Page 53 of Lust

“I’m not much of a joiner,” I say, but despite my resistance, the fact that it connects to the original Sinners feels like it’s bringing me closer to the man I lost.

“Then consider it a gift from the Sinners,” Cody says with a warm smile.

Man, I really like this guy a hell of a lot more than Seth.

I reach out, and he places the necklace in the palm of my hand.

“We did a quick spell on it before you arrived to infuse it with energy, but it’ll take time, and you need to keep it on you so that it can become stronger.”

As I grip the necklace, I feel something—I wonder if it’s just in my head because he told me they’d performed a spell on it, or if I’m actually sensing this thing’s power.

My gaze shifts to Brad, who’s watching me. A rush of goose bumps pricks my flesh, but I try to play it off so the guys won’t notice.

“So lesson one,” Brad says. He flips through the pages of the Sinners’ bible, showing me a few diagrams. “This is what we started with. You’re gonna have to bear with some of these being kind of dumb, but it’s better to start small and build your confidence. Think of it like weight training.”

I study how his muscles help him fill out his thermal. “I’m more into running,” I say.

“Right?” he says with a smile. “So like building up to a marathon.”

“We gonna do ‘light as a feather, stiff as a board’?” I tease.

“Sounds like someone’s been watchingThe Craft,” Brad says, his smile expanding.

“I started it last night, but it seemed a little close to home for my taste.”

Brad takes my hand and guides me to the pentagram. “Kneel in the center here.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve seen this one before,” I say, shooting Cody a look.

He cringes. “Sorry about that. Again.”

I assume the position, facing the full-length mirror leaning against the wall. Brad gets on his knees behind me.

With him so close, I notice I feel more than just the familiar Lust. He’s the person I’d prefer to guide me through this, since I know him best.

Maybe that’s something they discussed before I showed up, knowing Seth sure as fuck wasn’t gonna be the one to help me.

“Okay,” he says, “now place the necklace around your middle finger and let the cross hang in front of you. Good. Just like that. Imagine it moving in circles. Try not to do it with your hand. Just in your mind.”

Wow. He wasn’t kidding when he said they’d be dumb, but I follow his instructions, and unsurprisingly, in less than thirty seconds, it’s spinning. “You know there’s a word for this, right?”

“Ideomotor effect,” Cody replies.

“It’s somethingI’mdoing to it, not magic, so is this step really helpful?”

Brad snickers. “Okay. You want to jump to the next part? Fine. Give it here.” I hand it to him, and he walks on his knees in front of me, blocking the mirror. Facing me, he assumes the same pose I was in, the necklace dangling from his finger. “Nowdo it,” he says.

“What?”

“It’s the same idea, but now instead of doing it on your finger, you need to make it move in circles while it hangs from mine.”

“That’s impossible,” I blurt out. Of course, after everything I’ve seen, I know better, but it was one thing when Seth and Cody were influencing my mind, another to think telekinesis is real.

But the necklace begins spinning, slowly at first, then much more dramatically. I inspect Brad’s hand and arm, both stiff, unmoving. I’m not totally convinced this isn’t just the ideomotor effect again and physics, but then the necklace starts spinning so fast, I can’t even make out the cross. Then it abruptly moves side to side.

“Okay, Seth,” Brad says. “Stop showing off.”

The cross comes to a sudden halt to the side of Brad’s hand, hanging midair, before dropping to its original position, dangling from Brad’s finger.

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