Page 9 of When Sinners Rise
“You’re American.”
I look over to the restaurant. “Sure am.”
“Where from?”
“San Diego.” First place that came to mind. No one needs to know where I’m really from.
“Is that anywhere near New York?”
“No, sweetheart. That’s, like, three thousand miles away.”
“Oh.” She giggles and wipes her head with the dishcloth she’s been cleaning tables with.
“You wanna get me that drink?” Cause she’s nowhere near cute enough for me to fuck.
“Yeah. Sorry, I’ll get it now.”
I nod as she goes and stay focused on the gym because that one over there is much closer to what I like to fuck. Screw Abel’s orders. He doesn’t know if she’s a virgin or not. It’s not gonna matter if she isn’t when we get back, even if she was, is it? And why shouldn’t I get something out of this? I deserve it.
CHAPTER FOUR
MIRI
The streets are busy as I join the bustle, finishing another session in the gym.
I’ve not been able to concentrate on anything since hearing the news. Even as I think back to that conversation, the noise of London drifts into the background, and I’m back in that room, being dragged to that chair with pain lancing through my foot like a knife. My legs go weak. They tremble from the fear that now has free roam around my body. But it’s shadowed by something else – something just as hot as that metal iron they used to mark me. Anger.
My legs stay strong, and I keep walking, even though my toes crunch and flex inside my shoes. I need to get inside before another episode creeps over me.
Finally,the lift opens to the apartment floor, and I go inside. Dropping my bag in the entrance hall. I walk through to my bedroom, collapse onto the bed to stare at the ceiling, and force my pulse to steady out. But my mind cuts back to the argument we had outside the restaurant. I keep going over it because I can’t leave it alone.
“You’re an arsehole,Landon. Would you have told me? Or kept me in the dark?”
“Hey, Miri, look.” Willow starts. “That’s not fair. We didn’t—”
“You’re just as bad.”
I cut Willow off because I felt so betrayed. Willow did all of this because she thought it was right. Because my sister asked her out of fear for me. A throw-away comment turned into reality, only I’m still living in a nightmare. It might be safer. Maybe. But I’m alone, even though Willow and I have grown to become friends. I’m not her family. She won’t ever fill that gap for me.
Naja is my sister. My only family.
And now the anger that’s festered, as I’ve kept it locked up inside me, toward her, has shifted to fear. What’s happened to her? Is she okay?
My gut already tells me the answer to that. She’s not okay if she’s back with those monsters.
I remember how in awe I was of Tallington Hall – the place Jackson took us to when we first escaped. It was grand and extraordinary and unlike anything I’d ever seen. Willow was kind and didn’t judge us. It felt safe. And I wanted to stay.
But that comment – that stupid comment from me saying I wanted to stay – set everything else in motion. I watched them drive away, and at first, it was exciting. But that drained really fast, and I soon realised what I’d done. And what Naja happily did.
Tallington wasn’t home. It wasn’t where Willow and Landon lived. It was a posh house that looked shiny and comforting, and when we moved to Earlwood a few days later, the reality began to set in. It was a smaller version of the same. Closer to London maybe, but still grand and prestigious andnothing like a home should be. I felt so homesick. But there was no way back from the decision I made.
Shaking my head, I get up and go to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.
Knowing that this was where Landon lived made it weird when I first moved in, especially with the bedroom situation, so I chose a smaller room on the main floor. If he had any sense, he’d sell this place. I’d be happy in a small one-bedroom place, but I do appreciate what they’ve done for me. I just feel conflicted sometimes.
And still pissed off that they didn’t tell me right away.
I sit and gaze out of the floor-to-ceiling windows that offer amazing views of London. Something is so peaceful about looking out over everything below; it makes me feel safe in an abstract way. Nobody can get to me up here. I’m locked up in a fortress, and that helps me sleep at night.
