett Church.”

“What?” I frowned at his words.

“Oh yes. Daddy Everett. He’s my daddy too.” He winked again. “He gave me what I needed when I needed it. Allowed me towork on myself.All things are possible through death, Sinclair. Once you realize you control it, your life can change. I’ve witnessed a lot of things in my life. I know things. Some of those things may have made me a little. . . crazy.” He let out a laugh. “But I would not change it.”

“Was Sirena your first?”

“Sirena Lawrence is my first. My last. My always. My forever.” His words were fierce. “I’m so glad she came back from the dead. They don’t typically do that. Mostly because I have a thing about taking their eyes, but hers were just too pretty to steal. I love her eyes,” he whispered, his hands trembling. “Or I take their hearts. I love hearts. Hands. Lips,” he murmured, running his fork along his lips. “I take what appeals to me.”

“What do you do with it?” I asked softly.

He chuckled. “Depends on my mood. Send it to their family. Give it to Everett as a gift to keep him happy and think I give a fuck about him. Stomp on it. Keep it in a box. Do you want to see my box of hearts?” He blinked at me.

“No. I’m good.” I shook my head at him.

He laughed again. “That’s probably more of a Church thing, huh?”

“Probably,” I mumbled, thinking about Church’s love of preserving the dead.

“But to further address my sweet little firefly, she is my first love. My first attempt at anything, really. She is my first survivor. That means she belongs to me forever. Those are the rules.”

I said nothing and continued to stare into the heater, watching the heat lines dance off it.

“Dante doesn’t know my secret, Sinclair. I’d like to keep it that way for now. My numbers. My…owner. I’m not really there because I want to be. Just like him, I want to be free.”

“I won’t tell,” I said softly. “Your secret is safe with me.”

“Good. I knew you were trustworthy, bestie.”

I sighed but didn’t say anything.

We were quiet again for a long time before I spoke.

“The box of hearts. That’s not in here, right?”

He let out a laugh. “Of course not. I keep it under my bed in our room.”

I rubbed my eyes. Of-fucking-course he did.

SIRENA

“Come on, heaven,” Ashes encouraged, his hands in mine, while he steered me to the bathroom. My body screamed at me to stop, but I needed to wash up.

When we got to the bathroom, the shower was already going. Church and Stitches had left an hour before to go into town to get supplies. They said it would be a few hours before they’d be back. I was OK with that. They needed a break from me. I could sense the stress I was putting on them, and I hated it.

“You can sit and wash,” Ashes said, stopping at the walk-in shower that had a built-in seat.

I stared at it for a moment before looking to Ashes.

“I’ll help you,” he murmured.

He reached for my nightgown. I trembled, fear taking hold of me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, stopping.

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