Page 187 of The Sins of Silas

I bared my teeth, flinging myself forward. “Fight with a weapon, you coward!” I shouted, raising my sword again. “You're the one who trained me. You really don't believe you can take me on?”

I wanted to cut his head clean off of his body. I wanted to pierce him to the wall, gutting him from the inside out.

“I will not fight you!” he barked, holding out his hands. “Nor will I apologize. We almost died in that battle, and the three of us all consented.”

My eyes broadened, and I lowered my weapon ever so slightly. “Thethreeof you?”

Torrin's eyes slowly widened. “What are you coming here regarding?”

I tightly clenched my sword’s handle. “The fact that you slept with her in your village.” I angled my blade at him. “But now…now you’re going to tell me exactly what the fuck 'the three of us consented'means.”

Torrin was silent, his cheeks turning a bright crimson.

“Did this happen four nights ago? Was that why Lena was in tears at one in the morning, heading to her room?”

A crease formed between his brows. “She was crying?”

“ANSWER ME!” I bellowed, swinging my sword at him. He just barely dodged the move.

Panting, he responded, “Roland and I had sex with Lena. Together.”

I felt my entire body reverberating with the fiercest rage. I loosened a shaky exhale, stepping closer, my voice eerily calm. “I will kill you both."

“No, you won't,” Torrin responded, lip curled, back to the wall.

I snarled, shoving my sword into the wall just beside his waist. My lips morphed into a sinister grin. “I don't think you fully know what I am capable of, Brighthell.”

He looked down his nose at me. “Even if you did want us dead, which you don't, Lena would never forgive you if you did such a thing.”

I slid my tongue across my upper teeth, my lips closed. “Doesn't mean I can't rough you up.”

His eyes saddened as he let out a sigh. “Do what you must,” he whispered. “But I don't regret it.”

“You don't regret makingher cry? You don't regret taking advantage of her pain?”

“Don't you DARE accuse me of taking advantage of her!” he threatened. “I had no idea she was hurt that badly.”

“So, you admit you knew she was hurt?”

His jaw feathered. “Yes,” he answered quietly. “Because I told her I couldn't sleep with her again.”

I scoffed. “You told her that immediately after fucking her? Do you even give a shit about her at all?!”

“I LOVE HER!” he cried.

I retreated a few steps at his confession.

Emotion welled in his eyes. “I love her,” he repeated, and then he sucked in his lips, shaking his head. “But it's you she wants—you that she is destined for. It wounds me too much being intimate with her, knowing it'll never last.” His voice broke, a tear slipping free as he whispered, “Knowing I'm her second choice.”

My anger bled out, my expression falling as I yanked my sword out of the wall.

Torrin glowered at me. “Does that make you feel better?” he asked bitterly.

My eyes fell to the ground. “No, it does not.” After taking a deep, steadying breath, I asked him, “What do you mean she is destined for me?”

He was silent for a moment. “You are her Soul-Tie.”

There's that term again, the one Merrick used. I lifted my gaze. “How is there any way to know that for a fact?”

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