Page 79 of Pray for Scars
Zip ties.
My legs shake beneath me. I can almost feel Jeremiah tense at my back, but he doesn’t dare touch me.
Lucifer smiles.
“Get on your knees, Sid.”
“No.”
Lucifer takes a step toward me. “Get on your fucking knees or I willmakeyou.” He gestures to me with the gun, aiming at my knee for a second before he trains it back on Jeremiah.
“You fucking bastard,” Jeremiah growls. But his words sound faint, without their usual bite. I glance at him, but he’s not looking at me.
Lucifer smiles. “Actually, that would be you, wouldn’t it?” His cold blue gaze is still on me as he addresses Jeremiah, dimples flashing in his beautiful pale skin. “On your knees.”
I close my eyes, taking a deep breath. Steeling my spine. But I’m not doing this. Not again. I open my eyes, clench my fists, and meet Lucifer’s gaze. “Fuck no.”
He smiles wider, and a chill goes down my spine. And then he walks toward me, pushes past me, and points the gun at Jeremiah’s temple.
He always knows how to hit me where it hurts. Ophelia. Fucking me at Maverick’s, then letting me leave, as if it was nothing.
Now, Jeremiah. My not-quite brother.
I put my hands to my mouth, shaking. “Lucifer, no—”
“Thenget. On. Your. Fucking knees.”He doesn’t even look at me as he says it. He’s staring at Jeremiah, pressing the metal of the barrel so hard against his temple, Jeremiah’s brows pull together in anticipation and he has his eyes closed. His face looks so pale, so unlike his usual tan skin.
Slowly, I sink to my knees on the hard floor of this private room.
Lucifer glances over at me and winks. Then he turns back to Jeremiah. “Hands behind your back.”
Jeremiah doesn’t move. At first, I think it’s defiance, but then I realize he’s swaying. Lucifer comes up behind him, tucking the gun under his chin while he closes the zip ties around Jeremiah’s wrists. Jeremiah doesn’t fight back.
Something is wrong.
Lucifer takes the gun back in his hand, and nods toward the couch. “Sit.”
Jeremiah sinks down onto the couch, his back against the wall. He sighs, as if he’s fucking exhausted.
“What did you do to him?” I snap at Lucifer.
Lucifer stands in front of my brother, then turns to me. “Come here.”
My throat is so dry, and my mind is fuzzy from the rum. I shake my head, trying to clear it. But I’ll do as Lucifer asks, if I can get to Jeremiah again. I stand up, but Lucifer shakes his head, gun aimed at my brother.
“Nu uh, Sid. Crawl to him.”
I’m frozen to the spot.
“What the fuck—” Jeremiah starts, but Lucifer turns to him with a sick gleam in his eye, and then, with a closed fist, he hits him across the face.
Jeremiah’s head spins, and I see blood on Lucifer’s knuckles.
He’s wearing a ring. A ring with a skull emblazoned with aU.
“Crawl to him, Sid.” He smiles at me. “I can’t keep you two apart, so I’ll help you out, but you have to help me, too. And right now, I want to see you fucking crawl to your brother.”
I sink to my knees again. I reach one hand out, place it on the dirty floor, feeling my face burn as I move, my knees digging painfully into the floor.
