Chapter 40
Orion
The sun is shining, the grass is green, and I have my notebook in one hand and my pen in the other. I am feeling more alive than ever right now, because I’ve been able to write nonstop since my last encounter with Sunny.
I haven’t even felt the need to drink since I left Atreus locked up in the Tartarus House this morning. Heck, I might be able to do without for the rest of the day as long as I have all of this inspiration. Maybe I’ll finally finish a whole book and get somewhere after all.
Ever since Sunny came into my life, or rather, I forced my way into her life, certain feelings have been brewing that are harder and harder to ignore. For some reason, dying at her hand is no longer my biggest worry. It’s living to see another day strangled by her hands.
It’s as if the thought of death no longer seems the end goal, rather … life, granted by her, seems to drive me, and it’s so odd.
I’ve never felt the raw need to stay alive, let alone to crave someone so much it could make me want to do anything to be with her, and it makes me feel elated.
Is this how normal people live?
I snigger to myself and pen down some more words, but a bunch of students marching by, gossiping, draws my attention away from my words and toward the rose maze, behind which the Tartarus House lies.
Peculiar.
I stare at the maze, wondering if something is up, when a bunch of cops stroll by, pulling me from my thoughts.
I clear my throat as I glance over my shoulder at the crowd slowly gathering near the Delta Nu Sorority, and I lower my pen as my jaw slowly begins to drop.
Sunny Reed is surrounded.
I jump up from my bench and approach the crowd, but from the corner of my eye, I spot the dean and Xavier doing the same, pushing through the crowd until we all reach the front.
My face turns ghostly pale when my eyes connect with the cop grasping Sunny’s arm.
Atreus Foley.
What the fuck?!
“Sunny Reed, you’re under arrest for multiple counts of first-degree murder,” he growls, pulling out his cuffs.
Everyone gasps in shock, even me.
How did he get out of the Tartarus House basement?
Shit. Shit. Shit! This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Get your fucking hands off her!” Xavier growls, reaching for something in his pocket.
All the cops are on high alert and draw their weapons.
“Xavier. Don’t,” Sunny warns, glaring at him, and he immediately lowers his hand again.
But the look on his face is like thunder split open the skies.
I’ve never seen him this angry, this … unhinged. It’s like he’s ready to burn down the world.
“Sunny?!” Felix roars, pushing through until he’s reached Atreus and Sunny. “What’s the meaning of this, Foley?”
But Foley completely ignores him as he and his cop buddies focus on dragging Sunny through the crowd.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time. Do you understand?”
She nods without showing a single drop of emotion on her face. “Yes.”
The people push and pull until finally the road is cleared and Sunny is paraded down the campus like a certified criminal. In broad daylight. Walked to the gallows.
“Sunny?” I mutter, but when her eyes connect with mine, the sorrow within them takes me aback.
No. No. No!
This can’t happen.
I drop my notebook on the muddy ground as tears well up in my eyes.
She lost.
But she … she was my only reason to stay.
She can’t leave. She can’t leave me alone with the world.
I won’t survive.
The dean holds Xavier back, while I feel like a lost lamb floating in a world far too big for me to endure.
Out of nowhere, two hands wrap around my back, a warm head resting against my spine.
“It’s gonna be okay.”
“Cecelia,” I mutter, my body crumpling beneath her.
I turn around and sink into her, despite my large frame, curling into her shoulder so I don’t have to show the strangers around me that it wounds me to the point of tears.
I am lost.
Without Sunny, there’s no light to show me the way.
Sunny
My black-and-green hair clings to my cheeks as I stare at the wall in front of me, wondering how much time has passed since I was put in this cell.
Hours? Days? Who knows, I’m not keeping track.
I’m far too busy plotting the demise of the final pawn in my game.
Too soon. Too soon.
It happened too soon.
My fingers twitch, blood boiling beneath my skin, cracking the surface open.
I’m itching for violence.
Just one more.
The door handle is jiggled, and a wicked smile slowly forms on my face.
Could it be?
A familiar set of bright, icy-blue eyes stares back at me through the narrow gap, and my heart skips a beat.
Atreus.
The flicker of hatred burns brighter than ever the moment he steps inside. Not for his insolence but for the fact that I might still have a chance after all at seeing this through.
“Hello, Miss Reed.”
The mere sound of his low timbre sets my body on fire.
Fuck.
Even now, I still want to jump his bones.
The door is pushed open farther, and two cops step inside with tasers and guns at the ready, as they probably wish to take me somewhere else. All it does is make me laugh.
“You think that’s going to keep you safe from me?”
The cops begin to sweat. Rightfully so.
I’ve murdered men for less.
Atreus nods at them, and the men approach to ensure my cuffs are still on both my wrists and ankles before they pick me up from the floor.
“Bring her to room 2.”
They drag me with them, and I let them, because I’m mildly amused at the idea of them trying to contain me like I’m some kind of wild animal they captured.
I’m pushed into a room with the number 2 labeled on the front, and they shut the door behind us before setting me down on a chair behind a table, all of which is screwed to the floor to ensure I don’t use them as weapons.
Smart.
The cops tie my cuffs to the table and double-check I’m secured before they exit the room.
The lock falls back into place.
Atreus sits down in front of me on the other side of the table.
My chair isn’t the only one screwed in place.
And I’m not entirely sure I’m the only one who would be willing to use it as a weapon to get my way.
Between us is a single plastic bottle of water and two plastic cups.
He stares me down, but my eyes skitter past him toward all four corners of the wall. Two cameras are opposite me. The walls are solid. No windows. No see-through panel.
He wants privacy.
A wretched smile forms on my face.
Maybe I’m not the only one with secrets.
“How do you feel?” he asks.
I smirk. “Are you asking yourself or me?”
“Why?”
I lean forward. “All high and mighty of you to suddenly care about my feelings.”
A hint of a smile tugs at his lips. “I just want to apologize for the lack of comfort these past few days.”
I snort. “Don’t pretend you care.”
“We can upgrade you to a room with a bed,” he muses. “If you give me something I can use.”
“Against me,” I retort, rolling my eyes. “I’d rather rot on the floor.”
“If that’s your wish, consider it done.”
He came to play games. I don’t like it.
“But I think you know why I’m here.”
He pulls out a set of photos and slides them my way, putting the faces of the men I murdered right underneath my nose, including a photo of Bob Eizenheimer, the cop.
He thinks I killed him too? Funny.
“I don’t care.”
He taps the photos. “We need to talk about these murders.”
I’m not going to spill the beans. Not in front of him, and definitely not in front of all those cameras.
His eyes flutter across the room just like mine until he finds the cameras, and he clears his throat, scoots his chair back, and stands. I watch him unplug the cameras and sit back down to stare at me with pride.
But he just cut his buddies off from the conversation.
He wants this to remain private.
Between us.
And that … that’s the Atreus I remember.
“Are you done pretending you didn’t kill all those men now?” he asks point-blank.
I tilt my head. “Are you done pretending you don’t love chasing me around?”
His pupils dilate for only a second, but I noticed, and it makes me chuckle.
“You and I always knew we would end up here.”
“Speaks the man,” I say under my breath.
“I’m an agent of the law, Sunny. My job is to bring criminals to justice.”
“And what is justice to you?” I rebuke.
He sucks in a breath like he’s willing to entertain me. “Putting those who break the rules behind bars.”
“Which rules?”
“The ones we all agreed to when we came into this world.”
I snort. “I didn’t agree to shit. And as far as I know, the men you are supposed to be hunting don’t either.”
His hands tighten into fists. Guess I struck a chord. “Would it ease your rage if I told you they will all get what they have coming for them?”
“I doubt that. The cops have been unsuccessful in bringing these criminals down for years. In fact, the Bones Brotherhood has only grown their presence in Crescent Vale City, but you already knew that.”
His icy-blue eyes home in on my face. “So you admit you’ve been involved with the Bones Brotherhood?”
I merely stare him down.
“Anything else you want to admit?” He glances at the photos in front of me.
Of course not.
“You killed them,” he says assuredly.
It’s not a question, so I won’t answer.
“Just say it, and it’ll be over.”
Over. For him.
Not for me.
“Why did they have to die?” he asks.
I grind my teeth to keep my vitriol at bay.
Finally, he sighs out loud. “I thought you were done playing games.”
The only games I’m interested in are my own, and he interrupted.
“Sunny …” He picks up the bottle of water and pours it out into two cups. “A peculiar name, if you ask me, for someone like you.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why?”
He pulls the plastic cup toward him and takes a quick sip. “You don’t have a very sunny personality.”