Destruction’s Desire (Broken Souls Trilogy #2)

Chapter 21

Rule twenty-one: If someone is hunting you, uno reverse them.

I ’ve never had a roommate before, and after the last two minutes of my life, I would have preferred if it had stayed that way. It’s barely dawn, and I’m trying to hide under my blankets as the psychopath from across the hall insists I get up.

“I told you to get your ass out of bed and get dressed,” Sin growls as he towers over my bed.

I respond by pulling the blankets even more tightly over my head. When Sin finished patching me up last night, he apparated us into my room so that I landed directly on my bed, still lying on my stomach. It was already completely dark, and I was grateful for not needing to move around with my injuries.

Of course, Sin then had to go and whisper above my ear that he’d be just across the hall and to call him if I needed him, promising he’d hear me. While I’m sure he only meant it in a platonic partner kind of way, my imagination ran wild. The only way I eventually fell asleep was by reminding myself that the man was disgusted by me and that I needed to avoid sexually harassing my partner.

The lack of sleep is not helping my current situation. Sin apparated into my room a few minutes ago, telling me we were training and ordering me to get ready.

Given the fact that my leg and back are throbbing, and the man entered my room without knocking, I’m not feeling too agreeable. “And I told you, no. It’s a complete sentence, Sin.”

“Either you get up and get yourself dressed, or so help me, kitten, I’ll dress you myself,” Sin growls.

I cackle, the sound muffled by his stolen blanket. That’s rich coming from a man who looked ready to bolt at having to treat my injuries last night. I’m not concerned that he’d voluntarily touch me.

I hear Sin grumbling as the chest at the end of my bed is opened, and things start landing on the floor.

Rolling my eyes, I call out, “I get that you are super eager to be my partner, but I’ve checked with my union, and I’m entitled to a day off after injuring myself on the job.”

Honestly, I feel like that’s a pretty clever response, especially since I haven’t had any coffee yet.

Sin responds by ripping the blankets off me and tossing them to the corner of the room. I yelp, scrambling to cover myself. I’m still only in a pair of booty shorts .

Sin rolls his eyes and stares at the top of my head. He tosses some clothes at me before gritting out, “Five minutes, kitten. You have five minutes before I come back.”

“And what happens if I crawl back under the blankets?” I challenge as I grab the clothes he just threw at me.

I usually have a strict filter for interacting with others. I weigh every word, constantly trying to decide what the right thing to say is. But Sin pushes me past that point. I don’t care if I tell him the right thing because I’ve decided he is the bane of my existence, and I want to keep him that way.

Sin’s eyes leave the top of my head, and he takes a moment to eye me up and down. I’m shocked at his heated expression.

That doesn’t look like disgust.

He smirks before answering, “Crawl back into that bed, and I’ll un-exist it and make you sleep with me tonight.” He takes a step back and adds, “I mean it. Dress yourself, or I’ll do it for you.”

I don’t get the chance to snap at him because just as the words leave his mouth, he apparates from the room. I’m left blinking and stupefied. Not just because of Sin’s threats but because of what I see, now that I’m not focused on the warlord-wannabe.

There, against the wall, are my bookshelves, stuffed full to the brim and bowing under the weight of my books. My dresser is here, too, directly across from my bed. My throw pillows are scattered around the floor, and my quilts are folded neatly by the foot of the bed .

My stuff.

Sin said he’d returned to my realm to get some of my things so I’d be more comfortable. But I never imagined…

Squealing, I jump out of bed, ignoring the pain in my leg, to go to my books. I pick one up and hug it.

I don’t care if it’s weird. I have an emotional attachment to my books.

Skipping over to my dresser, I pull open the drawers, thrilled that everything is still in them.

When I head to the bathroom, I squeal again at the sight of my toiletries.

It’s amazing what a few familiar things will do for a person. The only thing I’m missing now are Sarah, Conner, and Isaac. But the further away they are from me, the safer they will be. Especially now that I know the Fates are messing with my life.

That latest bit of information is more anxiety-inducing than I’m ready to cope with.

A knock at the door distracts me from my joyful reunion with my belongings. “Three minutes, kitten.”

Instead of snapping at him, I bite back my words and hustle to get ready. Sin might be a monumental pain in my ass, but he also brought me my books. For that, I’ll try to be on my best behavior today.

Pulling on my fighting leathers, I wince when they rub against the wounds. Luckily, the ones on my back and shoulder weren’t deep enough to warrant stitches, and after sleeping on my stomach in only my underwear, they’ve scabbed over. I’m ninety percent sure the scabs are now bleeding again, but the fresh clothing hide any evidence of that .

I make a mental note to check my toiletries later for some disinfectant.

I’m saved from figuring out whether five minutes have passed because the second my weapons are sheathed, Sin apparates behind me, hooking an arm around my waist, and then apparates us outside.

Shaking off his hold, I turn to glare at his self-satisfied smirk. “Was that necessary?” I grit out.

“Your leg is injured. Would you prefer I carried you down the stairs?” he drawls.

I flush. “You wouldn’t.”

The devilish gleam that crosses his face is enough to tell me that he wouldn’t hesitate to do such a thing, and it makes me forget that I was planning on being nice to him.

I roll my eyes. “So, you admit I shouldn’t be walking down the stairs, but you want me training anyway?”

He smirks. “Enemies won’t care that you’re injured. You need to fight through the pain.”

I huff but then remember how debilitated I was by the pain that wracked through me with Leon. Swallowing thickly, I nod. “You’re right.”

Sin’s eyes narrow, as if he’s trying to figure out what changed my mind, before shaking his head and looking away. “You won’t be able to move around too much today. Otherwise, you’ll open your stitches, so we’ll be focusing on strengthening your body and honing your other instincts.”

While none of those things sound appealing, I grit my teeth and do as I’m told. Sin takes me through a series of warmups and then has me doing all kinds of strength training until I think every one of my muscles is trembling.

Less than an hour into training, I collapse onto the sand. “I can’t – no more. That’s as strong as I’m going to get today.”

Sin towers over me and rolls his eyes at my dramatics. “We’ve barely started.”

“You seriously overestimate how much exercise I did in the Mortal Realm,” I wheeze.

His jaw works as he stares down at me. I think he’s deciding whether to grant me a reprieve or not. I cross my fingers in hopes that he will take pity on me.

“Fine,” he acquiesces. “We’ll move on to the next portion of the training.”

At my answering groan, he smiles. “I’m giving you a ten-minute head-start. Avoid me for the next hour, and you can have the rest of the day off.”

Sin offers me his hand, and I blink at him repeatedly, trying to process what he’s proposing.

“I – Wait, you want to play hide and seek?” I ask a bit incredulously as I ignore his hand and struggle to stand on my own.

Sin’s expression darkens as he answers, “There might come a time when I need you to run and hide. I need to know that you won’t panic or get caught.”

I shake my head. “This is ridiculous. The castle is huge. If you’re ready to give me the day off, just do it. We don’t need to play a children’s game.”

At my words, he stalks over to me, his movements becoming deliberate. “Don’t assume I’m going to be relying on the same senses you have. ”

He only stops when he’s inches away from me. “I know your scent, kitten. I know the signature of your energy, and I know the castle. Underestimating your opponent is how you get killed.”

I swallow. Whatever playful tone he just held is gone.

“What happens if you find me?” I ask warily.

His eyes sweep down my body. “What happens when a predator catches their prey?”

My eyes widen, and Sin gives me a wicked grin.

“Run,” he whispers.

I bolt.

Panic floods my senses. The stitches in my leg scream as I hurry around the side of the castle, heading for the front doors.

No part of me thinks Sin was alluding to becoming a cannibal. There’s no mistaking the sexual undertone of his threat. And from the way heat coils in my lower belly at that thought, I need to make sure he doesn’t get the chance to try.

Sin is my partner. He’s also a walking cesspool of toxicity, and my traitorous vagina needs to get a grip.

I reach the large wooden doors but pause before ripping them open.

Something isn’t adding up.

Use your damn head, Vivian.

Sin had every opportunity to make sexual advances on me last night when I was wearing far less clothing. Why would he all of a sudden be thinking about touching me now?

The answer has me both embarrassed and relieved.

He wouldn’t .

Sin wants me to panic. He expects me to run blindly, just like I might if I ever need to hide from an opponent.

I take a deep inhale, not touching the door. Instead, I step back, scanning the castle. If Sin can follow my scent, it will be far too easy for him to track me if I’m inside. I need to stay out here, where any trace of me won’t be constrained to a small room.

Chewing on my bottom lip, I look around, brainstorming. If I did go indoors, I don’t think Sin would expect me to hide in his room. But after the threat he made about me entering that space, I have no intention of setting foot in there, ever.

My eyes sweep up to the castle’s third floor, locking on a single, small balcony. Sin’s balcony.

That could work.

The smooth stones of Morgana’s castle offer little in the way of climbing handholds, but I can work around that. When Damien and I did our morning runs, I had a lot of time to become acquainted with my surroundings. And while most of Rosie’s plants are kept in the garden, she also has a huge vine that has since grown against one of the castle walls.

My adrenaline pumps full force as I silently move along the wall, hoping I don’t make any sounds that might carry to Sin.

The vines snake all the way up a turret on the far left side of the castle. The vine’s base is as thick as a softball, giving me hope that it will be strong enough to hold me.

Ignoring the burning in my arms from Sin’s workout and my injuries, I start climbing. Thankfully, the vines are solid and don’t come with razor-sharp thorns. The castle is only three stories high, but the turret stretches far above the third floor. Unfortunately for me, the vines don’t twist all the way around the turret here, and I have to angle my body over to the roof, stretching to get my toes on the slippery metal.

This is a stupid idea. If I slip, I’ll break my neck.

But I’m low on time, and I know my hiding spot is perfect. So, instead of overthinking my next move, I push myself off the turret, throwing my weight onto the slightly slanted roof. There are about two seconds where I wobble, and my balance falters, but I manage to steady myself.

Quietly exhaling, I gingerly pad along the roof, not making a sound. I head for Sin’s balcony, quietly reminding myself I’m not afraid of heights. Once I’m directly above it, I lay down, making myself as small as possible.

Not even a minute later I hear Sin call out, “Ready or not, here I come.”

I don’t dare look over the ledge to watch him enter the castle but let myself breathe a sigh of relief when I hear him go inside.

A slow grin spreads across my face, and I shift so that I’m crouched over the edge of the roof, just over his balcony. If Sin does check here, there’s a good chance he’ll find me. But I’m ready for him.

I am not prey.

I start counting the seconds in my head to get an idea of how much time I have left. Twenty minutes pass without any hint of him until I finally hear Sin’s door open .

It’s time.

Another minute and his balcony door opens, just beneath me. Sin steps out, and without giving him a chance to sense me, I drop from the roof. In the next heartbeat, I’m on his back, with my legs wrapped around his waist, and my dagger is pressed against his neck.

At the feel of my blade, Sin goes completely still.

“I win,” I whisper in his ear before slipping off him.

I stand tall, triumphant in my victory. Sin turns, his eyes scanning the roof, before understanding dawns on him.

“Clever girl,” he notes, looking impressed.

I grin back. “And I didn’t enter your room.”

His pupils flare before he backs up, crossing his arms and looking smug. “I see that. Though I’m very curious to see how you plan on leaving to enjoy your afternoon off.”

My grin falters as I scan his balcony. Even if I stand on the railing, there’s no way I’ll be able to reach the roof. I look at his room, my spine stiffening.

Nope, not going that way.

I walk to the balcony ledge and lean against it, shrugging. “Someone will notice I’m not around. At some point, Magnus or Damien will go outside, and I’ll ask them to apparate me.”

Sin’s mouth quirks up in a corner at my answer. “Say you’ll train more after we eat, and I’ll apparate us out.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Food. We’re eating food at the table in the dining room. ”

Am I being paranoid that he’s adding subtle sexual connotations to his words?

Absolutely.

But in my defense, the man has seen me nearly naked too many times over the last twenty-four hours and has made enough sexual innuendos that I’m suddenly questioning if he’s as repulsed by me as I think he is.

If Sin and I are going to be partners for the foreseeable future, then I need us to build a professional relationship. Otherwise, this entire endeavor will get very messy, very quickly.

How hard can it be?

Sin pushes off the wall, and there’s a playfulness to him that catches me off guard as he approaches me. “Such a dirty mind, kitten,” he teases as he takes my hand. But instead of apparating us to the dining room right away, he yanks on me, pulling me into him. His mouth ghosts across my ear as he adds, “And don’t think for a second that I wouldn’t spread you open over that table and devour you.”

And then we apparate out.