Page 8 of Sinner's End

Not that I’ve seen anyone else dressed like a fucking gimp. All that’s missing is the helmet. My chest is encased in a tight leather vest with boning that tightens around my waist, and there are cut out holes for my nipples. Maybe I’m the disgrace, not her.

This should be a place of reverence where the souls trapped in the thick walls and the hard-packed dirt beneath our feet have a hope of freedom. We should pray for their eternal existence before we become another of their legion.

A whimper escapes her throat, while mine dries. My firstnight on the fucking job and here I am, lusting after a girl who must be at least half this body’s age, ripping men off her. It won’t be the last, I am certain of it. Not with the grateful way she watches me like I’m some golden boy, some heroic savior.

Not like the identical sister who trailed her fingers over my nipples on her way to the bar earlier. The little slut stank of overuse. I half expected her to drop to her knees in the middle of the dance floor.

Moss green eyes stare at me unwaveringly. Even though I just killed a man before her—he’s not moving and darkness slinks from his body as if trying to make its final escape—she isn’t running or screaming.

No, this girl is different, and some innate part of me recognizes she’s mine to protect. Not that I remember anything of my past life, so that last could be utter bullshit. It probably is.

“I see you’ve started the night well already.” Mana leans against the end of the hallway, his bulk blocking out most of the light. His gaze fixes on me and I know he hates that I’m taller than him, my rigid stature I can’t seem to rid myself of more imposing than his. “Shall I call for a clean-up crew?”

“I got it.”

“Fuck me.” The bartender I met earlier in the night during the pre-party staff meeting—Kaleb—barrels past Mana without so much as aby your leave, and the boss man doesn’t acknowledge him. “Already? We’re gonna have a talk.” Kaleb fixes me with a hard, unyielding stare, and I see why Mana keeps him.

“He was assaulting the lady, got a little handsy. I pulled him off.” I shrug, but the motion turns into a twitch, and I roll my shoulder painfully to still the unconscious urge.

If I can’t control my past, I’ll fucking well tie knots around every damn hour of my future.

“Perhaps a little less force next time,” Kaleb murmurs.“Boss likes to torture assholes like this. You’ve ruined his playtime.” His gaze slides sideways. “Hello again, sweetheart. Addi, was it?” The man’s demeanor changes subtly. He rests one hand on his belt, sliding his thumb across the tooled leather.

The girl watches the digit’s progress, her lips parted just enough to make a sweet “O” shape, the perfect place for a man to shove his—

“Pheromones. Clean it up,” Mana barks, jerking us all out of our reverie.

The girl jumps, quickly righting her dress. Shit, wealldo, and I drop to my knees.

“I said I got it.” I heave the body over my shoulder, ignoring the still-dripping blood warming the backs of my thighs, and stride away.

“Thank you,” the girl whispers.

At this distance I shouldn’t be able to hear her, but I do. I glance back over my shoulder to where Kaleb leans one arm over her head, his dipped to whisper in her ear. His fingers brush across a darkened patch at her shoulder, inked fingers lingering on her skin.

Smarmy bastard.

Green eyes watch me, not him, as I carry my burden away from her. But those eyes don’t stay locked on me forever. The moment she turns away, pain rips through me, a searing pressure that builds outward.

I force myself to face forward, almost running along the never fucking ending corridor, and burst through the doors at the other end, but the empty hallway doesn’t offer the freedom I crave. My fingers burn, every nerve ending screaming. I know what’s coming.

Corridor after corridor I run in an eternal nightmare, the screams of those long-departed heralding my wake at one who will soon join them.

I must get outside.

I sprint the last dozen paces, bursting shoulder first through a locked door, and ignoring the bruise that will doubtless form there tomorrow. If I don’t get away from the building, something much worse will consume those within.

Maybe it will free the souls.

Maybe new ones will be added to their number.

I make it as far as a small hillock beyond the main building, the crisp night air assailing my searing skin. That fluctuation in temperature is all my body needs before it does the only thing I know, the first thing I remember. I hunker down, the asshole’s body still draped across my shoulders, weighing on the back of my neck, but the pressure doesn’t last long.

Not now.

The pain intensifies, like hellfire or something so much worse violating every cell in my body. My world goes white, then—

Nothing.

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