Page 18 of Silent as Sin
The smell of gunpowder and iron filled my lungs. The blood spread wider, faster, until I was drowning in it, until the man’s empty eyes stared into mine.
“Remember,” Venom hissed, his mouth at my ear. “Every name. Every scream. Every death. Be thankful I want you around. Now on all fours like the dog you are.”
And then he took me right there in the blood. I couldn’t breathe. The blood covered my legs, my chest, dragging me under—
And I screamed.
The sound ripped out of me, raw and broken, tearing my throat open in a way I hadn’t allowed in years. It was louder than the gun, louder than the laughter, louder than everything.
But the dream didn’t break. Venom’s shadow loomed larger, laughing harder, as he kept going pushing me deeper into the blood.
CHAPTER NINE
THE RIDE BACKfrom the Fire Dragons’ clubhouse leftme with nothing but dust in my teeth and frustration burning in my gut. The engines had roared through the night, but not even the thunder of pipes could drown out the sour taste of wasted time.
Vandal hadn’t known a damn thing, or at least that’s what he wanted us to believe. Sat back with his arms crossed, mouth curved in that half-smirk that always made me want to break something. Claimed Venom never breathed a word about any side project, never mentioned keeping a girl hidden away. Maybe he was lying, maybe not, but the gleam in his eyes whenhe shrugged told me he enjoyed every second of sending us home empty-handed.
By the time we rolled into Crater Ridge, the night was heavy, the sky stretched wide and dark, stars shining overhead. Gravel crunched under my boots when I parked my bike, the quiet afterward almost deafening compared to the ride. My body ached with exhaustion, but the kind of restless, knotted exhaustion that sleep doesn’t fix. I stripped off my cut, tossed it across the chair, and dropped onto the mattress.
Sleep never came.
My head kept turning back to her.
Wren.
Vandal’s silence didn’t sit right. Men like Venom didn’t keep secrets that big without at least one brother knowing. That’s how clubs worked, blood and loyalty meant nothing stayed buried forever. If Vandal was telling the truth, then Venom had been playing a game of his own, one dangerous enough to risk everything to keep hidden. And if he was lying? Then someone else out there knew. Someone who could still come for her.
The thought made my skin crawl.
I stared at the ceiling, jaw clenched so tight my teeth ached, listening to the low tick of the clock on the wall. The minutes dragged. The longer I lay there, the louder the silence seemed to grow, until it wasn’t silence anymore.
A sound carried through the wall. Faint, but loud enough to cut through my haze. A thump, like something hitting wood.
Her room.
Elara had put her next to me, said it’d be easier for me to keep an eye out, make sure Wren wasn’t alone. I’d agreed because it was smart, because someone needed to watch over her. But the truth was, I hadn’t stopped thinking about her since the day we pulled her from Venom’s hell.
The urge to check on her gnawed at me. To make sure she was breathing easy, safe. My feet hit the floor before the thought was finished, carrying me next door like instinct.
I stopped at her door, hand hovering over the knob. I shouldn’t go in. She needed space. Boundaries. Trust wasn’t something you forced, it was something you earned. I told myself that. Repeated it like a prayer.
But then I heard it.
A scream.
High, raw, broken. Shattering the quiet, making my blood turn cold.
My heart stuttered in my chest.
I yanked the key Elara had handed me out of pocket, shoved it into the lock, and opened the door.
The bed was empty.
Another scream ripped from the closet.
I crossed the room in two strides, every muscle tight, and tore the door wide.
She was crumpled in the corner, knees drawn up, blanket twisted around her legs like chains. Sweat slicked her hair to her forehead, her chest heaving as her hands clawed at herself, at something I couldn’t see. Her lips were stretched wide, raw cries pouring out until the sound scraped like glass against my ears.
