Page 116 of That Sik Luv

“It’s beside the point. Truths. Lies. Who we are beneath our masks...” Aero continues, still toying with the knife, flipping the blade with his skilled fingers. “What matters now is that you do what you’re told.”

I swallow thickly, my nerves weakening my knees, knowing exactly where this is going. He found the angle. He solved my puzzle, saving my dignity. Aero is taking back his control.

“What do you want with her? He cut you?!” Saint directs the question at me, keeping his eyes on the masked man before him.

I’m in shock, realizing Saint thinks I’m innocent in this situation. He sees me as acting as a hostage to the demon himself when in reality, this was all my devilish plan.

“What do you want from us?” Saint asks, “My father can give you anything.”

My mouth drops open and Aero stills in place. An eerie shift runs through my bones at the mention of their father. He brings a fist to his jaw, cracking his neck both ways before turning his glare on Saint again.

With little thought, Aero throws his blade at Saint, just barely missing his head and mine as it flies between us. I scream, crouching to the floor, gripping the sides of my head as Saint dodges the knife, the blade sticking into the wall behind us.

“Ourfather...“ Aero’s dangerously rough tone pierces my ears, and I tremble in its presence. Saint slowly stands straight again, helping me up, still holding me to his back as Aero takes a step towards us. “...who art in Heaven. Hallowed be thy name,” he continues, and I suck in a breath of oxygen, clawing at the depleting air around me.

“Thy Kingdom come; thy will be done.” He pulls a gun from the back of his pants, causing Saint to stiffen, before scratching the side of his mask-covered head with it, casually approaching us. “On earth as it is in Heaven.”

“What do you want from us?!” Saint demands.

“It’s not about what Iwant.“ Aero lifts the gun, placing it on Saint’s temple. Saint stills in place, his hand tightening around my wrist, and I can practically smell the fear seeping from his pores. “It’s about what Ineed.”

“And right now...” Aero’s gun slowly shifts until it’s pointed at me behind him.

He gives me a haunting grin beneath the mask, his eyes twinkling with the hateful revenge he’s been harboring all these years. The pain of his entire childhood, present in the excitement of the fear and control unraveling before him. Cold. Ruthless. Entirely terrifying. I’m losing the man I thought I knew to the darkness that owns him.

“Right now, I need you to fuck her.”

Chapter fifty-one

Faith

“What?!”Saintscoffs,shakinghis head. “No. Absolutely not. You’re crazy!”

Aero hasn’t stopped glaring at me beneath his mask, and the chills it’s creating have my body trembling with the unknown. His hard eyes speak to me, as they always do, but their message just isn’t clear.

This was my idea. My plan. I signed up for this, but something in my gut twists with the fear of deception. That I’m still only a piece in his game of chess. Just another pawn in his sick, twisted game of revenge.

It couldn’t be.

“He’s using us,” Saint says to himself. “This sick man is using us to ruin the church.”

He’s not entirely wrong in his statement. I assisted with that.

“He was right about you,” Saint seethes, and I clutch onto his forearm that’s still reaching back to protect me.

The statement makes Aero cock his head in interest.

“I heard them talk of you. Of your plight to destroy Christianity and those who believe,” he spats. “You’re a disgrace. A fallen soul that needs saving.”

“Wow,” Aero utters sarcastically. “Destroy all of Christianity? Simply impressive that you’d assume I have that kind of power.” He scoffs to himself, dropping the gun to his side. “But you’re wrong about one thing.”

Aero grabs Saint’s shirt by the middle of the chest, throwing him back on the bed before turning and taking a casual seat on the bench. He rests his elbows on my vanity behind him, the gun dangling from his fingers.

“My soul was ripped from me long ago. Saving is a ghost of an idea lost into the dark abyss.”

Saint freezes in horror as his eyes peer over at me. He gives me a sorrowful look, one that emits the regret of what this will do to me. Selflessness is all I see.

“Please,” I beg, turning my focus to Aero. “We can’t do this. It isn’t right.”

---