Dark Need (House of Sin 3)

“Why?” I continue my march through the forest.

“Because talking helps distract from the pain and misery,” she replies, her voice clearly implying sarcasm that doesn’t go unnoticed. “Besides, if we’re gonna spend all this time together, I wanna at least get to know you.”

I roll my eyes. She makes it sound like we’re a big happy family, but we both hate to be around each other, both for different reasons.

“So, where are you from?” she asks. “I mean, you weren’t born at that house, were you?”

“No,” I reply, sighing and shaking off the annoyance. “I was born on an island far away from here.”

“An island? Where?”

Why does she care so much?

“Scandinavia.”

“Oh, wow. That sounds amazing.”

I glance at her over my shoulder. “No.”

She seems taken aback by my abrasiveness. “Okay … guess not.”

I return to walking and focus on the path ahead of me. “The House is my home.”

“You like it there?” she asks, but in a way that it sounds almost unbelievable.

“Eli welcomed me with open arms,” I reply.

“So he was nice to you,” she says. “He isn’t nice to the men and women he locks up, though.”

I throw her another glance with narrowed eyes. “They deserve it.”

She looks down at her feet, probably scared to look me in the eyes when I’m so determined about my job.

“So you just went there out of your own volition because you liked Eli and his ideas?”

She keeps digging farther and farther, and I’m starting to wonder where this is going.

But I suppose it doesn’t hurt to answer as long as she keeps on walking.

“We have united at that House for centuries.”

“Like what, a family reunion?” She scoffs.

“We’re not family,” I respond. “Not by blood.”

My people have always sent one of their best to serve the House. To serve whoever is in charge. Just like his advisor, Tobias, I am part of what makes the House work the way it does.

“Okay …” She snorts. “Three men … united to rid the world of sinners …” she muses, but it doesn’t sound serious coming from her mouth. “What a cruel joke.”

“It’s no joke,” I snap, throwing her another dirty glance. “It’s business.”

“To you, it is,” she retorts, this time not afraid of my obvious glare.

I pause, and for a moment, all we do is stare at each other.

I know she doesn’t like me or what I do.

She doesn’t have to.

But a part of me still … gets angered at the thought, and I don’t understand why.

“Enough talking,” I say, and I turn around again. “The food won’t last long.”

She traipses behind me, and even though she’s still tied to me, I don’t think she’d run if I cut her loose.

Still, I’m not about to waste precious energy on a skittish little kitty.

“Why don’t we just go to a nearby city and get some actual food?” she asks.

I come to a hard stop, and her face bumps into my back from the abruptness, causing her to bounce back while murmuring, “Ouch.”

“No,” I say with a low voice. “Absolutely not.”

She frowns. “But we’re not going to last on some mushrooms and herbs.”

I stay put and stare her down, determined to make her aware of our situation.

She makes a face. “You realize we could die if we don’t get the supplies we need, right? Water, food?”

I raise my brow at her.

It’s enough to make her scoff. “So you’d rather die?”

“Yes.”

The answer is simple.

But she won’t understand.

“Why?”

My jaw tightens as her face contorts, her eyes getting watery again. Because she finally realizes why I have gone on this journey with her, and why I am doing everything in my power to keep her from running.

“You don’t want me to talk,” she mutters.

I lift my head at the sight of the contempt in her eyes.

“I cannot risk the fall of the House … ever.”

Chapter 11

Soren

Years ago

My first time venturing off the island is no easy feat. I have no clue where I’m going or how to get there, but I have my guide to bring me to my destination. A guard sent from the House comes to pick me up from the island and take me there, so I will work for my new owner, just like all the generations before me did.

An honorable job as a punisher of sinners, a responsibility I won’t take lightly.

When we get there, the giant mansion in front of my eyes makes me gawk up at the sky. Where I come from, no one builds homes this big.

Is this what my predecessors saw and felt when they first came here to help our friends?

My new owner comes to greet me outside the House, and he holds out his hand. “Name’s Eli. Welcome to the House, Soren.” I take his hand, and he shakes it vigorously, planting another hand on my shoulder. “Great to have you here. I was waiting for someone to help us out. Come, walk with me for a second.”