Page 76 of Saint

Saint leans down from behind, tracing his hand down the center column of my throat, between my breasts,grazing a finger over the peak of my nipple, and then pulling away.

“Good.” He continues to circle until he’s once more in front of me. “There’s a reason Sigma House doesn’t take many new initiates each year. We’re specific about our selections. We have to know they’re the right fit, and they’ll honor discretion.”

He smirks, and it hints at all the rumors I’ve heard about Sigma Sin. I understand why discretion would be a selling point when most of what they do in the shadows is probably illegal.

“But even once someone is selected, they still have to go through an initiation.” Saint plants his hands over the marks on his chest. “There are seven trials to pass to be a legacy of the House. But you’re a member after the first four.”

“I’ve never heard of it,” I admit, not that I know much about the secrets that live between these walls.

“You wouldn’t. Because people who talk about things they shouldn’t don’t live long enough to elaborate on it.”

I press my lips together, swallowing hard at his word choice. My breath is racing as I try to take in everything Saint is telling me.

“Is that what happened to Alex?” My chest tightens at the thought of Patience’s brother sitting silent in a psych ward.

Saint shakes his head. “Alex was an accident.”

“You make it sound like it’s no big deal. He hasn’t spoken in years.”

“I’m aware.” He watches me. “Still doesn’t change what it was…”

“An accident.” I don’t believe it any more from my lips than his.

But his gaze is a warning not to push him right now, so I scan the room and change the subject away from Alex.

“What are the trials?”

“Revelations,” Saint answers, like this could be anything holy. “Everyone has weaknesses, and everyone has strengths. Things that can be used for our benefit, and things others might exploit. The trials help a person learn what’s within themselves. And in turn, they reveal them to the House.”

“So that you can keep the members in line and use it against them?”

Saint watches me closely. “Sometimes.”

At least he isn’t lying to me, even if his honesty is unsettling, considering what he’s admitting to.

“Why seven?”

“From sin, we are born. And through sin, we are revealed.” He smirks, looking down at me as he repeats the phrase he said when we first arrived here. “That’s how we structure the trials. Testing our tolerance with things that break most people. Pride, greed, wrath, lust, envy, gluttony, sloth. Our founders were poetic.”

Or sick… but I don’t dare say that.

“Are the trials always the same?” I ask.

“No.” He shakes his head. “What works on one person doesn’t work on another.”

It’s a terrifying thought. Not only do they torture their initiates to draw out their weaknesses, but they also find specific ways to do it.

“Do you want to know what your weakness is, Violet?”

“No.” I shake my head, but when his eyes light as he looks down at me, I know he’s going to answer his own question anyway.

“Lust.”

“How?” My face pinches. “I was a virgin when we…”

I bite my lip, and he smirks.

“Fucked,” he finishes my sentence, and I feel my cheeks flush with heat. “Exactly. You were. Because you’re smart enough to know what darkness hides inside you. And you couldn’t trust yourself with it until you found me.”

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