Sins of Mine - Mary E. Twomey Page 0,36
won’t let that happen. If worse comes to worst, Arlanna will give him her braid. We’ll get Sloan back.”
Though as I say this, I’m not sure how much stock even I can put in my own promise.
No Sloan, No Soul
Arlanna
I’ve left my soul behind me. I have no use for something that would slow me down. I got the contract I wanted from Elizabeth Lauren’s Vault, but that victory seems so small now. Everything is insignificant, all my plans. I should have been spending time with my best friend, instead of plotting how to take down a company who took advantage of me.
Sloan and I have protocols for everything. If I’m abducted. If he’s taken. If we’re separated and need a rendezvous point. We go over the plans so there’s no emotion clouding our judgment.
After calling my father and alerting him of the issue, I know my next steps.
If I still had access to my soul, it would be hard for me to pick up the scissors after locking myself in the bathroom. It would be impossible to plug in the clippers that Paxton uses for his haircuts.
Lucky for me, I don’t feel anything.
I can hear Jen tearfully explaining it all to Cass and Charlotte, with Paxton interjecting every so often.
Gray has been silent, ever since he interrupted my meeting and told me there was an emergency. I didn’t need those few words to know something terrible had happened. I could tell by the hard look about him that my world was about to be shattered.
The thing about being broken beyond repair is that it becomes simple to float through life. I know what I’m supposed to do, and I will grieve it all later.
My little family is out there in the living room trying to conjure up a reconnaissance mission. It’s sweet and noble. I’m sure I’ll join them in their planning once I take care of what I’m supposed to do.
What they don’t know I’m doing.
The plan Sloan laid out is clear: if Sloan is ever captured, I’m to assume him dead. Whatever the enemy is asking for, light it on fire on their front yard (or as near as safety allows).
I cannot put meaning to the thought that Sloan is dead, or very near it. I cannot think of anything except for what he taught me to do.
King Regis wants my hair.
So I turn on the noisy fan and watch my tresses fall in chunks as I snip my hair into the plastic bag I have spread out in the sink. I hope the fan drowns out the sound of the clippers as the buzzing fills my ears like a jackhammer. My eyes are dead and emotionless as I buzz through my elbow-length chocolate waves. Every slow swipe over my scalp is a slice across my wrist.
My father cannot use me anymore. We’ll have to subsist on love, if there ever was any that existed apart from his affection for my magic.
King Regis has no hope of gaining more magic than nature gave him.
Sloan is dead, so my heart has stopped beating.
When I finish and take a shower, I carry the bag of my hair to my bedroom. I call down for Charlotte to come upstairs, but I don’t open the door. “I need you to ask Paxton to light a fire in the fireplace with his glare, and then get the others out of the house for ten minutes. Can you do that? I need you to stay, but the others have to leave.”
Charlotte is used to asking for odd things with no explanation given, so I knew she wouldn’t hem and haw with tons of questions. She simply flits down the stairs, and then texts me when they’ve all left.
My steps are measured as I move down the staircase wearing black slacks and a white fitted blouse, clutching the bag of my hair.
Charlotte gasps, covering her mouth in horror, but to her credit, does not ask any questions. “Arly!”
I hand her my phone. “I need you to take a video of me by the fireplace real quick.”
She’s in shock, but nods mutely, taking my phone and aiming it toward the fireplace I kneel beside.
I glare into the camera with enough venom that I’m surprised I don’t manifest Paxton’s gift and shoot fire out of my eyes.
Charlotte gives me the thumbs up to let me know she’s recording.
My voice is clear and unwavering. “Hello, Regis. Since you’ve never been a man of your word, I assume