her. Ever.”
He flipped the camera closed and turned on the light. “You have my word.”
Present
Loading up more weight on either side of the barbell, I lie back down onto the bench and flex my fingers around the bar. Marilyn Manson’s “Say10” drowns out the noise inside my head as sweat drips down my temple and lands on the floor. I raise the bar above my head before lowering it to my chest and arching my back to drive it up again.
I showed her the tip of the iceberg last night, and all she wanted to do was dive right in and see the rest of it. Saint has always been an unusual character. She talks when she shouldn’t and doesn’t when she should. She dresses like she’s been around fashion her whole life some days, and others she could look homeless, yet with all styles, she’s always confident. Her fucking eyes. They’re wolf-gray with dark rings around the edges. She may not be the first girl you look at in the room, but that’s not because she’s not obviously attractive, because she is. It’s because she’s the type to sit in the corner and do some weird shit then get drunk and make noises like Tillie and Madison. After we killed Lucan, I hardly ever came back. I maybe saw her three times in all of that time; otherwise, I had workers fill in the gaps for me. In that time, she practically took ownership of Hades, too. Because that’s the witchcraft she possesses. She’s able to snatch the soul out of you without you even realizing. Dogs included.
She and I always worked because I have no soul.
Bishop’s head pops up over my bar and I tear my pods out of my ears, standing from the bench. “Thought you went home last night.”
“Slept in Saint’s room,” he announces easily, yawning while moving around the bench.
“What?”
He’s wearing no shirt with his jeans unbuttoned as he rubs the sleep from his eyes.
He snorts. “Fucking chill. You don’t need to call red on her just to get me away, or have you forgotten? Incest isn’t my thing.”
I run my fingers through my damp hair, dropping down onto the bench while wiping the sweat from my chest. I can literally feel my heart rate descend as realization seeps in. “She doesn’t know that.”
Bishop moves to the front of me, picking up a dumbbell. “We can’t tell her yet.”
“Why?” I ask, though I’m sure I already know the answer.
“Because Hector doesn’t want her knowing yet.” He drops the weight onto the floor. “Think it has something to do with the old university reopening, and with Riverside Prep moving back to the old building. Has him on edge, he’s even keeping me out of the loop with some shit.”
“He’s probably keeping you out of the loop because of other shit, not that shit.”
Bishop ignores my Madship blow, resting his head on the wall. “You won’t have to worry about anything happening to her, Brantley. I see it in your eyes anytime she’s around or her name is brought up. She turns you into a monster.”
Wrong. I am a monster and he damn well knows it. She just made it her pet.
“I don’t trust anyone with her, Bishop.”
He raises his eyes to mine. “Right, and you shouldn’t. If it wasn’t me and she wasn’t my half-sister, I would agree. But I mean it when I say that I will protect her as much as you.”
“I trust you,” I say the words I know he’s been wanting to hear me say for months. “That has never been my issue with you. You know I’d take a bullet. I just took shit out on you and our friendship that I shouldn’t have.” For the first time, I feel a peace settle between Bishop and me. Something I haven’t felt between us in a long time.
“You gonna make me breakfast since you’re pouring your heart out to me?” He smirks, and it’s the first time I’ve seen him crack even close to a smile since she left.
I throw my water bottle at his head and stand from the bench. “Fucker.”
Once we hit the main foyer and make our way into the kitchen, Saint is already in there, flipping pancakes. She’s wearing pajama shorts and an oversized tee, with her hair in a high bun and a white bandana tied to the front.
Bishop and I both tilt our heads when my eyes land on the Gandalf slippers she’s wearing.
“I don’t even