Ashes (The Boys of Chapel Crest, #2)

by K.G. Reuss

To all my screamers.

Church’s words as he had held her in his arms. “He broke her. He broke my specter. Fuck, baby. Come back to me.”

“He won,” Stitches said softly. “She screamed for him.” Church’s body vibrated with rage. “She screamed for me.”

“One thing I’m not is a liar.” My hand shook around specter’s. “Sirena is my girl. She belongs to the watchers.”

And Sirena Lawrence belonged to me. I’d do whatever I had to do to prove it.

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK! Sinful. That was me. A disgusting fucking sinner. She’d named me well. The man who’d tricked her and locked her up with the devil. I was truly sinful. It just made me hate myself even more. I deserved this hell. Sinners got punished, and I wouldn’t be an exception.

“If he hurt her, I’ll burn him myself,” I whispered, tightening my hold on Sirena’s hand. I’d kill the son of a bitch if he touched my heaven. I wouldn’t hesitate. Violence wasn’t my thing. It was reserved more for the other watchers, but when it came to my heaven, I’d burn the fucking world down in her name.

“What do we do when we feel like we can’t breathe, brother?” “W-we fucking do it anyway,” he answered in a shaky voice. “And what do we do when we get lost in the darkness?” “W-we become the darkness.” He breathed out, the trembling slowing in his body. “Right. And what do we do when we need help?” “We t-trust each other to protect our sanity.”

“Where I’m from, good girls worship their god, not their demons.” I pressed my palms to my knees, shifting forward. “Where I’m from, we let gods think that.”

“You’re gone, aren’t you?” I whispered, caressing her cheek. “You fucking left me, didn’t you?” I bit back a sob. “Everyone leaves me. But you know what, specter?” I leaned in and put my lips to her ear, my tears falling into her hair. “I’m never leaving you. You are my love. My fucking obsession. And the next time you leave me, we’ll go in body bags together. I fucking promise you.”