Breathe. Don’t move. Just breathe.
“It’s such a shame. Such a shame.” Sinclair tuts, grinding the barrel of the revolver into my scalp. “For our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, died for our sins. And you squandered that sacrifice. Yes, you repented, but repenting wasn’t enough. Our Lord, God, can forgive many a sin, many a sin, but the penance for yours, it seems, are too great. And it really is a shame, son, such a shame because you had so much potential. But I do not question our Lord, see, that’s not my place. And as Jesus, Lamb of God, died for our sins, you, son, must die for yours. And as Abraham was challenged by God, I, too, am challenged to make this terrible sacrifice. It’ll be a burden, yes, committing this sin, but it’s a burden I’ve been trusted by Him to carry.”
I’m constrained in a web of invisible wire, cranking tighter, slicing through my flesh, carving me to the bone. Tears sting my eyes. Madness. This is utter fucking madness.
“Do you really believe all that?” I croak. “Or do you just need someone to take the fall for your crimes?”
White-hot pain explodes through my temple, the momentum sending me crashing to the unforgiving stone. He’s hit me before— with fists, with goblets, even a chair once, but never this hard. Black blankets my vision. Static blares in my ears.
Did he shoot me?
Heat leaks down the side of my face.
Am I dying?
I’m still breathing.
A shoe slams between my shoulder blades, flattening me to the floor. I grunt, humid breath fogging the polished marble.
“How dare you question my faith inHishouse?”Kick. “Where he ordained me.”Whack. “I see now.”Kick. “He knows your true nature.”Whack. Kick.“This—thisis why I've been charged with such a task.”
Cold metal to my throbbing temple.
Footsteps— two sets. Horror pours concrete over my limbs.
Cade. Andrea.
I can’t die.
He’s already watched a bullet take his mother.
Her father is the one holding the gun.
What have I done by coming here?
What have Idone?
A scream. My name. His voice.
I choke. “Don't look, baby.”
Another click.
I squeeze my eyes shut.
It wasn't enough time… but at least I got to tell them I love them.
“Put. The gun. Down.”
My head weighs a thousand pounds. Blinking away blurry red tint…
My.
Fucking.
Girl.
Seventy-Four
