Page 153 of Devoured

Because Sin is—Sin is—

Blond hair flashes golden in the sunlight as Sin leaps atop his cousin. As Sin wrenches that claw through Calix’s abdomen and begins to snap his ribs.

The world slows to an excruciating halt.

The field descends into a wretched red haze. Corpses litter the ground. The injured clutch their wounds and weep. But I am all werewolf now. I am supernatural senses and speed and strength. I do not notice anything but the two boys in front of me.

The two boys who ruined my life.

The two boys who protected me.

The two boys who changed everything.

Sin lashes another claw through Calix’s organs, and blood burbles from Calix’s lips. A plea. A sob. He doesn’t go on the offensive, even now protecting his cousin over himself.

“Sin—this isn’t—you,” Calix chokes.

He’s right. Sin isn’t in his own head anymore. The golden prince laughs, a despondent, dry sound, and plunges his hand deep within Calix’s chest cavity. Calix’s entire body bows. “This is it,” Sin says. “This is how we end.”

“Sin,” Calix begs. A wet, strangled sound. “Stop it. Snap out of it!”

I reach them the instant Sin flexes his hand, stabbing my own claws deep into his wrist. When his fingers spasm, releasing Calix, I grab his throat and tear him off his cousin with a snarl.

Sin lands in a heap but jumps to his feet in seconds. He tilts his head, gazing up at me with a sickening smile for a beat—one brutal beat—before his gaze slides back to Calix.

Calix who stands.

Calix who doesn’t wait for his wounds to heal before staggering toward us.

I leap in front of Sin’s path, placing my palms flat against his chest. Blocking his advance. Already his wrist has started to heal. “What did she say to you? What did she compel you to do?”

But I know. In my gut, I know the truth. Cora must have compelled Sin to murder his cousin. She must have compelled him to do the one thing that would break them irrevocably.

I struggle to stay in front of him, my claws carving into his shirt. Desperation rises through me like a tide. “Sin, look at me. Look me in the eyes! You don’t want to do this. You love Calix. You love him more than anyone on this Earth. Remember?”

He doesn’t look at me, however. He won’t let me use my power on him, as if—as if she compelled him not to. As if she compelled him to avoid my gaze no matter what. Even when I grasp his face, his gaze stays rigidly fixed on Calix’s. “Sin.” I break through the skin of his cheek, beginning to crush his cheekbones, but he won’t look at me. “Sin, please—”

And then, in a moment of abrupt fury, he plunges a claw into my chest.

I can do nothing to defend myself.

My knees buckle. I hit the ground hard.

Behind me, somewhere near me, Calix roars as pain erupts through my bones, through the whole of my body.

Sin grasps my heart in his hands.

And I realize I wasn’t ever hollow—my heart was there all along. Right here. Waiting for Sin to break it again. Blood spurts up my throat. It suffocates me. “S—in.”

“Kill you. Kill Sybil’s heir. Kill myself,” Sin purrs, still avoiding my eyes. Dark spots appear in my vision until I can hardly see him anymore. This isn’t him. This has never been him. “Kill. Kill. Kill. One down. Two to go.”

He doesn’t sound like himself either. His voice has sharpened to an agonizing point, and he doesn’t blink. He doesn’t care as he twists his claw deeper, deeper, and—

A bullet.

An explosion of sound.

A cry.