Page 69 of Make Me A Sinner
“Yes indeed. This time, I even upped the bounty for anyone who brought you to me alive. I want to be the one who gets to kill you,” he says with grim satisfaction in his voice, already reaching for his gun. “Send a personal message to Set to never fuck with me again.”
Who would’ve thought I’d end up this way? Tied up, waiting to die, and all I can think about is Set, and how he never got the chance to explain things to me.
I’ll be pissed if this is how it ends, if I don’t have the chance to say goodbye, or get answers. Every single cell in my body is shaking, as I stare down the barrel of the gun in front of me.
Every breath might be my last as I see his finger, squeezing the trigger. Every single thought aimed at someone who isn’t beside me now.
“Such a waste of skills,” Chen hisses, raising the gun. My eyes squint shut. I don’t want to see the bullet coming.
I didn’t make peace. You can’t make peace this fast. Not with death staring you in the face. There’s no time for closure, only fear and sadness.
A single bullet cracks through the silence, like thunder splitting the sky in half. And I brace for the emptiness. For death to consume me.
Instead, chaos erupts. The bullet meant for me never came.
Glass shatter, boots stumping on the floor as voices echo behind the door, growing louder and more panicked every second. And all hell breaks loose.
Becausehe came for me.
Set is here.
thirty-four
-Serena-
“Where is she?” Set roars, loud enough to instill panic into Chen, who grabs me, my back slamming against his chest, while the barrel of his gun is pressed against my head. I can’t see Set, but I hear him in the next room. Screams and gunshots vibrate through the air, morphing into total chaos.
Then the door bursts open and one of Chen’s men stumbles in, blood on his shirt and a petrified look on his face. He's shouting something in Chinese. I can’t make out what it is. Yet judging by the look on his face, he’s scared shitless. And to be honest, so am I because whatever comes after him through the door barely resembles Set.
The clothes he’s wearing are marked withbullet holes. Still, that’s not even what scares me. It’s the fact that it wasn’t the gunfire that tore through the fabric. It was his muscles—every one of them morphing, expanding, like they’ve grown muscles of their own. And his eyes... his eyes are so dark you can’t see the white in them anymore, just pure black. No drop of humanity, just void, like something risen from the depths of hell.
And I have to admit, it’s the most terrifying and the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.
He’s breathing heavily like a raging bull, chest heaving, while his tattoos have shifted into writhing images of demons and monsters. He’s a monster as well. One terrifying enough to make Chen babble senseless words. His body’s shaking behind me, and I fear his finger will slip on the trigger on accident.
But then Set takes a step forward, and Chen turns the gun on him.
Then he takes another step. And a shot rings out.
Chen fires. And I scream, watching the bullet slice through Set’s shoulder. But he doesn’t even flinch. Doesn’t slow. Just keeps walking as Chen starts shooting again, emptying the whole clip into Set’s chest.
I kick at Chen, trying to knock the gun away. But the second Set sees me move, he lunges, shoves me out of the way, grabs Chen, and… and rips him to pieces.
Literally rips him to pieces. I’m talking body parts flying across the room like a busted piñata. For a few moments, I can't even see straight. I might be hallucinating because Set’s on the ground, on top of Chen, dismembering him limb by limb.
I don’t even have it in me to scream again. The scene so horrifying, I have no idea what I should do next, or if I should move from where I am.
But Set moves.
He rises slowly, blood dripping from what used to be a white shirt. At least, I think it was white because I can’t tell anymore.
His stance, the same as a couple of seconds ago, and the same dark eyes are now locked on me. I’m the only one left alive in this room—except him.
I watch him eat the distance between us, his breath like an animal’s—paced and hard. He stops just inches away when Ihear him snarl, and an even angrier expression twists on his face.
Oh shit!
“Set!” I blurt, anxiety in my voice, because he doesn’t seem to recognize me. His eyes are still pitch black, now locked on me like I’m just another target. “Set, it’s me.”
