Page 35 of Where Sinners Repent

Kade coughs, the frigid air forming clouds with each breath. “Good. Told the boys to make sure she’s perfect. Don’t quite know what your brand of punishment looks like, but I know I don’t want a bar of it.”

Smart man.

Kai grabs the keys, making no move for his wallet. Kade wouldn’t accept payment anyway.

I make a silent reminder to get some outdoor heaters installed for the fuckers, before the old man croaks with a cold.

Jules takes another drag from his joint, the smell of tobacco and weed mixing together.

“About the Wraith,” Kade starts nervously.

“He ask any questions?” I murmur.

Jules nods once. “Who worked here. How long we’d been here. Whether Dad still lived upstairs.” He shrugs. “Normal enough. Until I spotted the Wraith cut.”

Kade flicks the ash from his cigarette.

“We club men used to do things the right way,” he mutters. “Now they send boys barely old enough to grow a beard. Ever since Zeke died, the place is a free for all.”

I let him believe the lie.

“Come to us if you hear or see anything else.” I glare at them. “No secrets.”

Kade nods, his face turning serious.

Kai slides the keys into Shadow before climbing onto the bike. The tiniest drop of his shoulders tells me exactly how he feels, sliding into the familiar leather. He looks down the dark road, stretching away from the garage.

And then he’s gone. Tearing through the night.

He doesn’t look back.

Chapter 9

Roxy

My body twists beneath the blankets, soft sheets tangling around my legs. But even the expensive material feels rough against my heated skin.

My shallow breath is the only noise in the silence. Every nerve in my body screams.

Heavy eyes are on me.

Watching and waiting.

Liquid warmth crawls over my skin, shivering at the base of my spine. The feeling is so real that everything else fades away.

Someone stands in the darkness. I’m not sure how I know this, because I can’t see them. Can’t hear them. But I can feel them.

The weight of their stare burns into my skin like a brand. Danger crackles in the air, and instincts flare inside me to move. To run.

Run, Roxy.

Heavy, my limbs refuse to listen.

In the pitch-black, something shifts. A shadow, detaching from the corner of the room, looming tall and large. Movements so controlled that they seem unnatural. Otherworldly in its smoothness.

My heart begins to hammer.

“Kai?”