Page 46 of Two Sides of Sin

“June, I—I don’t know, I thought⁠—”

“Tell me you didn’t know!” she shrieked, falling to her knees among the glass shards. “How could he do this? Julian, please… please tell me you weren’t part of this.”

I opened my mouth to lie, but the words died in my throat. Before I could speak, a shadow fell across the doorway.

Cain.

He stood there, his eyes scanning the destruction with an irritating calmness.

“What the fuck is going on in here?” he asked.

The shift in June was instantaneous. She erupted like a volcano, launching herself at him like a gale-force wind. Her small fist connected with his jaw in a sickening crack.

“You asshole! You lying, soulless prick!”

I lunged, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her back. She was a live wire in my arms, thrashing with a strength that shocked me. “June, stop! Calm down!”

“Calm down?” she barked, her nails digging into my forearms. “He ruined my life!”

Cain wiped a bead of blood from his lip, his eyes narrowing into dangerous, predatory slits. He looked at June with an expression that made my skin crawl. “Watch yourself, June. You are a guest in this house. You’re overstepping your boundaries.”

“I’ll do more than overstep!” she yelled, grabbing a heavy glass paperweight and hurling it at his head. He ducked, the glass shattering against the doorframe after smacking into his desk. “You took everything from me! I wish I never met you!”

Cain let out a dry, mocking laugh. “Ruined your life? We saved you, June. You were destined for something greater than a degree. You should be thanking me for keeping you where you belong.”

“Thanking you?” she cried, the word coming out as a broken, hysterical sob. “I want to kill you! I want to burn this house to the ground with you inside it!”

“Try it,” Cain warned, his voice dropping to a low threat. “See how far you get before the walls swallow you whole.”

June looked at him, then at me, the realisation of our collective silence finally sinking in. She let out a final, defeated sound, a gasp of pure loathing and shoved past me, sprinting out of the room. “I hate you! I hate both of you!”

I turned to Cain, my hands shaking. “I told you she’d figure it out. You better fucking fix it. If she leaves this house because of your goddamn ego, the Ritual won’t be the only thing that ends in blood.”

Cain just looked at me, cold and unmoved. “She isn’t going anywhere, Julian. She’s exactly where she was always meant to be.”

I didn’t even look back at him. I caught up to her in her bedroom. The sound of it broke my heart: the zip of a suitcase, the frantic rustle of fabric.

“June, stop. Please, just listen to me,” I pleaded.

“I have to get out of here,” she muttered. “I can’t breathe in this house⁠—”

“Whatever he’s done, I’ll make it right,” I said, reaching out to grab her arms. She wouldn’t look at me, her gaze was unrecognisable.

“I’m not staying, Julian,” she yelled. “And you can’t make me.”

“June, you can’t leave, please⁠—”

“Watch me.”

She snatched up her things and bolted. I followed her down the stairs, my boots thundering. As she hit the foyer, she started to run. She burst through the front door and hit the lawn with a speed that let me know she was serious. She was halfway to the iron gates when I reached out, my fingers catching the strap of her backpack. I yanked her back, harder than I intended, and she was thrown off balance, sprawling onto the grass with a thud.

She didn’t stay down. She started kicking, flailing, and fighting me immediately. “June, just listen! Stop!”

“Get off of me!”

I lunged for her, trying to pin her down. She thrashed around in hysterics and we both fell, rolling across the damp lawn. I finally managed to get the upper hand, straddling her and pinning her wrists above her head.

“June, listen to me!” I shouted. “Stop fighting me! Please!”