Page 16 of Pride
“Knew what?” Tawny asked through a mouthful of cereal. Her peaches and cream complexion matched her blond hair. She looked more like Taylor Swift than a Sinner. Alice had never understood how she survived in this environment, but like all of them, there was a darkness deep inside her. For Tawny, it just so happened to be hidden by some American Pie sweetness.
Alice folded her arms, cocked her hip, and stared at Raven. “Yeah, Raven. Knew what?”
Just because Raven could see into the future didn’t mean she shared it with everyone. The woman was a menace they’d pilfered from Mexico, not too far from where Mary Lazarus grew up.
Next to Tawny, leaning forward on the settee and cleaning a gun on the coffee table, was Leila. Tall, slim, and with a mix of Asian heritage, Leila was their weapons expert.
The final Sinner making up their ragtag crew was Dorothea—the smart one. They called her Thea for short. Brown skin, great bone structure, and a mind like a weapon. She’d donated the Harry Potter spectacles from her personal wardrobe for Alice’s nerdy assistant costume. She wore an identical pair now. Alice still remembered the day Thea had handed them over.“Wear these. It’s remarkable how many people dismiss you when you’re wearing spectacles.”
How right she’d been. Parker Lazarus hadn’t looked twice at her.
Alice cleared her head and returned Raven’s scowl. “I’m waiting.”
Raven rolled her eyes and jammed her cigarette onto an ashtray balancing on the lounge arm. Sometime over the past week, Raven had dyed parts of her hair with rainbow slashes beneath the black. It was the only color in her appearance.
“What the hell is going on?” Thea asked, her dark curls bouncing as she darted a look between Alice and Raven.
“Alice is Parker Lazarus’s mate,” Raven conceded, her smoker’s voice husky. She walked over to the whiteboard where she moved the portrait of Alice in her nerdy getup and stuck it next to Parker’s visage, just like the other mated couples of the Deadly Seven. Wyatt had Misha. Griffin had Lilo, and so on.
Alice picked her picture off and slammed it back on the other side where the Sinners were pinned. Laughter broke out behind her, but she ignored it. She glared at Raven as if it were all her fault.
Raven snorted. “No skin off my nose. A picture is just a picture.”
Pent-up fury bubbled to the surface. Alice wanted to punch Raven’s smug face. She’d done it before. She’d do it again. But now was not the time for them to turn on each other. So instead, Alice let it all out in a scream. She clenched her fists and just let it out. When she was done, her sisters simply stared at her.
“You done?” Mercy asked, perfect brows arched.
Breathing like a bull, Alice nodded.
Mercy turned to Raven. “Is this why you turned on that meat grinder? I mean, he loses an arm and suddenly we find Alice mated to him. That’s a bit sadistic even for your standards.”
“Ooh,” Tawny cooed, her eyes lighting up. “Gosh, Mercy is right. He hates you now, doesn’t he, Alice?”
“He hated the Sisterhood before,” Alice returned.
Raven’s brows lowered. “I think you fuckers are missing the point.”
“That I’m screwed?” Alice shoved Tawny’s feet out of the way and sat down with a huff. “Do you know where I’ve been? Why I’m in such a shitty mood? He kidnapped me. Had me locked up and tied to his bed.”
Mercy grinned, leaning forward, forearms resting on her knees. “Now you’re talking. I want all the kinky details.”
“What? No.” Alice blushed. “There was none of that kind of action. The bastard thinks he can control and use me.”
Mercy stared dreamily at the whiteboard. “If it were me, I think I’d be okay with that.”
“That’s because you’re a nymphomaniac.” Leila threw something at Mercy. A bolt? Mercy snatched it out of the air and held it in her fist, but didn’t retaliate. Probably because Leila was right. Mercy would screw anything with a dick and two legs if she could, and Mercy was okay with that. She loved it. She turned it into a weapon.
“The point is,” Raven continued, using her don’t-mess-with-me voice. “That Alice is now linked to one of them. This solidifies a partnership. One old Sinner is married to Flint. And a new Sinner will be partnered with Parker. We’re safe.”
“From them, at least,” Mercy mumbled.
“I’m not accepting this,” Alice said.
“Why not?” Thea asked. “It’s like an arranged marriage, or a business transaction. This union has value and I hate to point out the obvious, but we kinda need this.”
“The Sisterhood will never let me go.” Alice slammed her palm on her knee. God, how many times did she have to say this? “And I don’t want to be married. You guys are my family. You’re my sisters!”
The silence that followed settled heavily on all of them. Alice sighed and rested her head on Tawny’s shoulder. Tawny patted her hair briefly before returning to her bowl of Crispies.
