Page 27 of The Sinner and the Scholar
I hate it.
“What’s so important then?” Irritation bleeds into my voice.
“The mark is a sign of possession… the Mother claiming the vessel.”
Cold fingers trail down my spine. I had that mark on my body. Does that mean I’m…?
His perceptive gaze is on my face, watching for my reaction. I shake off the feeling and push him aside. He jogs after me as I stalk down the aisle between the row of stacks he separated, where he has the gall to block me again.
“Wesley,” I grind out. “You’re walking a dangerous line.”
He holds up a hand to stop me. “You didn’t wait to hear about the second mark.”
“So?”
He pauses, and a look of hate-filled reluctance flashes over his expression. It’s almost as if he doesn’t want to share the words on the tip of his tongue. Obviously, now Imustknow what they are, so I stand up straighter, harden my tone, and deliver my bait.
“Just what I thought.” I let my eyes rake down his body with disdain. “You don’t know any more than I do.”
His gaze smolders at my challenge. I sense an insult coming. Go on. Say it. Call me a spiteful bitch. Call me a whore. A sinner. A coward.
“It’s the mark of the demon Vepar,” he reveals. “Except… it’s also of Pestilence.”
My heart stops. “The horseman?”
He shrugs. “Or an affinity with it. Vepar spreads pestilence. It could mean an allegiance with the horseman. The marks seem to be some kind of symbol of—”
“Cooperation,” I finish. “Like an army or cohort.”
The horsemen were in the prophecy, but I dismissed it because Mary wrote about five of them, not four as the book of revelations states. Wesley might have actually helped.
My heart starts again, my blood thrumming with the thrill of discovery. I see it in Wesley’s eyes. It’s like he gets off on this shit, too. If he wasn’t my enemy, I think I’d like him. I hug the notes to my chest, which draws his attention.Stupid.
“What are you hiding?” His eyes narrow.
“Nothing.”
“Thea,” he says my name like I’m twelve. “You skip classes and burrow here, poring over books and papers. You’re clearly keeping secrets, and I just showed you mine, so now it’s your turn.”
“Burrow?” I scoff, even though it was precisely what I did.
His lips flatten. His nostrils flare.
Oh, you poor stupid fool. You don’t even know what you’re up against.He telegraphs his impending attack like an amateur. I deftly dart out of the way as he reaches for my notes.
“Really?” I drawl.
I’m too busy gloating and assuming he knows jack shit about close combat because he’s a scholar. I didn’t realize he distracted me like a magician. I find myself with my back against a stack. The books wobble around me, threatening to topple. His hands grip the shelf on either side of my face.
He lowers until we’re nose to nose. “What secrets are you hiding, Thea?”
Eleven
Wesley
Idon’t know what comes over me as I force the Sinner against the stack and cage her in my arms. She keeps testing me, resisting every effort I make to gain her trust. Something about her defiance challenges every base male instinct I own. I want to force her to pay attention to me.
It’s part desperation, part need, part wicked want.
