Page 51 of Sin Like the Devil

“You could help,” Lennox mutters. “This is your idea.”

“I warned you not to get attached to him. Look where it’s brought you.”

“Attached?” He shakes his head. “Raine is one of us.”

“Which is why we’re not leaving him to die on the floor. That doesn’t mean we should care.”

Balling up the washcloth, Lennox tosses it aside and rises. He gets in my face, every shred of rage that’s bound tight at the core of his being on full display in those seafoam eyes.

“What they did to us in the Z wing broke something inside you, Xan. Something that I don’t think can ever be fixed.”

“What’s your point?”

“You’ve always been a heartless bastard, but never cruel.”

“Cruel?” I repeat flatly.

“This right here is fucking cruelty!” He gestures at me. “You used to care. You used to feel. Even if it was only a little bit.”

Staring back into his eyes, I don’t feel even a hint of remorse.

“I think you’re confusing tolerance for caring.”

Lennox recoils like I’ve punched him square in the teeth. Seeing his shock and confusion so viscerally carved into his expression almost summons an ounce of emotion. Almost. But the embers soon flicker out again.

“My best friend died in that dungeon,” he accuses acerbically. “I don’t know who the fuck I escaped with, but I don’t know him.”

The sound of knocking on the door breaks our stare off. Lennox turns his back to me, returning to Raine’s side. I exhale loudly and move to let Ripley inside.

“This is all I can spare.” She pulls a clear bag of slightly off-white pills from her pocket. “Should last a few days.”

I reach out to clasp the plastic baggie. “I’ve seen purer.”

Her brows pull together into a frown. “How do you see anything from the high pedestal you’ve put yourself on?”

Ignoring her sass, I tear open the bag and tip a couple pills out into my palm. They have a slightly vinegary scent, the only sign that she isn’t dealing tabs of paracetamol to migraine sufferers.

“I expect an extra ten percent,” she blurts. “Rush fee.”

Lennox barks a laugh. “You’re un-fucking-believable.”

“This isn’t a charity.” She briefly lifts one shoulder. “I wouldn’t give this shit to a friend for free, and you guys sure as fuck aren’t that. Be glad I’m helping at all.”

“Why are you helping?” I can’t help but ask.

Wringing her fingers together, Ripley can’t hide the subtle glance she takes in Raine’s direction. I spent months studying this woman. I know all her tells. The minute details that allowed me to create a profile as we plotted our moves.

I thought she was an easy target. Her fear called out to me like a siren’s song that slipped beneath my skin and metastasised into something more. Something far more pervasive and deadly. But I never expected that night to come to mean something to me.

Once wasn’t enough.

Not with her.

I want to tear apart the very fabric of her soul and keep the shredded remains for myself, like organs preserved in jars for the world to admire. Her carcass in my collection will be my finest achievement.

“My motivations are not your concern.” She clears whatever strange glimmer was present in her gaze. “Tell him to pay up, or withdrawals will be the least of his concerns.”

Keeping her eyes averted, she turns and leaves. Clasping Raine’s pills in my hand, I stare after Ripley, wondering how the fuck my silent little lamb found the courage to make such threats.

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