Page 95 of A Silence So Divine

“I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” I supply lamely, defeat already settling on my shoulders.

“Then you better make sure she obeys.” He claps his hands together. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have paperwork to tend to.”

And just like that, I’m dismissed. I open my mouth to say something else, but I can’t look desperate. I can’t even afford to look like I care.

I’m about to exit his office when he calls my name. I stop, turning my head in his direction. He doesn’t bother to look up from the stack of papers before him.

“Be sure that she looks… nice.”

“Yes, sir.”

He can go fuck himself.

“This is a horrible idea,”Creed signs wildly. He paces back and forth between us and the front door, effectively blocking our path.

I can’t help but to defend myself.“It wasn’tmyidea.”

Eden stands at my side, expression perfectly blank. To a stranger, she’d look calm and collected. But I know better. Her fingers are interlocked in front of her, and each nail is jagged from incessant biting. Better than her lips, I guess.

Curran’s suggestion to dress her nicely fell on deaf ears. She’s wearing a pair of light wash jeans and a simple long sleeve black shirt. If I had it my way, I would’ve dressed her in a garbage sack just to spite him.

“You’re going to get her killed,”Creed insists.

Eden looks like she’s going to be sick.

His frantic steps hasten, so I step forward and grip him by the shoulders, giving him a rough shake. The whites of his eyes are clearly visible when he turns his attention to me.

“The sooner we leave, the sooner we’ll return.”

It takes another five minutes of convincing before we’re heading to the Sanctuary. Driving there with Eden in my passenger seat feels wrong on every level imaginable.

The bravery she wields is unmatched, but she shouldn’t have to be brave at all. At every turn, I let her down.

Her knuckles pop with the force of her writhing. I reach to cover her hands with my palm.

“You stay by my side, and I’ll protect you. I swear.”

Her eyes are glued to the windshield, and I wonder if she’s angry with me. I wouldn’t blame her. But then, slow and tentative, she flips one hand and laces our fingers together.

My heart stops. Restarts. A ridiculous reaction to handholding. Then again, nothing that involves Eden thus far has been normal.

It’s past dark when we arrive, but the Sanctuary is well lit with the festivities. Cars flood the grass, hoards of people making their way towards the entrance. I have a feeling Curran boasted to anyone who would listen about the special guest of the night. He’s probably tickled pink with the turn out.

Every year, the Brothers host a Night of Indulgence. AKA- a night where members sin, and then are automatically absolved of such sin, just because they say so. The tradition dates back to when the Brothers were first established, sometime in the early 1800s. The story is that the Lord himself grants them one night a year to get all of their darkest desires out of their system, expelling any Darkness from their souls. It couldn’t be that one of them came up with an excuse to get their dicks sucked and money gambled. Of course not.

Men travel hours to attend. The Divine are all over the globe, but the Sanctuary is a homebase of sorts. Allegedly, it originated right here in Louisiana, at this church.

Once parked, I circle the hood to open Eden’s door. She twists her body to jump out, but I stop her with a palm on each of her knees.

“There are going to be things in here that you’ve never been exposed to before. Things that are very… debauched.”

Eden’s brow notches, the bridge of her nose crinkling.

“Try to keep your eyes down. And know that when I’m in there, I’m someone else. No matter what I say or do, I’m on your side.Yours.”

And I mean it. Somewhere along the way, we’ve become allies. Something stronger than that, even. Something I don’t have a name for.

“Me, too.”She looks at me earnestly, and there’s no use fighting the dimple that forms in my cheek, so I don’t. For the harbinger of death, she is sickeningly sweet.