Dark Wish (House of Sin 1)

“And you think she needed that?” he retorts. “Wrong. If you knew what she did you wouldn’t blink an eye to save her soul.”

I throw him a look over my shoulder. “You’re wrong.”

He grabs my throat with his free hand and tilts my head up. “She’s here because her world has given up on her. You think what she told you is the full truth? That her grandparents sent her here over a lover boy?” He scoffs, snorting. “She’d be vilified if she was out there. In jail. Or worse. We saved her. She is punished for her sins here.”

“What sins? What could be so bad that you and Tobias had to lock her up and fuck her?”

Finally, it’s out there in the open. Finally, I said it out loud.

The only thought on my mind.

Why are any of us even here?

It’s quiet for a few seconds, the only sounds surrounding us are the birds singing songs in the trees and the waves crashing into the beach. In the distance, Tobias resurfaces from the deep, carrying a lifeless body in his arms. Anna.

Eli’s grip on my throat and chin forces me to watch.

“Look at what you’ve done.”

“She wanted to flee from your House,” I hiss back.

“No … Don’t you understand? She was trying to kill herself.”

My pupils dilate.

“No, that can’t be right. Anna would never.”

Why would she ever do that? She has no reason to.

“You pushed her to run. To escape the guilt that’s drowning her,” he says. “All of you deserve to be here, including her.”

“Why would she do that?” I mutter, my body shivering, not from the cold but from the sheer realization of Anna’s choice.

I can try to deny it all I want, but I saw with my own eyes what she did.

Even when the waves crashed into her, she kept on walking.

Even when she knew there was no escape from this wretched place, she still went for it.

She knew it would kill her.

And she still chose death.

The final words from his mouth undo me. “Her boyfriend was after her money, but she didn’t see it. Instead, he made her believe her parents were the enemy. And in order to be with each other …”

I can finish his sentence without thinking about it with a single breath. “She had them killed.”

Chapter 25

Eli

The second she realized what Anna had done, what her boyfriend did for her, Amelia stopped struggling. Like a meek little lamb, she gave in to the restraints and allowed me to take her away. As Tobias carried Anna out of the water, Amelia’s eyes grew solemn. Like the light had snuffed out deep inside her.

And I’d be lying if I said it didn’t sting.

Despite the fact that it’s much easier to bring her along when she doesn’t fight for control, the sheer defeat in her eyes still managed to crack the outer shell around my heart.

She should never have tried to escape.

As Tobias passes me, clutching Anna so close to his body, he throws me a single, maddening look. And I pause in my tracks, staring after him with both admiration and rage. I’m not the only one who has fallen in too deep. It’s not just the House that’s at stake anymore.

“Follow me,” I bark.

I’m not in the mood or have the patience for niceties.

All kindness went out the window the moment she decided to run. And to bring Anna along, of all people.

Besides, it’s not like she has any choice in the matter. Everywhere she goes, she’s watched. If she tries to leave now, I’ll catch up in no time. And she won’t be doing anything foolish with those cuffs around her wrists anyway.

I continue walking with her right behind me, determined to bring her back to the House safely and keep her there. How did she even manage to get out of her room in the first place?

“I’m sorry …” she suddenly mutters.

I glance at her over my shoulder. Those are not the words I would have expected to come out of her mouth after this ordeal. “Apologizing will do nothing.”

“I know,” she says, averting her eyes.

I raise a brow. “Then why persist? Do you think it will make me go easy on you?”

She swallows. “No. But I hope it will make you go easy on her.”

My lips part, but I don’t know how to respond. She’s throwing herself under the bus for Anna? Even after everything I just told her?

I stop in my tracks and look at her over my shoulder. “You don’t need to concern yourself with her.”

“But I do,” she says.

“Why? Why do you care?” I ask. “I told you what she did.”

“Everyone deserves forgiveness.” She looks up at me with doe-like eyes, and it hits me just how beautiful she is when she’s pleading for someone else’s life. Of course, she’d see the innocence in people, no matter how depraved they are. She’s too good for this world. Too good, even for me.