Storm of Sin - Patricia D. Eddy Page 0,14

not go up against them. Ever. You will lose, and then you will die.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, Sin.” She shoves back at me, springs to her feet, and stomps over to the wall behind the commander’s desk. “This was my partner. The man who trained me.” Jabbing at Temple’s photo, she chokes back an oath. “And I had to kill him. I deserve to know why.”

“Because once you are under Thorn's thrall, you are nothing. No one. Whoever you were before? That is gone. Wiped away so thoroughly, your soul rebels and drives you insane. It is the worst kind of pain, knowing you used to be someone else—someone better—but having no memory of that time and no hope of ever reclaiming it.” My chest heaves, my throat tight. “The moment Regina first spoke to your partner—for she always initiates the contact—his death was assured. You...you showed him mercy.”

Zoe doesn’t move, her expression unreadable, but when I take a wheezing breath, I can taste her emotions. It would be so easy to glamour her, and between healing my broken bones and reliving the worst experiences of my very long existence, the temptation is strong. Turning away, I struggle for control—something I have not had to do in centuries.

“Sin.”

She’s close enough to drop her voice to a whisper. “How do you know all of this?”

My fingers shake as I shed my jacket and unbutton the cuff of my dress shirt, rolling it up to my elbow. Facing her once more, I hold out my arm. “It took me years. To scar the skin this deeply. But the ink is spelled. It returns. Every decade or so, it seeps through. When that happens, I take two weeks somewhere full of people. Somewhere wild. Las Vegas. Monte Carlo. Ibiza. Somewhere I can find a soundproofed room to hide my screams as I burn my flesh over and over again. Somewhere...I can feed to my heart’s content to replenish my strength each night until I no longer have to see the reminder of the thing he made me into.”

Zoe’s green eyes take on a slight shimmer as she lays her hand over the scars. The familiarity of the touch, the empathy in her voice, do something to my heart I am ill prepared to handle. Emotions I have not felt since I descended into Hell flare to life, and I look away. Until her fingers tighten subtly. “You? Were…?”

“Yes. For hundreds of years, I was his slave. And the things I did...” I clear my throat when my voice cracks. “I have only scraps of memories. A blessing I am certain I do not deserve. After I fought my way free from his control, I dragged him to Hell. Both of them. But one does not simply drop two of the most powerful and vile creatures in existence at Beelzebub’s doorstep and walk away. Hell’s Prince is too cunning. Too desperate for more souls to torture for all eternity.”

Her breath hitches, and she locks her gaze with mine. “You were trapped there with them.”

Seven

Zoe

My partner has been to Hell. And not in the figurative sense. My fingers still rest over the heavily scarred skin on his arm, and I pull away, my cheeks flushing hot. “I’m...um...sorry...”

Sin waves his hand away like finding out you’re working with someone from the Underworld is an everyday occurrence. Maybe it is for him, but not for me. “You could not have known. What remains to be seen is whether Commander Eve knew before she sent us out on this call.”

He picks up the tablet and taps the screen a few times, then gives me a curt nod. “All of the files have now been transferred to my secure online vault. I would rather not encroach on the commander’s private space any longer. There are soundproof conference rooms upstairs. We should claim one for the next few hours.”

Logic. I can work with logic. And detachment. His eyes are mostly one color again—a sapphire blue, but there’s still a hint of red surrounding them. His voice is cool and professional, and he straightens his shoulders as he buttons his sleeve, then shrugs into his jacket.

His defined muscles stretch the crisp black shirt. I shouldn’t look, shouldn’t notice, but even as shocked as I am by his admission, I’m not dead. And it’s been a long damn time.

Stop it, Zoe. He’s your partner. And a demon. Let’s not forget that part.

He pulls a keycard from his pocket. As he