Page 154 of Where Sinners Repent

I don’t bother fighting when men advance from behind me and pull me to my feet. The pain in my shoulder barely registers as I’m shoved forward, back into the room we started in.

A chain connects to my restrained wrists, and three men line the walls, machine guns pointed in my direction. Ethan and Isaac circle me like sharks.

This close, I can see the similarities between them and their little sister. The dark hair. The icy eyes. The fatter bottom lip.

An hour ago, I believed that is where the similarities ended. Something inside me refuses to acknowledge the fact that she betrayed us. The moments we shared were real. I refuse to believe anything different.

I’ve spent years bringing truths out of people’s lips, men who swore they’d never reveal a thing, who end up blubbering their life’s secrets to me. I know what it looks like when someone tries to lie. When their breathing hitches and their eyes dart away. I know how to dig deeper, using fear and pain to pull the truth.

I did the same thing to the girl.

So what did I fucking miss?

She opened that door. But there must be more, because I’ve seen Roxy’s truth. I’ve dragged it out of her, piece by painful fucking piece, and there was never a Wraith hiding underneath. There was just one woman so terrified of her own blood and what that meant.

“How’s my sister?”

Isaac grins, swinging the cow prod in his hands, the same way Roxy did with her bat. I don’t give him the satisfaction of answering.

“She’s a sweet little thing, isn’t she? At least, that’s what my friends would tell me.”

Everything else falls away.

All I see is Roxy.

The two metal prongs catch the beneath the harsh light; I watch it instead of him. Otherwise, I might do something stupid, like talk.

How many times have I done this to another man? How many times have I scoffed at how weak they are?

And here I am, fracturing for a girl who chose them over us.

“Is there anything you want to tell us?” Isaac hums, leaning in close. “Maybe where the Devils store their weapons. Maybe where your brother is?”

My top lip curls.

Ethan laughs behind his older brother. “I’ve been waiting for this moment,” he smirks. “Let’s see how long you Devils can last before you open you squeal.”

My lips curl. Stupid boys.

“I spent years dreaming of blades carving into my skin. Of pain, focused only on me. Do your fucking worst, fuckers. Give me everything you’ve got.”

Isaac’s grin falls, and his eyes narrow on me.

They know fucking nothing. Years spent watching pain inflicted on my twin. Wishing it was me. Countless times I stood there, useless while Kai was torn apart. Burned. Broken. Bargaining with a God to take me instead. A fucking monster of a God who never listened.

Hurt me.

It became my prayer.

Pain doesn’t scare me. Kai isn’t here; I am. So maybe God heard my prayers. Maybe this is how I repent.

I glare at the brothers. Daring them.

Ethan laughs a crazed sound, but Isaac doesn’t join him. His eyes search mine, a line forming between his brows.

But then he grunts, shoving the prod against my ribs. The first flare of electricity rips through me before I have time to prepare for it. Every muscle goes taut, my back arching away from the wall as a strangled grunt slips through my clenched teeth.

When it stops, my body melts against the wall, lungs drawing in a forced breath. My muscles twitch with aftershocks I can’t control and sweat forms against my temples despite the freezing temperature.