Page 43 of Sinner's End

Kaleb slaps him away with the free hand not pinching his nose to stem the blood flowing there.

“Thanks.” I give him a short nod.

“Not her, you.” Bowen doesn’t break his stride as he hops in front of us, walking backward. “She bites, you get hard. How much pain would it take for you to blow in your pants before you make it to your room? For you to fall to your knees while you hold her,protecther? Would you still be able to protect her then?”

Bowen’s taunts grow while I count the steps between where I left Mana and my room, wondering if I’ll get there before he unleashes hell and tries to snatch her back.

I don’t know if I’m a match for the creature seething beneath his skin, or if he’s a match for my beast, but tonight we might find out. I’m not sure if I’m disappointed or not when my door is in range and I push past Bowen with no further interference, laying Adreana out on my sheetless bed. I brush her hair back from her face tenderly, and push back onto my knees, settling in place.

“This is it?” I twist to find Kaleb staring down at me, his head tilted to one side. “The fuck did you do to earn Mana’s punishment?”

His bewildered stare leaves me trying to see my spartan room through his eyes. The bed with no sheets, the single stool with my jacket draped over it. Stone floor, that, if I press my palms to their smooth, worn surfaces, weep with the tortured souls of those who screamed here for so many nights. They have been my nightly company through the long nights when thisbody refuses to sleep. Mana seems to share that problem when I’ve found him wandering the halls.

I shrug and turn back to Adreana. “I requested it.”

“You—” Kaleb’s mouth snaps shut, his teeth clanging together in an audible snick.

“—are a fucking maniac,” Bowen finishes. “Mana will give you anything you ask for. Do you know that?”

I don’t bother to turn back to the broken soul residing in the twisted thing that barely deigns to be calledhuman. “It’s not for me to ask.”

“And yet you bring her here.” Kaleb paces behind me. “At least at my place she’d be comfortable.”

“Better than his rooms. Here, maybe we can bring her back.”

His pacing stops. “How?”

I reach into my pocket and extract a small green vial. “This.”

“No.” A hand snatches it from my fist, and I don’t need to look to know who took Mana’s venom.

“That could work, you know,” Bowen muses. “Clever pet.”

He pats my head, massaging his fingers into my scalp. A deep pleasure radiates there, and for a few moments I forget the pain in my knees. A rumble works its way along my throat, almost escaping my mouth before I remember what we’re supposed to be doing and shove him back.

“Glad you approve.” I hold a hand out. “Kaleb?”

“ForgetMeKnot isn’t the answer.” He steps into my range of vision and folds his arms, staring down at her, his jaw set. “Addi, honey, you in there? Please?” he begs softly, dropping to his knees beside me. “Addi?” He reaches out to brush his knuckles across her cheeks, tracing over her lips.

A sadness emanates from him in this bleak place, and the stones sing all the louder. If he hears them, he says nothingat all, leaning over her, his head dipped like he might kiss her. I lean forward with him, ready to shove him back, but I don’t need to as Bowen takes the moment of our dual distraction, snatching the vial of Mana’s homemade drug and smashing it over Adreana’s chest.

The green liquid covers her halter-neck top where it pools over her heart for a second. The fluid shimmers like a gemstone as I rear back, his throat in my hand.

“The fuck did you do—” I roar, but it’s Kaleb’s choked breath that gives me pause. I drop the interfering pale man, watching him carefully as he brushes himself off, and drop back to my knees to face Adreana’s still form.

The emerald pool between her perfect breasts darkens, wavering. A darkness forms there, lifting from within, as though drawing poison from her. But as it extracts the shadow, Mana’s drug sinks into her, right over her heart.

Adreana stiffens, the darkness taking a longer form over her. Bowen stiffens behind me, knives flashing in my periphery, then it’s gone, along with her breath.

And then there’s nothing at all.

I stare at her still form, the place where the drug sat no more than a tarnished stain between her breasts. Her chest doesn’t rise, or fall, and her skin is the texture I associate with a doll’s. Lifeless. I try to move, but I can’t.

“Is she gone?” Kaleb croaks, like he’s forcing the words out. He manages to place a hand on her skin and yanks it back. “She’s freezing. Like—”

“Death.”

The door to my room bursts inward. Mana stands there, barefoot, wearing only his black leather pants, his face twisted into an expression of pure horror.

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