“It was better that way,” he answers.
I pause, waiting to see if he’ll continue. Of course, he doesn’t.
I chew on my lower lip as I consider how far I’m willing to push this man. For the first time, there’s no malice in how he speaks to me. He sounds… tired. I decide to risk my neck.
“Why is it better that way?” I press.
Sin stands silently, not acknowledging my question. But his body has gone rigid like he’s very uncomfortable with my asking.
I try to lighten the mood in hopes it will get him talking. Maybe Sin is finally ready to be pleasant.
“I just talked about being controlled by a corrupted sex bond in front of a table full of near-strangers that may or may not be my enemy,” I note, keeping my eyes on the darkness beyond. “Not that you owe me anything, but it would be pretty great if you didn’t shut me out. It’s just fueling my inner monologue that you’re biding your time so you can torture and kill me slowly.”
Sin lets out a blistering sigh, and I’m sure all I’ve succeeded in is annoying him.
“I have no plans to kill you, mortal,” he answers.
“Torture?”
“Only if you really annoy me,” he answers gruffly.
I grin. I’m ninety-six percent sure Sin just cracked a joke.
Hell must have frozen over.
“What about mind controlling me into betraying Leon and the Council and turning me into your own personal slave?” I ask, holding my breath for his answer.
This question is one I’ve been internally freaking out over. Sin is known as a puppet master. So how do I know I’m using my own free will while I’m here?
Goosebumps erupt on my arms.
Sin’s hands tighten against the railing before he turns to me. I face him and clutch my hands in front of me, hoping he can’t see them shaking. Our eyes meet, and I swallow.
“I could,” Sin answers darkly. “If there’s a part of you that thinks you might like that idea, I can amplify that desire until it’s all you think about.”
He steps forward as he continues, his head cocking to one side and his eyes roaming over me, “Any hint of a dark desire you’ve ever had, any intrusive thought, I can exploit. If there’s a part of you that wants to be on your knees for me, I can make you do it.”
He’s so close that I’m enveloped by his heat, and my cheeks burn at his mention of my being on my knees. Sin takes in my flustered expression. His gaze grows heated before hardening again and turning to disgust.
“Don’t flatter yourself. Your entire purpose in life is to act as a whore for the Council. That’s the destiny written out for you. I wouldn’t touch you, even if my life depended on it.”
His words have the effect of drenching me with a cold bucket of water. My necklace warms, but there’s no telling which statement it was reacting to. I step away from him.
Sin is not a good man.
“So how can I know you won’t just puppet me any way you see fit?”
Sin crosses his arms and leans against the balcony. “You don’t.”
I bite my inner cheek to stop the sliver of rage that slips through my boxes. “How is that supposed to help me sleep at night?”
Sin sighs again, reminding me that I’m annoying him. “It isn’t. You’re in a castle full of powerful creatures. We all have the power to hurt you in one way or another, just like we have the power to hurt each other. We sleep because we know where our loyalties lie. We know our allies. We don’t need to control each other to do that.”
I mull over his words, feeling worse than I did when I came up here. Not because of what Sin is saying but because of what he doesn’t need to say. I’m the opposite of everything he’s described. I have no loyalties or allies, and I’m outright controlling Leon by refusing to release him. The guilt gnaws at me.
“Do you think I’m wrong by keeping Leon in his collar?” It’s a stupid question to ask someone who was collared and enslaved by the Council, but I need to know.
Am I the villain in my own story?
