Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
I’m waiting for someone to object. To remind me I’m as useless to them as I was to Syphor, but Seth pipes up from beside Cody. “You’re right.”
Of all the people in the group I expected to hear that from, he wasn’t the one.
“If you hadn’t been there tonight, you wouldn’t have bought us that time, and he might have gotten into Cody. And then God knows what might have happened. You got me out of that gag so I could stop the frats from intervening while Matteo attacked Syphor. As far as I’m concerned, you and Matteo are Sinners, and I’m sorry for doubting either of you.” There’s a sincerity in his words I’m not used to hearing from Seth. “Unless any of the guys disagree?”
“No, I think Seth summed it up pretty well,” Luke says, placing his hand on my shoulder, offering a warm smile.
And fuck if I’m not getting all choked up, tears stirring in my eyes. I couldn’t imagine a scenario where these guys would ever consider trusting me after what I did, yet here we are. As my gaze meets Matteo’s, I know he understands what this means to me. The weight it takes off my chest.
“Anyway,” Preston says, “we have plenty to catch up on, and I figure we can do that when Finn and Cody are better, but, Alexei, I do want to have a quick word with you. In private.”
The way he looks at me, I know what it’s about. My brother. The promise they made. Or one that Syphor made.
“I think we should be done with secrets,” Seth says.
“It’s personal,” Matteo says, stepping up for me. “Very personal. Doesn’t have anything to do with anyone but Alexei.”
I see the hesitation in Seth’s expression.
“No,” I say. “I’m tired of secrets. You can discuss it in front of them.”
“Alexei,” Matteo says. “Are you sure?”
I nod.
“All right, then,” Preston says. “Syphor never had any intention of helping you find out what happened to your brother.”
And there are the tears again. I fight them back. Keep it together.
“Figured,” is as much as I can say without totally losing it. It’s an emotional sucker punch. The last straw in this wild night. Maybe because I’m so fucking tired. Or maybe because I’ve secretly been hoping that somehow, this one thing would pull through.
“You said Finnegan got in touch with his deceased mom.”
He shakes his head. “That’s what we were led to believe, but now, from what we understand about the shit Syphor did, it could have been anything telling Finn what he wanted to hear. It was all a lie.”
As I keep myself together, I swallow, struggling with the news, beating up on myself even more. I should have fucking known.
“Thanks for telling me,” I say.
Preston nods, and he says something before heading off, but I don’t hear him, too caught up in my shit.
And I’m just glad when he’s gone, but the emotion’s creeping up on me. I can’t keep this in. I need to get away. I hurry through the hall, toward the restroom I visited while we were waiting for Cody to wake up. I’m relieved when I finally get inside and close myself off in a stall. The tears rush down my face. My chest constricts. My mind takes me back to so many years earlier.
All the hope.
The desperate searching.
I wrap my arms around my chest, holding on to my shoulders as I squat down, curling into myself. Even though there’s no one else in the restroom, I find myself trying to keep the pain in, but it bursts free. The tears fall in drops onto the floor as I stifle a cry, rage at the universe.
A creak catches my attention. The restroom door. I’m not alone.
Fuck.
“Alexei?”
I’m relieved to hear Matteo’s voice. I push to my feet, sniffling before opening the stall door, finding him standing outside.
“I’m never gonna find out, am I?” I can’t bring myself to say more than that.
I throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around him, and he pulls me close. My body erupts into a feverish tremble as I sob against him. This is so fucking painful, tearing me apart, but in his arms, I feel safe. And like no matter how bad it gets, somehow I’ll survive this pain.
25
MATTEO
Preston sits cross-legged in the church cellar, a few feet from the pentagram, levitating five pebbles off the ground. He keeps most frozen in the air with his powers, orbiting one around the others.
The Saints are gathered on one side, closer to the door, and I stand with the Sinners on the other side, watching Preston perform his trick. Alexei’s the only one missing—he went to pick up food for everyone, which is why we’re not broaching more substantial topics.
Yet.
It’s been less than a week since our encounter with Syphor, the entity that controlled the Saints and the other guys at Alpha Alpha Mu. Since Finnegan and Cody were released from the hospital, some members of the Saints and the Sinners have been communicating more, but everyone agreed we needed time to process what happened before regrouping the following Wednesday. Now the Saints and Sinners are swapping secrets and tips about their powers.