Sirena spent all day on our kitchen table, her tits and pussy exposed and our come drying on her face.
“Enough is enough,” I said to Church as we sat down for dinner and ate around her.
Her small body trembled, but she didn’t fight it.
“I agree. So someone should tell me what’s going on,” Church said as he dipped his fork into his mashed potatoes. I watched him eat without any concern on his face. I hated it when he spent time in the Underground. He always came back a complete fucking asshole.
I also knew if Ashes and I fought it, we’d have an even bigger problem. Getting Dante to come down always took time. He stayed near the edge of his sanity for days, sometimes weeks, after returning from the Underground. It had been a long time since we’d had to deal with it. Back then, we had Sin to help. He always had a way to distract him and keep him levelheaded. Now, we didn’t have shit but our naked and violated girl on our kitchen table while we ate around her like she was a fucking centerpiece at Christmas dinner.
I’d even tried getting Church to smoke with me. He’d raised his eyebrows, clearly knowing what I was up to, before going back into the house.
“She needs to use the bathroom and eat,” Ashes said. “This is bullshit, Dante. You know it is.”
“Yet, you don’t deny something happened,” Church said easily. “If nothing happened, you’d fight more. I know you better than you know yourselves.” He ate again and gave us both a serene look.
Ashes threw his fork, and it bounced off the wall. Sirena jumped when his plate crashed to the floor next. Her breathing picked up.
“Making a mess isn’t going to solve anything,” Church said easily, gesturing to Sirena. “Ask our tight-lipped girl. It didn’t help her so far.”
“You’re being an asshole,” I said. “You know this is bullshit. Just let her up. Maybe we can all talk then. You’ll be reasonable.”
“Me? Unreasonable?” Church let out a sinister laugh. I noted the goosebumps on Sirena’s pale skin and the way she trembled. He was scaring her. This was fucking stupid and ignorant. I could see maybe getting pissed for an hour, but she’d been lying there all fucking day. Nothing we’d tried with him was working. Not talking. Not smoking. Nothing.
Enough was enough.
“Sirena, get up,” I commanded. “This shit is over—”
“Don’t you dare fucking move,” Church snarled, making her quake a little more. “Not until someone tells me what the fuck is going on.”
Ashes shot me a look, letting me know we needed to do something. We always let Church lead and have his way. But we had Sirena to protect now. It couldn’t be this level of crazy. Not after all the shit she’d been through. Losing her to whatever dark place she drifted to wasn’t an option.
“Sirena,” I said gently. “Come with me. It’ll be OK.”
Her chest heaved, and tears rolled from her eyes, but she wouldn’t move. I knew she was afraid of Church hurting Sin once he found out. Ashes and I both knew this would end badly. The fact she was willing to take this punishment and remain silent spoke volumes about her heart.
I didn’t want to see it shattered.
Fuck, what a goddamn mess.
If only people would listen to me.
Anger rushed through me. I hauled in a deep breath, forcing myself to chill the fuck out before I went completely batshit crazy. I didn’t like my girl this way. I didn’t like my brother this way.
I’d been so lost in Sirena that I hadn’t been paying attention to Ashes and Church yelling at one another. Church shoved his chair back so hard it crashed to the floor, startling Sirena again, before he stormed out of the room, leaving us alone with her.
“I’m telling him,” Ashes said.
Sirena gripped his hand and shook her head, tears continuing to roll from her eyes.
I gave her a pained look, wishing she’d just come out with it.
“Message Sin,” Ashes muttered. “All hell is going to break loose. He needs to be on alert.”
I pulled my phone out and shot a message to him, letting him know Church was losing his fucking mind and to be careful. He didn’t respond to me, making me grind my teeth. He was probably off with Asylum, or Mirage, whomever the fuck he was this week, trampling through the fucking dark woods.
Sighing when he didn’t answer, I twined my fingers through Sirena’s and stood at her side, Ashes on her other side. We stood that way for a long time, both of us clearly trying to work out what we were going to do to fix this. We were both aware everything was fucked, though. If Church decided he was going to punish Sirena more once he found out, we’d have a big problem. I didn’t care if I died trying to protect her. I would, and Church could carry that fucking guilt around that he’d murdered me for the rest of his miserable ass life.
Time passed by. It had to be at least an hour before I looked up and saw Church come back into the room, holding a notebook. He sat on the couch without a word.
I looked to Ashes, who wore a frown on his face. Before either of us could say anything, there was a knock on the front door.
“Could you get that?” Church asked in a low voice.
Sighing, I released Sirena’s hand and went to the door, really fucking hoping it wasn’t Cady because she’d flip her shit if she saw Sirena this way. But maybe that was a good thing. She’d punch Church in the face so I didn’t have to.
I pulled the door open to find Sin standing there.
“What are you doing here?” I snarled at him.
“Church said we needed to talk,” he answered.
“I sent you a message and told you to lie low. What the fuck, motherfucker? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
He gave me a sad smile. “Sometimes death is a nice vacation from a miserable life, Malachi. I’ve been searching for it for a long time. Maybe tonight it finally finds me.”
“Don’t do this. Fucking go, Sinclair. Don’t. You don’t want to see this.”
“Malachi, it’s cold outside. Let our guest in,” Church called out.
I ground my teeth. “Run, Sinclair. The other option is dying. It’s not fucking worth your life.”
“Yes, she is,” he said softly before stepping past me.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
