Page 99 of Two Sides of Sin

BAM.

The power surged back on, followed by the kitchen lights. In the living room, the television blared back to life, the loud, cheerful dialogue of the romantic comedy echoing sharply off the walls.

I flinched, throwing an arm up to shield my eyes from the sudden assault of light. I pressed my back flat against the wall, my chest heaving uncontrollably.

I lowered my arm, my eyes frantically adjusting to the glare.

I spotted my phone on the floor, lunging forwards to grab it before Julian hung up.

I blinked, letting my eyes adjust to the light and stared at the landing. Nothing. There was no one standing in the kitchen. No shadows. No stalker. The heavy curtains over the sliding glass door were still perfectly drawn and undisturbed. The front door deadbolt was still engaged exactly where I had left it.

“Sage!” Julian’s voice was a frantic shout, vibrating through the speaker of the phone. “Talk to me! Are you okay?!”

“What the hell happened?”

I swallowed hard, a hot, flush of deep embarrassment and utter confusion washed over me, replacing the terror.

“Nothing,” I whispered. I rubbed my forehead, suddenly feeling a massive, throbbing headache building behind my eyes. I let out a ragged, self-deprecating sigh, sagging against the wall as the adrenaline suddenly crashed, leaving me weak and exhausted. “I’m fine,” I said, though my heart was still hammering. I looked down at the phone in my hand, the screen a shattered map of light that pricked at my fingertips. “Everything is okay, really. Except I’ve cracked my phone screen when I dropped it. The apartment is empty. The doors are all still locked from the inside, I’m just being jumpy.”

He went silent. The kind of prolonged silence that meant he did not believe me.

“Sage—”

“I’m just losing my mind, that’s all,” I interrupted, a pathetic, exhausted laugh bubbling out of my chest. I dragged a shaking hand through my messy hair. “I’m hallucinating sounds now. I’ve barely slept in three days, I’m stressed about school, keeping up with my new classes, and that stupid car earlier just set me off. I just panicked over a creaky floorboard.”

“I promise , I’m okay. I’m just so tired. I’m going to double-check the locks, shower, and just… go to sleep. I promise I’m safe.”

Chapter 56

Cain

It was too easy to break one’s mind—a dark, practiced habit I wore like a second skin.

I stood in the suffocating shadows at the top of her loft staircase. Below me, the apartment was bathed in the faint glow of the television.

I had been inside for twenty minutes. I watched from the dark as she bolted the doors and yanked the curtains shut like a terrified prey animal, her movements frantic and useless. It was a delicious, dark irony—watching her meticulously seal every exit, unknowingly locking herself into a cage with the very predator she was trying to keep out. She had turned her sanctuary into my playground, and she had done all the hard work for me. But the highlight of my evening was hearing the low, desperate rumble of my brother’s voice echoing from the phone speaker.

Julian sounded so fiercely protective. So incredibly terrified of losing her again.

A dark, wicked smile stretched across my face as I flipped the apartment’s main switchboard located on the loft wall.

Click.

The apartment plunged into complete darkness.

I closed my eyes, letting her sharp, terrified gasp wash over me like a drug.

I opened my eyes, my night vision perfectly adjusting to the blacked-out apartment. I could see her perfectly. She was blindly feeling her way towards the kitchen, her breathing fast and ragged.

I took a step down the wooden stairs, shifting my weight deliberately.

Creak.

She froze instantly.

I took another step. Creak. I wanted her to feel it. I wanted the cold, heavy weight of my presence to seep into her bones and overwrite whatever false comfort Julian had just given her. I descended the stairs slowly, taking my time until I reached the final landing. I stopped. I was standing less than a metre away from her.

I could hear the frantic hammering of her heart. I could smell the sharp tang of her fear mixing with the sweet scent of her skin.