AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Through the open door, I see them congregating near the back and stride in. Channeling every ounce of courage I can muster into my movements, I rap my knuckles on one of the pews.
“Morning, gentleman,” I drawl.
At the sound, my brother’s head swivels to the side, his gaze slamming into mine.
“Penelope?” he snarls, shifting his glare behind me, his eyes widening when he sees who’s followed me in. He has the nerve to genuinely look surprised. Like he never even considered this outcome. As if his arrogant and callous belief that God would protect him and his sordid plans never allowed for sinners to best him, especially in his own home.
This time, it’s my turn to deliver him a serene smile, I don’t need to turn around to know Connor is flashing his own malicious grin.
While we stare at each other from across the room, the chapel flickers into darkness, followed by loud banging. Frederick's attention turns to the windows on either side of the room. I can tell the moment he realizes what’s happening.
We’re trapping them inside. Nailing boards over the windows so that they have no way to escape. Turning this holy building into the prison they forced me to return to.
“What have you done?” he hisses.
“Isn’t it obvious,” I say cooly, cocking my head to one side, my smile growing even wider. “I’m sending you to hell.”
“Youbitch,” Patrick yells out while lurching towards us, trying to attack. I don’t even have time to flinch before a switchblade flies through the air and sinks into his eye, jolting him back onto the floor—dead.
I turn to Connor in surprise, his lethal grin ablaze across his face.
“Anyone else?” he quips with that same sinister smile, his handgun now in his hand, scanning the room for his next hit.
Frederick’s face morphs into one of pure disgust, his attention snapping to me instead of the heathen holding the gun.
“Filthy harlot,” he spits but doesn’t move. “I should have slit your throat when I had the chance.”
I hear the gunshot before I see his body jerk. He falls to his knees with a loud bellow, his hands cradling his crotch, blood seeping through his fingers, gushing onto the floor.
“You should feel like the luckiest man alive to have your life in my wife’s hands,” Connor growls, his body vibrating with unadulterated rage. “Because if it was me, I would rip you apart limb by limb and then feed them to you.”
When his dark eyes land back on me, they soften and I can’t help but to press a chaste kiss against his lips.
I give Frederick a disinterested glance, still writhing on the floor of the chapel, his men cowering beside him, and my damned soul sings.
“I could end your suffering now, and kill you with my own two hands just like I did our Father,” I say slowly. My smile is thoughtful while he howls something unintelligible, this strange calmness beginning to flow through me. “But I rather like the idea of you in agony. I guess your God had a plan for me after all.”
All I want now is for it to be over.
“Let’s go,” I tell Connor, his body still tight with anger, but his touch is gentle when he threads his fingers through mine. Side by side, hand in hand, we step out of the church leaving Frederick to his fiery death. Outside, the door slams closed behind us, soon to be nailed shut.
In a way, I’ve left Penelope trapped inside too, kneeling on a pew, still praying for miracles where there is only tragedy. She’s a stranger to me now, one who belongs amongst the ashes of my past.
The smell of gasoline hangs heavy in the air when the devil places a matchbox in my palm. “After you,” he says with a barely there smirk.
My heart swells, thirsty for revenge.
I eagerly open the box and strike a match. Flicking it, I watch it soar through the air, until it falls on the ground, igniting the trail of gasoline ablaze. The fire eats a path up to the chapel, flames licking up the outside walls so fast I barely have time to take it all in.
Soon the entire thing is engulfed in flames. It’s mesmerizing. The most depraved of masterpieces. Especially when a symphony of loud bangs and screams reaches my ear like an offering to the darkest parts of myself.
The fire warms my frail body, rekindling something inside of me that I thought was dead.
I turn to Connor, the reflection of the burning wreckage glinting in his eyes drawing me in. I pull him into a kiss. A hard, passionate kiss imbued with feelings too big to even describe. I draw them with the stroke of my tongue, he groans into my mouth deepening our embrace. His mouth is as hot as the fire burning my past into ashes. Fisting his jacket I’m wearing, he pulls me closer, his body hard and utterly fucking perfect.
And suddenly I know.
I know.
