Chapter 6
SIX
sinner
That twerp of a man could punish me all he wanted. I didn’t give a fuck. Athena was drowning. And what good would she be to the Ministry if she were dead? Was that his objective here, to kill her off?
To kill us off?
This entire damn challenge—training, as Simon called it—was ridiculous. I’d barely kept my mouth shut when he marched us out and forced them to stand in those waves.
I’d nearly sliced a hole in my tongue biting it for the next six hours.
Six hours of pain. Six hours of envisioning myself ripping Simon’s fingernails off one by one. Six hours of pretending like every fucking wave wasn’t killing me.
Karlyle nearly broke. Hell, I was counting on it. If he broke—if he ran into that water after Alexander—it would all be over. But his restraint held.
But when the group of them was sent spiraling under the waves, I couldn’t fucking watch anymore.
Athena’s eyes were red and bloodshot as she craned her neck and glared at me. Water dripped from her dark lashes and plump, chapped lips.
“I was expecting more of a thank-you,” I replied, gripping her arms tighter. “You were two seconds away from drowning.”
She thrashed from my hold, stubborn, as always. Another wave hit, throwing her body into mine. Her hands landed on my chest, and my body reacted to it in the most fucking pathetic of ways.
You can’t react like this to her, I reminded myself. She might be your claimed—or partially claimed or whatever the fuck that means—but you can’t have feelings for her.
Nope. The way her near drowning affected me had nothing to do with feelings. The way my body buzzed with a new energy at her touch didn’t mean I liked her.
It was simply biology—remnants of the claiming we almost completed.
“I didn’t need your help—” Her last word was cut off when she fell into a coughing fit. “I would have been fine on my own,” she said, wheezing. “I thought I told you to stay away from me?”
“You couldn’t seriously have expected me to stand on that damn beach and watch you drown.” I scoffed.
Athena peered around me, surely watching Simon for his next orders.
Yeah, we’d failed the stupid test. Whatever.
But she was alive. That’s what mattered.
“You two,” Simon ordered, pointing at us. “It may be your first day here, but rules are rules, and you broke them. The rest of you, break for lunch. We’ll meet outside the barracks in one hour. Don’t be late.”
Another wave hit, and before Athena could argue or pull out of my grip again, I bent down and threw her over my shoulder. She screamed profanities at me, but her voice was tired, and her strength had been sapped.
“Fine,” I said to Simon as I marched out of the water.
I hadn’t hated the guy when I met him. Now? It seemed he was enjoying this a little too much. The smug look on his face was enough to send my hot temper flaring in my veins.
“I’ll take whatever punishment you deem necessary for saving my claimed’s life. Lead the way.”
Alexander and Karlyle mumbled unintelligibly beside Simon. I let it slide. This time. Only because the tall one had helped keep Athena upright through this torture.
I made sure to shoot them a look as I stomped by, following Simon with an angry Athena still over my shoulder.
As he led us to the main building away from the beach, I ignored Athena’s arguing, and she eventually quit fighting against me.
The outside world instantly silenced when the door closed behind us. When I set Athena on her feet, she huffed a breath but quickly turned to examine the room with me.
Simon faced us with his arms crossed in front of him, his face unreadable. He wasn’t as tall as I’d remembered.
“I’m sorry about this,” he explained. “Director requires us to uphold the rules with everyone—even the newcomers.”
“Seriously?” Athena asked. “Isn’t what we just endured punishment enough? What more are you going to put us through?”
“We cannot discuss the punishment beforehand,” he answered flatly.
I’d held my anger all damn day. Even when I was forced to stand on that disgusting beach for hours and watch Athena get pummeled over and over again. Even when Simon did nothing as she nearly drowned.
But this was getting ridiculous.
“What the fuck is this?” I spat. “If you’re going to beat me, just beat me. Let’s get this over with. I’d rather not miss lunch.” It wouldn’t be the first time I’d been beaten. It sure as hell wouldn’t be the last.
Simon broke into a small smile that made my hackles rise.
“Please,” he said, “take a seat. Once you’re settled, drink that serum in front of you. Athena, you’ll come with me to the other room.
“Where are you taking her?” I didn’t give a fuck about the serum. They weren’t going to poison one of their precious gifted mystics as punishment.
The moment the question slipped out, I cursed myself. I wasn’t supposed to care so much about her. But it had been a long fucking day. And pretending was getting exhausting.
Simon paused. “She’ll be safe with me.”
I doubted that.
But I didn’t have much of a choice.
I gave Athena one last look, taking in her soaking wet clothes, her crusting lips, her dark under eyes.
Then I forced my focus away from her. I turned to the chair Simon had gestured at, surveying the ominous piece of furniture, pretending like none of this bothered me.
The reality? I was coming very, very close to losing my shit.
When the door shut behind me, I could finally take a breath without Athena so close.
Drink the serum.
Sure, that demand was not at all fucking sinister. Breath held, I didn’t let myself think about it. I picked up the glass, gave the clear liquid a quick examination, and tossed the whole thing down my throat.
It could have been five minutes. It could have been an hour. The concept of time was difficult to track when trapped in an empty, boring room, waiting for the effects of a strange serum to kick in.
I anticipated pain. Maybe Simon wanted to torture me from the inside out.
But pain didn’t come.
All I noticed was a slight dizzy sensation coming in waves.
As mild as it was, it concerned me. The serum was affecting my mind. And that was so much worse than any physical torture they could have forced upon me.
After some time, the door opened again, and Athena entered the room. Her clothes were still wet, though her hair had started to dry in soft curls around her face.
And she wasn’t alone. A figure behind her pushed her into the room, and she stumbled slightly before she caught herself and straightened.
Heart plunging into my stomach, I sought out the fucker who’d laid a hand on her. Whoever it was had no idea how close they were to not having any working bones in that hand.
A jolt of shock hit me when I discovered it was Alexander.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “Where’s Simon?”
“He asked me to help you with your little punishment,” the tall man drawled.
Athena crossed her arms, looking more uncomfortable than I’d ever fucking seen her.
What had he done to her? Why was she so nervous?
“Okay,” I hedged. “What’s going on? I thought Athena would be waiting in the other room.”
He closed the door behind him, trapping the three of us inside.
Trepidation rushed through me. This wasn’t right. The room spun and my vision blurred. Had the walls gotten closer to me?
“Athena is here to help me. I’m supposed to be teaching you a lesson. It’s important that you remember that this is for you, Sinner. You have to learn that your claimed can easily be used against you. It’s up to you to control yourself around her.”
“This is for me?” I scoffed, my heart rate picking up. “You’re joking, right?”
The smile on his face widened in response.
Fuck. I’d had enough. I jumped up, ready to punch him in the jaw.
Except I didn’t actually leave the chair.
I couldn’t move.
I was frozen in the stiff, metal chair. I couldn’t lift my hand from where it rested on my thigh, nor could I move my foot. “What the hell is this?”
“You’re here to watch,” he said. “Remember, this is your punishment.”
I didn’t understand what the fuck he meant at first. But a second later, it all clicked into place.
Because he moved behind Athena, slid her hair away from her shoulder, brought his lips down to her neck, and kissed her.
What. The. Fuck?
Fury ignited and blazed through me. I thrashed against my invisible chains, trying to break free. Athena stood in front of Alexander, unmoving, breathing heavily as he enacted my punishment.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” I screamed. “Take your hands off her!”
He peered up, one side of his mouth cocked in a smile. “These hands?” His dark hands landed on her hips and moved across her torso, cupping the underside of her breasts.
That burning rage engulfed me, licking up my insides. She was mine. Nobody else could fucking touch her like that.
But…this man was. Alexander stood right in front of me, touching my claimed.
“Enough!” My voice echoed off the walls. “You’ve made your fucking point!”
His hands swept lower, and Athena exhaled, her eyes fluttering closed. “Oh, trust me, Sinner. I’m just beginning to make my point.”