20. Shadow
SHADOW
I watched as Sirena stared at the empty doorway through which Sin had disappeared. She stood still for a long time, silence surrounding us, before her body shook. I thought she was crying, but was surprised to see her face flushed and her eyes dry as she turned to all of us, either standing or sitting awkwardly in the room.
“What happened?” she demanded in a deadly whisper.
I glanced at everyone else, knowing it wasn’t my place to say shit about shit.
“Uh, he’s, uh, he’s just working through some stuff,” Stitches managed to sputter out before looking at Church, who sat forward in his chair, staring intently at Sirena.
“He’s struggling with being found naked with your sister,” Church said after an awkward moment.
I looked past Church to see Cady step off the bottom step, her blue eyes wide. Sirena snapped her attention to her.
“I-I wanted to tell you,” Cady started, her voice soft. “What happened.”
Sirena said nothing, all her focus on Cady.
“Should we go?” I whispered to Asylum.
“We should not. There may be a blood bath, and I so do love a good soak.”
I sighed and looked away from the maniac to Sirena.
“Adam made us,” Cady choked out, tears in her eyes. “It’s true. He wasn’t lying. It’s killing me inside.”
Sirena remained motionless as she stared at Cady.
I shifted and took in the guys, who were all sitting forward except for Ashes, who still stood near Sirena.
“I would never sleep with one of your guys. He said if we didn’t, he’d kill you. I didn’t want to lose you, Rina. You’re my best friend,” Cady continued, her voice wobbling as tears streaked down her cheeks. “If we did it, you’d live, and maybe we’d have the time to get Church and the guys to help with everything before things got too bad. I-I don’t know. We were scared. He drugged us. I-I couldn’t even think straight. We didn’t want to do it. God, please. I didn’t want to. I swear to you, I didn’t. I-I would never…” Her voice wobbled again before she choked out a soft sob and wrapped her arms around herself.
I watched as Sirena balled her hands into tight fists before shaking it out and doing it again. She was clearly upset. Her face reddened. She looked like she wanted to scream, but no words would come out.
“Angel, baby.” Stitches got to his feet and went to her. “Hey.” He forced her focus away from Cady. “Let’s go to my room?—”
“I believe you,” Sirena said, her voice a soft rasp. “I know the circumstances. I was there. So why the goddamn tears?”
Cady stared at her wide-eyed. Even I shot a lot at Asylum to see a dark smile on his lips. He knew something and wasn’t saying a damn word.
“I-b-because… I don’t want you to be mad. To hate me… to hate him for making me?—”
Sirena crossed the room so fast she was nearly a blur. She stopped abruptly in front of Cady and stared her down.
“Did Sin make you?” Sirena demanded softly.
Cady’s gaze darted around the room. I winced at what I knew was coming.
She nodded once and looked at her feet.
“He was drugged, heaven. He wasn’t in his right mind. All he wanted was to save you,” Ashes spoke up. “You know Sin. He’d never do that out of cruelty.”
Sirena ignored Ashes and reached out for Cady, tilting her chin up. Cady stared back at her with tear-filled eyes.
“Did you not want to save me?” Sirena asked, her voice filled with a profound sadness.
“Of course! I will always save you. I love you. You’re my sister. My best friend?—”
“Then did he force you if you wanted to save me?” Sirena cocked her head at her.
“I told him no, but I-I wanted to save you, so I-I did it. I’m sorry, Rina. I want to make this right?—”
“You were not forced by Sin,” Sirena said. “You were forced by Adam. I’m not mad. I’m sad.”
“Why?” Cady’s voice shook.
“Because there’s been so much damage caused by the wicked in this world. I don’t like seeing my family hurt. I love you, Cadence. I won’t forgive you because there’s nothing to forgive. We all do things we don’t want to do to survive. I would not burden you with my anger; it’s not you whom I’m angry with. So please stop worrying and hiding.”
“Rina,” Cady sobbed, reaching for her. Sirena drew her into her arms and hugged her tightly. “I’ll talk to Sin. I will. I promise I’ll make this right. I should have left Adam. This is all my fault. I’m so sorry. I’ll do better. I swear I will.”
Sirena said nothing as she held a crying Cady. I breathed a soft sigh of relief. The last thing I wanted was for Sirena to be hurt because of the chaos caused by these twisted sickos. I didn’t think for a moment she’d be mad about any of this. Hurt, yes, because what the fuck, but mad? Never.
My cupcake was far too sweet to resent those she loved for acting on what they believed was right. I knew without a doubt she would have done it for Cady if the roles had been reversed.
Sirena released Cady and turned in our direction.
“Asylum?” she called out.
“Firefly,” he answered, his blue eyes sparkling knowingly.
“I would very much like a hatchet if you could get me one.”
“Your will be done.” Asylum inclined his head at her.
“And Dante?” She turned to Church, who got to his feet and approached. He stopped in front of her, and she looked up at him.
“I’d really like it if you could teach me how to better kill the wicked,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’d like to get started.”
The most sinister smile crossed Church’s face before he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. He kissed her deeply, his hands cradling her face as if she were the most precious thing in the world to him. Despite the moment, I didn’t look away. I couldn’t if I wanted to.
“Your wish is my command,” Church murmured as he broke the kiss off.
“What does this mean?” I asked Asylum without looking away from Sirena and Church.
“It means, my dear Shadow, that she’s just given the green light to tear this motherfucker down. Come. We have work to do.” And with those words, I followed him to the door. I cast a final look over my shoulder at her. She was back to hugging Cady.
It was Church who drew my attention away.
He stared back at me, a stony expression on his face.
I didn’t know what it meant, but it had to mean something. I only hoped he wasn’t plotting my death.
* * *
“Fucking hell,” I grunted as I helped drag one of the nuns from her room. She hadn't even had the chance to scream because Asylum descended on her like a violent storm. One moment, her mouth was opening to shout, and the next, his fist was smashing into her face.
She was knocked out easily enough.
“Bottom heavy. Sister Devon always did have a lot of junk in her trunk,” Asylum said as he stooped to lift her over his shoulder. “Lot of mouth. Lot of ass. Not a lot of fucking brains. Goes to show…” He winced as he adjusted her on his shoulder, “that you can’t have it all. I mean, unless you’re me.”
“You?” I mused, following him out the back door and into the forest.
“Yes. Me. I have a nice ass, a big, thick cock, and I’m a smart little fella. You know that, though. Plus, have you seen me? I’m fucking gorgeous. My eyes alone would fetch a good price. You know, if you were a collector.”
“You would know,” I said as we trudged through the snow. We’d left the Watchers’ house long ago and had plotted and planned which piece of human waste we would start with on campus first. Sister Devon had won because Asylum had her on a list from a time she’d beaten his hands with a ruler until he bled. He cited she’d taken his favorite fork, which was really what she was on the list for. It helped that I’d seen her going into Sully’s office countless times for a meeting with just him. The pair often fucked one another. Some sister. I also knew she was just as wicked as the rest of them, and for that, she needed to pay.
We arrived at the cave concealed in the woods. I opened the door, and we stepped into the dimly lit space. A small lantern flickered on the table, illuminating just enough of the area for us to see.
Asylum immediately tripped over the rug in front of the door and promptly dropped Sister Devon as he tried not to fall.
She landed with a loud thud onto the hard stone ground, her head bouncing as it made contact.
“Fuck, man,” Asylum swore, kicking at the rug tangled around his feet. “Fucking Mirage and his goddamn welcome mat.”
I grabbed the rug, held it up, and chuckled.
“To be fair, it actually says Unwelcome so…”
Asylum scowled at me, crawled over to Sister Devon on the floor, and rolled her to the center of the room.
“Bitch still has my good fork,” he muttered, wiping his brow. “I’m glad we’re going to kill her bitch ass.”
“She has my crucifix,” I said. I approached and kneeled beside him. Carefully, I reached out and tugged my large crucifix from her robe pocket and twirled it in my hand. It had some weight to it. I’d missed it. She’d taken it on me last year because I kept twirling it like a fidget spinner in my hand during one of her classes. It helped to keep me calm.
She groaned, opened her brown eyes, and stared up at us.
“Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt,” I whispered, twirling the crucifix once more in my hands before driving it deep into her skull with a powerful blow. Her blood ran red as her body convulsed.
“Nice,” Asylum murmured as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a fork. “Daniel 12:2. I fucking approve.” And with those words, he drove his fork deep into her eye socket, her screams echoing through the chamber.