Liberated By Sin (The Severed Signet #4)

1

Past

Wildflower – Billie Eilish

I dragged my teeth across my bottom lip as a tingle of nerves traveled up my spine. After months of sneaking around, fleeting touches and kisses, and late nights on the phone, Ezra and I would finally be together for the first time.

My first time.

We knew the risks. If Ronan found out, he’d have his nephew’s head. But I wasn’t a child anymore. I hadn’t been one for a very long time. And outside of my brothers, no one had shown me love, comfort, and understanding the way Ezra had. He was a few years older than Derek, but despite our age difference, we were perfect for each other. We lived and breathed this life. No secrets. No hiding. I convinced myself that, eventually, Ronan would understand. They all would. They’d have to.

“What are you doing in here by yourself, birthday girl?” Kai slid onto the stool beside me and grabbed my drink, downing the liquid in one swallow.

“I needed some quiet,” I said, stealing back my glass. Neither one of us was legally old enough to drink, but that didn’t matter when we’d been trained to snipe a man from 400 yards—then go home, make a sandwich, and watch the news coverage as if it was just another Tuesday.

And it truly was for Kai and Derek. Maybe for me, too, up until six months ago.

But after meeting Ezra, I realized I wanted more out of life: a family, kids someday, and love .

“Most of the guests are gone, and Derek and I are heading out. You want to join us?” he asked, shoulder-checking me. “A little after-party.”

Peering at the time, I shook my head and smiled. I couldn’t tell my brothers about Ezra yet. They were too protective of me that I didn’t trust they wouldn’t make my boyfriend disappear.

“I feel a headache coming on. I think I’ll stay in and get some sleep.”

“Sleep?” We whirled around to the sound of Derek’s voice. With a drink in one hand and the other in his pocket, he leaned against the entryway. “On your birthday? Unacceptable.”

My boys.

I didn’t know where I’d be without them. Eight years ago, I was nearly dragged onto a plane, taken against my will from the bloodied hands of my mother and father, and brought here. Too young to understand what was happening, all I could do was cry and hope to die the way my family had. Until the night Kai brought me a chocolate chip muffin and a wad of rolled-up tissue from his back pocket.

I still laughed at the thought because it was such a Kai thing to do. Meanwhile, Derek watched by the door, his expression stoic and almost bored. Not much had changed with those two, except now we were as close as any blood-related siblings. However, nothing about our relationship was conventional.

Trauma-bonding was a bitch.

“I doubt you’ll find the solution to your headache at the bottom of that glass,” Derek teased as he pried the refilled drink from my hand. “Let’s get you something to eat, and then Kai and I will give you your birthday gift.”

“So you didn’t forget about me, after all.”

“Oh, come on, blue! We bought you cake,” Kai said, sliding my stool away from the counter and tugging on my arm until I stood.

With a sigh, I relented. Ezra wouldn’t be by for another two hours anyway, so it couldn’t hurt. And turning down free food and a birthday present was sure to raise alarms.

“Fine. But I want tacos from that food truck on 5th Ave.”

I poked Derek’s chest and sent him a wink because I knew how he felt about street vendors. Kai and I had a bet going that he’d had tainted food once and was forever traumatized by whatever unholy transgressions followed. But we knew he’d take that secret to the grave.

“Fuck, Athena. Really?”

“It’s my birthday. You can’t say no,” I quipped, walking backward out of the kitchen, only to collide with what felt like a brick wall.

As I twisted around, the scent of Ronan’s cologne registered before his face came into view. Call it vibes or intuition; his presence had always sent my heart racing in all the worst ways. But luckily, I’d be out of here for good in just a few short weeks.

“There you are,” he said in a sing-song tone that was equally unnerving as it was cringe-worthy. “I’ve been waiting all night to catch you alone and finally give you your gift, but you’ve been the center of attention.” He cast a glance down my body that I hadn’t missed. “And rightly so.”

Stepping back into my boys' protective circle, I forced a smile. “It looks like you’ll have to wait just a little longer. Derek, Kai, and I were heading out,” I said, swinging around and jumping onto Kai’s back.

“It will just take a moment.” Despite his smile, I caught the twitch in his left eye. It was a tick of his, a reaction to frustration.

“She said later,” Derek countered, stepping in front of Ronan as Kai and I maneuvered around them and into the hallway .

There was a brief back-and-forth between the two men, though not unusual. Derek and our adoptive father butted heads more often than not. And I had a gut feeling that one of these days, one would end up dead at the hands of the other.

My money was on Derek.

We spilled onto the front steps, the cool summer air caressing my face as I closed my eyes and tasted the petrichor lingering from a light evening rain.

“Are you riding with me or Derek?” Kai set me down and tossed me a helmet before straddling his new bike. He had discovered his love of motorcycles two years ago and hadn’t looked back. It suited him.

The Cain brothers, while they looked nothing alike, were equally handsome in their own ways and always drew the attention of a swath of women wherever they went. And the three of us together—well, I wasn’t conceited, but once I was old enough to understand the world, I knew Ronan hadn’t just handpicked us based solely on potential.

“I’ll ride with Derek since you only have one helmet, and I don’t want to be the cause of you messing up that pretty face.”

“You’re in luck.” He chuckled as he climbed off his bike, which he curiously named Gloria, and reached into the open backseat window of Derek’s car, pulling out a black helmet with hot pink wildflowers on one side.

“For me?”

“Well, Derek wasn’t a fan, so why not?”

I swatted him with the helmet and tucked it under my arm, rising onto my toes to peck his cheek. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.”

“Come on. Hop on.”

Hanging my new gift on a handle, I slid behind my brother and rested my head on his back. “How long do you think Derek will be? I can’t be out all night.”

“What’s wrong? You got somewhere else to be?”

I glanced at my phone again, expecting a response from Ezra, but there was nothing .

He must be busy.

“No, it’s just that headache, remember?”

“Sure.”

“Kai?” I whispered, staring at my dark screen, willing a text to appear. “Do you ever think about leaving all this behind?”

He remained quiet for a moment and reached for my hand. “Maybe someday, blue.”

“Yeah, someday,” I said with a sigh, giving him a squeeze.

I used to hate that nickname until it grew on me. Some dumb boy on a playground called me a freak for having different colored eyes and for so-called pretending Derek and Kai were my brothers. I was still a kid, so naturally, I cried. But they had my back and reassured me we were family, no matter what. And that even though we didn’t look alike, we all had blue eyes, even if I only had one.

The boy went home with a bloody nose that day.

“Athena.” It was rare for Kai to call me by my first name unless it was important. I stilled, waiting for him to speak. “Promise me something. If you ever decide to leave, take us with you.”

I laughed and tousled his hair. “Why? You’d miss me?”

But Kai didn’t react the way I expected. He was strangely serious.

“I mean it.”

Again, I lay my head against him and hugged his shoulders. “Okay, Kai bear. I promise.”

He belted out a laugh at the old nickname I used to call him as a kid since bear was one of the first English words I learned.

There was the Kai I knew.

I stumbled through my bedroom door and nearly tripped over my own feet as I blindly searched for the light switch. The combination of the dark and my inebriated state made the usually simple task seem nearly impossible. Maybe I should have cut back on the shots. But it was my fucking birthday, and Ezra wasn’t answering any of my calls or texts. Screw him. I drank my feelings until I could barely walk straight because I knew I’d be safe with Kai and Derek. They had their suspicions something was up, that I was keeping a secret, and that said secret was feeding my need to drink. But as intoxicated as I was, I couldn’t out our relationship yet or that he’d ghosted me on my special day. The last thing I needed was a lecture from my overprotective and homicidal brothers.

“When you said a little later, I didn’t think you meant 4 a.m.”

Ronan’s voice jolted me damn near out of my skin. My back crashed into the wall at the sight of him sitting at the edge of my bed, as if he’d been waiting there for a disturbing amount of time.

“What are you doing in here?”

Blood pumped a little faster as I steadied myself, feeling as if the effects of my drinking binge were wearing off, overtaken by adrenaline.

“I told you I had something for you.”

“You can’t just come into my room, let alone sit here in the dark. Don’t you see how fucking creepy that is?”

“Did I scare you, mo stoirín ?” he said with a devilish grin and pushed to his feet. “I thought I taught you better than that. Always be ready.”

As he approached, I squared my shoulders. “I wasn’t expecting anyone, least of all you.”

“Well, that was your first mistake.” His breath fanned the back of my neck, but I refused to give him what he wanted and didn’t turn around. Although my instincts were not as sharp, I was ready.

Ronan had never overstepped in the past. The vibes he gave off were just that. And while I knew what he was capable of, the line in the sand had always been clear. But tonight, something about his demeanor, his words, and the sinister way they slid off his tongue had me on alert.

“Listen, I’m tired and—”

“You’ve been drinking,” he said, now in front of me. “Heavily.”

“So what? You’ve never cared before.”

He shrugged. “And I don’t now. My only concern is—why? ”

“I was celebrating with the boys. I don’t understand your line of questioning.”

Ronan said nothing for a beat, his eyes on mine, and then he slowly brushed his thumb down my cheek.

“What were you crying about?”

My mascara.

I remembered my reflection in the bar mirror, my face streaked with makeup after I had cried over Ezra. Kai and Derek tried to get me to confess, but decided to let me sleep it off and question me when I was sober.

Pulling away, I motioned toward the door, ushering him out.

“We can talk tomorrow. I told you I’m exhausted.”

Again, a stretch of uncomfortable silence fell between us until he used his bearded chin to point toward the bay window, where a brown box lay on my desk. The once-warm room suddenly chilled, and the hairs on my arm stood on end. I couldn’t guess what the box contained, but intuition warned me to stay away. Yet curiosity was a bitch. My gait was still unsteady as I moved toward the gift and placed a hand on the lid.

“What is it?”

“The faster you open it, the faster you find out.” He paused with a slight chuckle. “Although not what I originally planned, I think you’ll love the upgrade.”

Malice laced his words, causing me to hesitate and exhale a heavy breath before tearing the box open. I regretted the air I’d just pushed out of my lungs because the room had suddenly become suffocating, and my throat collapsed in on itself at the horrific sight before me.

Ezra.

My boyfriend—reduced to a tiny box in the cruelest and most horrific way. His head, severed at the neck, rested on its side, eyes swollen, and his skin varying hues of purple and ash. As I took a shaky step back, the contents of my stomach rushed up and splashed at my feet. I’d seen death. I’d doled it out without remorse for the last two years .

But this was different.

“Run away together, huh? You let him call you… Doll face? ” He chuckled wickedly. “Would have almost been sweet if the two people I cared for most weren’t betraying me and plotting behind my back. My nephew knew the rules when it came to you.”

Ronan crept closer, but I was frozen in place from shock and mortification, my eyes still fixed on Ezra’s lifeless ones.

“W-why?” I managed to choke out.

His lips ghosted over my bare shoulder, and another bout of nausea rolled through me.

“Because you’re mine.”

He didn’t need to elaborate. His claim on me wasn’t that of an overprotective father. My intuition all these years had been right.

“You’re sick.”

“I’m glad we cleared that up.” When he leaned in for another kiss, it was the spark I needed to make a move. Dropping to the floor, I reached for the Sig under my bed, but my blood ran cold when I came up empty.

Ronan’s cruel laughter echoed from above me.

“Looking for something, darling?” In a flash, his hand tangled in my hair, and he yanked me to my knees. “I can give you the world, Athena. All you have to do is let me.”

“Fuck you!” I cried, thrashing against the pain of his grip. “I’ll never be yours. You’re going to have to kill me…or I’ll kill you first.”

His eyes widened when I ran a blade into his side, but before I could plunge it a second time, he lifted me by the throat and tossed me over the bed with so much force that I crashed to the floor on the other side. Pain rippled through me, and my mouth gaped open as I struggled to breathe.

“F-fuck,” I whimpered, slightly dazed as I pushed my chest off the hardwood and watched as blood pooled below me from a gash on my head.

“So you want to do this the hard way.” Ronan rounded the bed and pulled the knife from his body with a grunt. “Let’s dance. ”

“When Derek and Kai find out, they’re going to kill you.”

“Who’s going to tell them? For all they know, you ran away with that headless bastard over there. Left this life behind without saying a goddamn word. Isn’t that what you wrote in your little messages?”

Ronan’s hand was around my throat again. Maybe if I hadn’t had so much to drink, I’d have more of a fight in me. I’d taken on men his size in the past and won.

“You can lock me up…torture me, but I’ll never be yours. And I’ll never stop fighting you.”

“I know you won’t.” He swept his tongue up the side of my face, where blood still flowed in a steady drip. “That’s why, as much as it pains me, I will have to break you.”