Page 55 of The Sins That Bleed
Nico places his hand on my shoulder and he squeezes. I look up to find tears in his eyes as he shakes his head at me. It takes me a moment to register what this means. I was too late.
Too late.
The words repeat in my mind and there’s only myself to blame. I should never have said those words to her, never should have let her leave my suite. Hot tears track down my face as it sinks in—I’ll never hear her voice again, feel her touch, or get to fight with her only to see how we’ll make it up to each other when our bodies inevitably come back together.
“Move, both of you.”
My eyes snap open at the harsh tone of Sunny’s voice. I’ve never heard her like this, nor did I hear her come over to us. No longer a frozen statue, she shoves us out of the way and we scramble back.
There’s a dangerous aura emanating from her that gets us moving. I notice something in her hand, a silver looking pipe with a red substance inside. She lifts it to her mouth and sucks as if smoking it.
I watch her intently, latching onto a small seed of hope that whatever she’s doing will bring my girl back to me. I try to ignore it because, unless witchcraft is real, there’s nothing to be done. I rub my chest at the thought of it, the finality of death.
I never understoodRomeo and Julietuntil now.
Sunny exhales and a cloud of smoke tumbles past her lips and over Valeska’s face. The scent of cherries fills the room and I inhale deeply, the aroma bringing me comfort. I’ve come to associate it with her.
The water soaking my clothes drips from me, hitting the tile like a death toll.
Nothing happens and Sunny repeats the process, this time getting closer to Valeska’s face, their noses almost touching. She must see something we don’t because the next thing I know, the pipe is against Valeska’s lips.
I see no movement and am about to speak to Sunny, to tell her she’s gone, when a puff of the cherry scented smoke unfurls past Valeska’s lips. I hold my breath, not daring to move in case it will disrupt what is happening.
The pipe is back to her lips and I watch, not daring to look away as I wait for another cloud to escape her mouth. Her eyes flutter open and my breath leaves me and relief courses through me. I see Nico near me, his mouth hanging open at what just happened, confirming that I’m not making this up.
I stand, rushing toward her only to be blocked by Sunny. I hadn’t even seen her move, she was so fast. Her hands are held up toward me to stop me coming any closer, but I ignore her, moving around her frame.
She sidesteps me, blocking me again as she commands me to back up. “Step back, Rai.”
“Let me fucking see her, Sunny, I thought she was dead!” I let my frustration colour my tone, I need to feel her in my hands.
“Not going to happen. If you know what’s good for you and you value your life, I suggest you back the fuck up. Now.”
I rear back at her words. What the hell is she talking about? I feel Nico gripping me by the shoulders as he pulls me back to the edge of the bath and Sunny relaxes, offering up a small grateful smile to him.
She turns back to Valeska, placing the pipe in her hand and bringing it to her own mouth. I watch in awe as she drags the smoke into her body, and then she’s sitting up with Sunny’s help. I scan her body to see the damage she inflicted on herself and to try and figure out how we’ll patch her up this time.
I blink and rub my eyes a few times, not believing what I’m seeing. Her wounds stitch themselves back together, the dark-red blood no longer seeping out of them. This can’t be real.
“What the fuck?” I whisper, mostly to myself, but then I feel her eyes on me.
I meet them, letting them bore into me with their intensity. I stagger back but Nico stops me, one more step and I’d have fallen back into the still-steaming mixture of water and blood. I’m hallucinating, this has to be a dream because I’ve seen these eyes before, but I was imagining them then too.
Blood-red eyes stare back at me, burning themselves into my brain. Eyes I’ve dreamt of, feared, and sought out. How is this possible? Who the fuck, nowhatthe fuck is she? Is this some sick prank that they all conspired against me to pull off?
Logic tells me I’m being stupid, but I’m feeling pretty irrational right now.
I shake out of Nico’s hold and whirl on him. “Is this some sick fucking joke?”
He looks at me confused, but how else could he be taking this so calmly? I shove him, my emotions a chaotic storm unleashing itself and wreaking havoc on my exhausted body. He doesn’t even budge.
“You all thought it would be funny to prank me, huh? Let’s freak out Rai, the uptight asshole who’s too obsessed with finding his missing sister. Give him something to really freak out about because she’s probably dead anyway, right?” I shout and shove him again.
His hands shoot up in surrender. He’s not fighting me so it must be true. I knew I wasn’t fucking crazy.
“How long has this been going on for? Did you stage the break-ins too? Thought it would be funny to see my sterile home a mess and see how I’d react for fun? Is this the part where you tell me you and Sunny had been plotting this when you were in your suite? And here I was thinking you got the prude to open her legs so you could finally get laid.”
My head snaps back as Nico’s fist strikes my nose. Good. I want to fucking fight, I need some way to let these feelings out before I break. I square up, ready to get into it, but he’s not near me, leaning against the counter with his hands locked together behind his head and Sunny stands in between us.
