Page 51 of Of Sinners & Salvation
Then we hear footsteps in the hall, breaking the spell. We push out of the door, into the chaos. It’s more than I expected. The entire hallway is suddenly teaming with kids in khaki, some of them running and screaming, others crying, a few huddling against the walls, covering their ears to block out the sound of the alarms. No one seems to know what’s going on, which makes getting lost in the melee much easier, despite wearing regular clothes instead of the bland uniforms of the residents.
I jump in like it’s a fucking mosh pit, whooping and cheering, pumping a fist as I gallop through the crowd, reveling in the madness. Mid-leap, I catch a glimpse of Walker Delacroix in the crowd, but when I land, I search for him and can’t find him in the havoc I’ve created. But then I catch sight of a taller guy with dark hair grabbing another guy by the hair, and though he’s turned away, I’m sure it’s him.
“Walker,” I call, but my voice is swallowed by the din.
A tall blond boy crashes into me, nearly knocking me to the floor, where I’d definitely be trampled. I shove him back, sending a knife of pain rippling along my cut. With a screech of joy, the guy hurls himself into the wall, bounces off, and crashes into another kid, who shoves him back. Undeterred, he goes zigzagging down the corridor, laughing maniacally and joining the pandemonium.
Okay, so maybe releasing a bunch of mental patients wasn’t my best idea, but hey, at least some of them are having fun.
I open one door, then another, but all I find are empty rooms. I throw open the next one, bellowing my sister’s name.
I swear I hear someone call my name back, but when I look around, I can’t find a familiar face. I’ve lost Saint in the crowd, and everyone else is just a sea of bland colorlessness. The lights flicker on a moment, and the volume in the hall increases before we’re plunged into murky darkness and it reaches a fever pitch. They blink back on, and I spot the guy I thought was Walker, but this time, I see his face—Julian Sincero. My blood runs cold.
He isn’t the one who tried to take me, who took Mercy off campus, but he’s close enough. Nate said it was his brother.
I push toward him. His fingers are knotted into the short hair of a kid with a face so pretty, even when twisted into a mask of pain, that I can’t tell if they’re a boy or girl. The kid is trying to tear free, but Julian’s fingers are clenched tight, anchoring their head to his grip. Though the kid is definitely not Eternity, they’re about her age, and that sends a wave of rage crashing through me. I release a howl of fury and dive in that direction, only for the lights to cut suddenly, plunging us back into darkness.
Frantic, I dive in their direction, only to be cut off by two girls running full tilt through the crowd. Two men in guard uniforms bellow instructions at the end of the hall, but theresidents pay them no mind—until the bounding blond resident reaches them. He crashes into them, and suddenly, fists are flying, and they go down in a heap. A roar goes up around them, but I can’t tell if it’s a cheer or an angry outcry.
I throw open another door, then close it when I find the room empty. While I’m scanning the crowd for any sign of Eternity, I catch sight of an older guy fumbling to lock a door on the other side of the hall with a physical key while the crowd jostles around him.
What is he trying to hide?
I push through the crowd toward him. I’ve almost reached him when he pulls open the door and slips inside, closing the door behind him.
Damn.
He wasn’t locking the door. He was unlocking it.
The building is old, and though they’ve made updates to modernize parts of it, I have to remember that it’s been here a long, long time. Walker told us the building used to be an orphanage before they converted it into a mental asylum. They don’t have all the rooms on automatic locks, at least not on this floor.
I rattle the handle, then fend off a snarling guy before wasting another bullet. It’s a risk in such a crowded space, but I aim at the floor before I fire. I spend a minute disengaging the locking mechanism from the twisted, hot metal of the handle. At last, I kick in the door. It bounces off the wall, and the first thing I see is the open window on the far side of a small office. A rush of salty sea air rolls through the room, sucking the door shut on my heel.
I look around, disappointed. Not that I thought I’d find my sister, but also, that’s exactly why I’m here, so I expect her in every room, see her in every face.
I’m just turning when the door opens again, and Saint ducks in.
“What the fuck are you doing, charging off down the hall like that?” he thunders. “You could have been fucking killed!”
“I was just—”
Before I can finish, he takes two strides across the room, grabs my head in both hands, and smashes his lips to mine. I feel my piercing tearing the skin with the force, taste blood, and I’m instantly hard. His tongue crashes into my mouth, sweeping over mine with a demanding, dominant stroke. An involuntary growl rises to my throat, and I hook my hand into his belt, jerking him closer.
He must take it as an invitation, because the next second, he’s unbuckling. I jerk open his zipper, my fist wrapping around his hot, hard length. A shiver of erotic heat rolls down my spine and straight up my hard dick. My eyes roll back, and I moan into his mouth, yanking his cock in quick, urgent tugs. Precum dribbles from his slit, coating his tip when I reach it before roughly dragging my hand all the way back to the base of his cock. I cup his balls, giving them a tug too.
His teeth scrape over my bleeding lip, and his fingers tear open my button while the other hand grips my throat.
“Fuck me,” I snap, grabbing the front of his shirt and yanking him even closer.
He spins me around, slams me against a stack of filing cabinets, and drives up into me. I choke out a strangled cry, and then there’s only the sound of our grunting, panting breaths as he ruins our friendship one brutal thrust at a time. It’s quick and dirty and rough, and after only a minute, his motions become erratic. I grip the edge of the filing cabinet as his hips jerk forward, hot and bare against mine. Reaching around me, he grips my cock, jerking me while he pulls out halfway, rocking the head of his cock against my prostate. I fucking whimper withpleasure, my knees buckling. Blackness dots my vision, and I hold on for dear life as my cum spurts all over the front of the filing cabinets.
Saint gives a final thrust before emptying inside me with a tortured, helpless moan.
The room is filled with our ragged breathing, and then a long, low rumble of thunder invades from outside the open window. Saint’s body is trembling as he drops his forehead onto the crown of my head. “Heath,” he whispers, his voice barely a breath.
“I know,” I say, reaching back to run a palm over the back of his neck, securing him to me for a moment that can’t last. I close my eyes and rest my forehead against the cool metal of the cabinet. “Me too.”
We stay like that for a long moment, neither of us moving, our breathing returning to normal. Then he gives my hip a squeeze and pulls out. He carefully tucks me in, then zips me up before getting himself situated.
