twelve
The Saint
“Looks like our lamb strayed from the herd again,” Heath announces as he marches into my room.
“What?” I demand, sitting up and grabbing my phone. I check her location and curse under my breath. “Why the fuck is she at Sinners Tower?”
“She could be in trouble,” Angel says with a rare frown. “Let’s go.”
I roll off the bed and grab for my shoes without arguing.
Whatever she’s doing there, she shouldn’t be alone.
Last time she slipped away, she got herself stabbed, for fuck’s sake.
Rage billows in me at the thought. If one of the Sinners touched her, I won’t stop at a tongue this time.
I will take everything that every one of them holds sacred, and I’ll burn it all to ash.
I won’t stop until the only thing they have to hope for is death.
“Maybe she went there to defy us,” Heath says.
“We went too easy on her last time,” I agree. “She owes us answers. And more than just that she got randomly stabbed by a junkie. I want to know why, and why she’s stupid enough to go back for more tonight. You know there will be Disciples crawling all over Sinners Tower.”
“Our little lamb needs to learn obedience,” Angel says, turning to Heath. “How’d you know?”
“I went to her room to pay her a visit,” he says, flashing that unhinged smile that we all know and love. But I’m not playing games tonight. This is my sister we’re talking about, and she might be in danger. If she’s not, she’ll learn her lesson tonight. We’re done playing nice.
On our way across campus, I check my phone again. Her location remains. She hasn’t called or texted.
Ronique has, though.
I thought I’d ask her out to get under Mercy’s skin, but that’s been a disaster. The chick is clingy as fuck and has zero chill whatsoever. Not only has she double texted, but she’s quadruple texted.
UniqueRonique: Going 2 party! Sending pic *three blowing kisses emojis*
UniqueRonique: Wish u were coming
UniqueRonique: Totally cool doing my own thing tho
UniqueRonique: hope u have a good nt 2
I answer as we hurry toward Sinners Tower.
ASoullessSaint: is mercy there
UniqueRonique: yeah she came w us
ASoullessSaint: whats she doing
UniqueRonique: idk havent seen her
ASoullessSaint: find her
UniqueRonique: y???
ASoullessSaint: i need 2 talk 2 her
UniqueRonique: omg r u coming?!
ASoullessSaint: omw. b there in 2.
UniqueRonique: yay cant wait 2cu!
UniqueRonique: kinda drunk lol
“She went to the fucking party,” I swear, resisting the urge to hurl my phone to the ground.
“She’s going to pay for that,” Heath says with undisguised glee. “I’ll punish her this time. See if she disobeys again after that!”
“Cut it out,” I say, reaching over to smack the back of his head. “This isn’t funny.”
“Who said it was?” he demands, but he’s bouncing along like an eager puppy, too excited by the prospect of hurting my sister to contain himself.
I text the Hellhounds, knowing there’s likely to be trouble.
We’re not going to waltz into a Disciple party and walk out with what we want with no trouble.
A minute later, we’re marching up the steps of Sinners Tower.
A few people draw back, the whispers already starting.
They follow us wherever we go, because of who we are.
But tonight it’s worse because everyone on campus knows that we don’t fuck with the Sinners, and they don’t fuck with us.
They should also know not to fuck with Mercy, and if they don’t, they’re about to find out.
“Oh my god, Saint,” Ronique shrieks when we enter a game room, where a small crowd has congregated to watch two teams play beer pong. She stumbles over and throws her arms around my neck. She smells like a distillery, and I pry her arms loose, my gaze already sweeping the crowd.
“Where’s Mercy?” I demand.
Ronique pouts, no doubt trying to look pretty. “I don’t know,” she says. “But I’m right here.”
“I see that,” I say, and she winds her arms around my neck again, stretching up to kiss my Adam’s apple, which is as far as she can reach. She tries to drag my head down, but I pull her off me again. “Cut it out. I need to find my sister.”
“Why?” she demands, looking annoyed now. “You just got here. Let her have some fun. We can have our own fun. There’s a band outside. Let’s go dance!”
She drags on my hand, trying to pull me outside.
It’s obvious Mercy isn’t in the game room, so I let Ronique tow me out.
The hallway to the back stairs is full of fog from a fog machine, with a strobe light on a table shooting different colored slices of light over the writhing bodies.
The double doors are open to the backyard, where a band is playing on a rented stage, and the music thuds through this side of the house.
When I see the crooked stairs, though, I stop.
“Have you seen any of the Sinners?” I ask, yelling over the music so Ronique can hear me.
Her chest rises and falls with a sigh. “No. What now?”
“I came here for Mercy,” I yell. “Not you. Go dance. I’ll find you later if I need anything.”
I start up the steps, texting the boys on the way, since they went to search the other rooms.
“Fine,” Ronique yells after me, drawing more attention from the attendees below. “I’ll go dance with some other guy. You can’t just blow me off whenever it’s inconvenient for you, and then expect me to be there the next time you call!”
I don’t even bother answering, because just then, a dozen red laser beams appear in the fog, forming a crazy pattern in front of me on the stairway, and alarms start to blare all through the house.
So much for sneaking in.
A bunch of people below us shriek and run outside, like the lasers are going to slice them in two, and a lot of the others stop dancing to watch.
Nothing is going to stop me from getting what I came for.
I continue up the stairs, plowing through the sickly sweet fog and hitting every stripe of red security light on the way.
I’m almost to the top of the second flight of stairs when Bain Sincero appears, blocking my way.
One of the triplets backs him on either side.
“Well, well, well,” Bain says. “Look who the little grey kitten dragged in.”
The mention of Mercy’s cat makes me want to throw the guy over the balcony to the unforgiving stone floor below, but I keep my cool.
I could twist Bain like a pretzel with one hand behind my back, but he has Greyson and Archer for backup.
I probably wouldn’t get him halfway over the railing before I was the one plummeting to my death.
“Where is she?” I demand.
“Who?” he asks. “I thought the cat was a boy. Funny name for a girl kitty, don’t you think? Then again, I guess a doctor can be a female as easily as a male.”
“Where is Mercy?” I grit out.
And where the fuck is my backup? This is what I get for charging in like a hothead, too blinded by my worry for my sister to think it through. We should have stuck together, but it’s too late now.
“Oh, did your little mouse slip away?” Bain drawls. “Maybe she wanted a real tomcat to play with her before he gobbled her all up. Or a few of them.”
Greyson and Archer chuckle on cue, and now I’m plotting ways to toss all three of them to their deaths.
But below, I hear Angel bellowing for the crowd to let him through, and I know I won’t have to wait long for my vengeance.
When I glance down, Bain uses the distraction to make his move, throwing a punch while my head is turned.
It lands squarely in my jaw, and I stumble back, losing my footing on the stairs.
At the last second, I grab the railing so I won’t go tumbling down them and break my neck on one of the sharp turns.
I curse and lunge upwards, but the position puts me at a disadvantage.
Bain lands another blow, a kick to my nose, as I try to gain the landing.
Deciding to go abandon all the rules, I tackle his legs and yank them out from under him.
He falls to the floor with a loud crack, and his brothers jump in, pummeling me with fists and feet.
For a minute, I don’t know which way is up, which boy is which.
I land blow after blow, fend off others, take more than my fair share.
One of the triplets is on my back for a minute, and then he’s yanked free, and I know my boys are here.
It only takes us a minute to overpower them, and then we’re stepping over their bodies and into the top floor.
The bathroom door opens, and two more Sincero siblings step out, along with four hockey players, all of them clad in dresses and heels and soaked from head to toe.
From the smell of them, I don’t even want to know what liquid they’re drenched in.
“What’s going on?” one of them asks, and it takes me a second to recognize Manson Boehner, who’s usually the most chic and well-dressed man on campus, even if his style is questionable.
“Where the fuck is Mercy?” I ask, since they’ve been known to hang out together.
“I—I don’t know,” he says, glancing at Salem and Killian, who seem to be holding them hostage in whatever initiation they’re going through.
“She’s probably with Rafe,” Salem says, sounding bored. “He’s been known to fuck anything with two legs. And probably a few with four.”
“Fucking bitch,” I snarl, lunging for them.
Salem meets me halfway, slamming a fist into my gut. The others jump in, and Knox emerges from somewhere in the hallway. I’m just stepping back from Salem when Rafe and Mercy appear from a bedroom, and I see red.
I charge at him, but the hockey boys have joined the fight now—both the ones from the bathroom and a handful more who must have been in another room.
I hear Manson protesting as someone shoves him against a wall, saying he doesn’t fight and if someone messes up his pretty face, they’ll be sued for millions.
But the next time I see him, he’s taken off one of the heels they crammed on his feet and is beating Killian over the head with it.