Ashes (The Boys of Chapel Crest, #2)

by K.G. Reuss

“How is Malachi? Still hanging in there?” His eyes sparkled with amusement. “Fuck you, Seth. How the hell did you know he was going to do that?” I demanded. He shrugged and picked a piece of lint off Sirena’s comforter. “Some call it crazy. Others call it intuitive. And then there are those who would say I got lucky. What do you say?”

“I say you’re not telling us how the hell you really knew.” He gave me a Cheshire smile. “You’re smart, Valentine. I like that. Perhaps if you comply, I’ll tell you my secret.” “Do you always know everything?” I asked, curious. He shrugged again. “No. But sometimes, yes.” “Do you know if Sirena is going to make it out of this?” He licked his lips and looked over at her. A look of complete adoration washed over his face as he took her in. My chest clenched. “I’ll do everything I can to bring her back. I have no limits on that.” “But do you know for sure?” “Yes,” he whispered, still staring at her, the adoration replaced by hunger. “Or we’ll die trying.” I had no idea who the we was that he spoke of, but I prayed it didn’t include my heaven. He and his fucking hallucinations or voices or whatever the fuck haunted him could go straight to hell. His brows crinkled, and he cocked his head. His words came out in a soft rush. “Her family is coming. Sully is coming. We must be cautious.”

I’d have told him to fuck off if Sirena’s mother wasn’t in the room. Instead, I leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Sirena’s cheek and whispered in her ear, “I love you, heaven. I’ll see you soon.”

Seth raised an eyebrow at me as I scowled back. He followed me out of the room. The moment we were in the hall, he spoke, “Tell the watchers they should come say goodbye to Sirena tonight. After tonight, I won’t tolerate you guys involved in her life. Not until we’re done.” “Done?” I scoffed at him. “Fuck you, Seth. Seriously. What do you think you can do for her?” “I’m not Seth. I’m Asylum,” he said. “You don’t trust me. And you shouldn’t. But you can’t deny that I made her scream. If I can make her scream, I can make her talk. So have a little faith, Asher. Everything happens for a reason.”

“Don’t fucking touch her,” I whispered. “Don’t hurt her more. I swear on everything I am, I’ll set you on fire while you sleep and watch you scream if you hurt her.”

He cocked his head at me. “We do love the suffering, don’t we? We’re sick. Twisted. Monsters who don’t deserve life, much less love. Yet, we seek it. Perhaps to continue tormenting ourselves. Fascinating, isn’t it? Tell me, Asher, if I offered you the chance to help me bring her back, would you take it? Would you leave the watchers and join me?” I glared at him. “I’m never leaving the watchers. Just like she’s never leaving us either.” “Ah, but what will you call it when I’m buried inside her warm, wet confines and she’s clinging to me? When she’s coming for me?”

“You’re a sick, twisted fuck. If you touch her, I’ll kill you, Cain. That’s a fucking promise.”

The fact our group was shrinking had me chomping at the bit to figure out what the hell was going on. I knew Stitches was always toeing a delicate line with his sanity, but I never thought he’d do what he’d done. It broke my fucking heart. He was my brother, even if only by adoption. We’d been through way too much for him to try to leave me like that.

I found it odd that the only thing lately I regretted wasn’t the murders, but rather the fact I hadn’t been with my specter when she’d been stuffed into that fucking coffin. I’d have killed whoever had done that to her. I was really beginning to doubt Seth had acted alone. There was just no way he could’ve lifted that heavy stone lid to close it over them. Not from inside the coffin.

I nodded tightly. “Someone lured her to the cemetery and put her in the fucking tomb in the mausoleum with Asylum. He’s not really talking about if he had help. But I’m inclined to believe he did. There’s no way she’d go out there with him alone. It had to be someone she knew. Someone she trusted.”

“So that’s it? We’re doing it?” Ashes asked, his voice soft as he gave me a hopeless look from his spot next to Sin. I breathed out, hating he was hurting. That we all were. And Stitches. . . Fuck, my brother.

“We don’t have a choice right now,” I said. “Not until we figure out what happened that night. Not until he decides to give her back to us. He’s dangerous, and we don’t need her being punished because we couldn’t honor our end of the deal.” Ashes nodded morosely.

Sin sighed. “I told you guys it was a bad idea from the start. I was right. Now look? Everyone is heartbroken, and Stitches tried to kill himself. See where all of this shit has gotten us?” He shook his head. “Sirena Lawrence will be the death of us. If we want to live, then we let her go.”

Sadness washed over his face, and he said nothing else, opting to go back to his fascination with the floor.

He glanced over at me, sadness on his face. There was something else there too which I couldn’t quite place, but I honestly didn’t have time for it. We needed to see Sirena and make these last moments count. We needed to see Stitches. We’d deal with whatever the fuck Sin had going on later.

Fuck. . . come on, specter. Come back. . .

Knowing I had to say goodbye was breaking my heart. It shattered further when I realized Stitches wouldn’t get the chance since he was in lockdown with no visitors for now. Bad fucking timing. I hoped it didn’t make him worse.

“Heaven,” I murmured, holding her hand. “I have to go. I don’t want to leave you, but Seth won. Since he was able to make you scream, he won you from us. We fucked up by making that bet with him. Our egos were bigger than our hearts, and for that I’m so fucking sorry. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I’m sorry you’re scared. I’m sorry I can’t be here. I just. . . please come back. Tell us what really happened. Seeing you like this is killing all of us. Stitches sends his love. He needs you so much.”

“You’re in there. I know you are. Please. Find your way out. Find your way back to me. To us. I thought we were strong, but without you, we’re not. This is breaking us.”

How was it possible to fall in love with someone so fast? Because you’ve waited a lifetime for her. I took her hand in mine and flipped her palm up. I gently traced letters onto it. I love you. “I’ll wait for you, Sirena,” I said, tears trickling down my cheeks. I wiped at them and released her hand. “We all will.”

He was right. Stitches was laid up. Sin was having an internal war. Everything really was just me and Church right now.

I hated the feelings that kept crashing into one another in my chest. Hearing her voice calling me Sinful was stuck on repeat in my head. It was my own silent hell as I wrestled with the demons of what I’d done to her. Knowing I was the reason she was suffering more now, locked in a prison going through God only knew what.

“I broke you,” I whispered. “Fuck, siren.”

You don’t want one. You don’t deserve one. Look what happens whenever you love someone. Love. I barely knew her. But fuck, I felt something I couldn’t deny. Something which made me desperate and terrified. Something which made me do stupid shit I knew I couldn’t come back from. From the moment I’d first seen her, I knew I was in trouble.

“I’m fucked-up,” I whispered. “Siren. I-I made a mistake. Now you’re hurting. I just want this to be over. I don’t want you to hurt. Fuck, I don’t. I-I wish I could go back in time. I wish I could change the things I’ve done. I’m a sinner, and you’re a saint. I’m scared, siren. I’m fucking terrified.” I breathed out, tears slipping down my cheeks. “But I’ll accept whatever punishment you deem fit for me because I know I deserve it. Is this how you’re doing it? By leaving and making us hurt? Making me witness the pain I’ve caused?”

I didn’t know what I meant by my plea. I just knew I wanted it to end. I wanted to be free of the guilt and regret. I wanted to see her big, luminous eyes peering back at me from Church’s side. I wanted to hold her and taste her and tell her how fucking sorry I was for ruining everything.

And a single, solitary tear trailed from the corner of her eye. My heart caught in my chest. She was in there. She was fighting. She was trying. I swallowed thickly and backed away from her. “I’ll await your return,” I said softly. “I’ll await my punishment.” I wiped my eyes again and left the room. Life would only get harder now. But I had no one to blame but myself.

I nodded. “He is, but it’s not an excuse to be a dickhead. We’re all struggling.”

“I don’t know if anyone told you yet. But Stitches won’t be visiting anytime soon. He hurt himself. He tried to h-hang himself in his closet because I accepted that Seth w-won,” my voice cracked. “I don’t really think he won, baby, but I don’t have any proof to fight him with. All I know is I heard you screaming my name. But it wasn’t me who made you scream. It was him. So to the victor go the spoils.”

I fucking missed her. It was eating my soul. My heart. My fucking mind. And this was my last night with her.

She had to be in there. She had to come back to me.

“Come on, specter,” I choked out, staring down at her lifeless body. “Baby, please. Come back. Please, fucking don’t leave me.”

“Specter. Baby. Come on. Come back to me,” I rasped before kissing her again. Fucking nothing. No. No. NO!

“You don’t get to fucking leave me,” I said, my eyes burning as tears slipped past my lashes and onto her pale cheeks. “I’m not letting you leave me, Sirena.”

The orgasm had been one of the best in my entire life. I should’ve felt guilty, but all I felt was sorrow.

Sorrow that I couldn’t bring her back. She was still staring at the ceiling. “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.”

“Just scream my name again, specter. Then I’ll know. I’ll know you’re ready to come home to me.” And with that, I opened the door and stepped through it, leaving a piece of my heart behind for her to take care of.

Keep him alive until we bury ourselves in her mind so deeply she’ll never be able to escape us.

Break her. Break her and make her mind your new home. Save her. She needs you to save her, you fucking monster.

She knew who I was. Of course she does. She could never forget. She always loved you. Nothing had changed. Except her fear.

My pretty, little princess was broken.

I knew his voice, and I knew his sins. In this darkness I was locked in, he was a treacherous prayer I screamed in silence. He was everything I knew to fear. An angel with the soul of a devil and the master of my terror.

Your eyes were the northern lights. So bright and colorful. I thought you were magic, Rinny. Pure magic made just for me.”

You were my pirate princess. I rescued you. Don’t you remember?”

Please help me. It’s so dark in here. I’m scared. Seth, I’m so scared!

My heart beat faster. I was trapped. It was dark here. Scary. I wanted to go home. Please, let me go home. I couldn’t find my way out. Seth. Seth. SETH! HELP ME!

He waited a moment before continuing, “You don’t need to be afraid of the monsters, Rinny. I won’t let any of them ever hurt you.”

My eyes burned. My face was damp. I couldn’t wipe the tears because my arms were too heavy. I was too weak. Too tired. Too. . . gone. Stuck. Broken. Terrified.

“Rinny, the monsters are here, and you’re stuck in the closet. I can see you, but I can’t reach you. I need you to help me this time. I...

I focused everything I had on my arms. I wanted to leave this place. I wanted to find my best friend. I wanted to find Seth and be safe and have him tell me everything was OK. That none of the things that happened were real.