Ashes (The Boys of Chapel Crest, #2)

by K.G. Reuss

She was supposed to be dead. Safe. Far away from any fucker who could harm her. She was our Rinny. My forever girl. My everything. I was supposed to meet her in the afterlife after I’d killed all the wicked. We were meant to kiss and make love and dance on moonbeams together. Forever.

Our Rinny. My greatest failure. My greatest weakness. My greatest love.

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.”

No one fucked with my heaven and got away with it. No one.

“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.

knew she was alive, but my baby was hurting. Sick. Lost. We had to figure out how to get her back.

He was a fucking enigma.

She was a siren, screaming my sins.

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.

I need to find out what sort of monster he really is then burn him for it.” Her words were so fierce they sent shivers through my body.

Definitely the fucking devil. He just didn’t realize he was fucking with a god.

“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...

“If you honor our arrangement, I promise to return her to you when the time is right,” he said.

“Because she’s always listened to us. You may be a god to her, Dante, but I’m her devil. The demon from her nightmares.

“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.”

“When we return her, I will be taking something with me. Trust me. It’s for the best. Will you give me anything for her?”

I swallowed thickly. “Yes.”

The last thing she needs is another monster holding her down.”

“Will you tell her goodbye?” Cady asked. I shook my head, my voice thick and laced with my pain, “I already did.” And with those words, I walked away.

“You just need to come back, baby. I’ll take you to our spot at Pictured Rocks. I’ll make love to you beneath the stars. I’ll whisper to you how much I love you because I do, heaven. I love you so fucking much.”

“And if I find out who did this to her, I hope you make them pay.”

“You can’t find a body when it’s ash on the wind.”

“Siren,” I said softly against her lips. “Please. Put me out of my misery.”

“I’ll await your return,” I said softly. “I’ll await my punishment.”

“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.”

I wasn’t a good guy either, so I went to my room and grabbed my own tools. The night was about to get lit.

“And I’ll teach them what happens when you fuck with what belongs to us. Promise, baby.”

“Then we kill all of them.”

“We’ll kill them all,” I murmured. Again. Say it again. “We will kill them all,” I repeated fiercely, Rinny’s face flashing in my mind’s eye. No survivors. “None,” I said softly.

“Trouble is, I’m already fucking broken. If you play with me, it’s only because I let you.”

“I’ll give you a crown of daggers and slay anyone you want me to. Then I’ll make love to you over their remains. Whatever world my pirate princess wants, she will have. Just come out of hiding. I need you, Rinny. Fuck, I need you.”

“I will fucking kill you.” “Foreplay. My favorite,” he said, smirking at me.

“Don’t want any ghouls to play grab ass with us in the dark,” he said softly.

“We won’t kill the wicked just yet. When Stitches walks free, he’ll be broken. It’s up to you to care for him. His angel will help.”

“You’ll burn the world with Mirage at your side.” “Who the fuck is Mirage?” Church demanded. I didn’t know anyone named Mirage. None of us did.

“I know what you’re capable of, Sinclair. And I know the date and time of your fall. A Tuesday at one-oh-eight in the morning. Your name will be called, and you’ll fall. The ropes will hurt, my friend. And I’ll be there to set you free.”

“Surely not all your family? Your father. . . we should bury him with the bones beneath Sully’s office too. Yes?” “Yes,” Church said fiercely.

“Love me,”

“Please, fucking love me.”

“Relax, Rinny. Me and you. We’ll suffer together.”

“I was wondering when you assholes would get here,” Cadence called out as

“Good things,” I said, smiling. “Finally. Good things.”

“You won’t be, Rinny. We’ll only hurt the ones who hurt us. I’ll be the bad guy, so you won’t have to, OK?”

Your vicious little monster.