Sinful

by Jenica Saren

  But these? The little delicate, shining orbs were proof that there was beauty in the middle of all the chaos and danger. Proof that there were still shining lights out there despite the darkness. No matter how I looked at them, they still represented hope, and that was beautiful enough on its own.

  I was too busy focusing on the glassy, glowing orbs and was distracted enough that when something jumped up on the back of my chair, I screamed. The shrill shriek that escaped me hurt even my own ears. I leapt up from my chair, bumping into another person as I scrambled backwards in shock.

  "Is that a fucking monkey?" I asked in disbelief.

  Dread rolled through me as the monkey that had climbed up my chair started making its way toward me, its movements hesitant and slow.

  All of the guys started up a round of laughter at my expense, of course. It was always at my expense.

  "Oh, very funny. Ha ha ha," I snapped, still moving back as quickly as I could. Until my back hit the wall.

  It was still coming for me, all beady eyes and glistening fangs. It could have been no bigger than the average house cat, but, to me at least, it appeared to be gigantic. If I hadn't felt so strongly that my life was in danger, I might have thought it was cute.

  Scratch that, monkeys are creepy as fuck. Not cute.

  "Would somebody do something before it fucking eats me?" I shrieked.

  "Don't be silly, he isn't going to hurt you," Lady Vermillion said with a chuckle.

  "Look, lady, you are not fooling anyone. Most especially me," I hissed at the porcelain goddess who had not moved so much as an inch. She was as cool as a cucumber.

  I was praying to just become one with the wall as the monkey came even closer, even though I knew I couldn't get any flatter against it. No one was lifting a finger to save my life from the inevitable perpetrator of my demise.

  "It's just a damn monkey, Ria," Eliam said with an exasperated huff. Since I was and willing to work anywhere except at my impending doom, I can only imagine that he was running a hand through that tarnished gold hair of his. It was just what he did when he was nervous or frustrated.

  Just a damn monkey, my ass. I thought as I projected it out with all of my might. It's going to fucking kill me!

  The guys snickered as my thought reached them. They could laugh it up for all I cared, as long as one of them helped me get away from this gods damned monkey.

  I had never been one for zoos or safaris or any of the other fun things that kids my age enjoyed. And that was all because of the monkeys. I was completely unashamed to admit that monkey scared the ever-loving shit out of me. They were tiny little harbingers of death. When I had been younger we had watched a documentary on monkeys in school, as an example of how there was no possible way humans could have come from that. Which, of course, is complete and total bullshit.

  Anyway, during the documentary, it showed a bunch of tiny monkeys attacking with their razor-sharp teeth. It was terrifying and I had to excuse myself to go throw up in the ladies room.

  I hadn't been able to be around or anywhere near monkeys ever since. They were vicious, bloodthirsty beasts.

  And, of course, one was coming straight for me.

  "If someone could help me out here, that would be fucking fantastic," I snapped at the group of asshole Sins.

  "It seems as though he has taken quite a liking to you," Lady Vermillion interjected. When I took a chance and glanced at her, she appeared deep in thought. Whatever it was she was thinking, I was pretty sure that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it - at all.

  "Oh, hell no," I cried in a panic. "Whatever you're thinking, I am not on board. To repeat: I do not consent."

  To my left, I heard Rafe snort. I was glad that at least one of us found the situation funny. I, however, did not. In fact, I didn't think I had ever been more in fear of my life that I had been in that very instant.

  "Why don't you try petting him, Ria dearest?" Lady Vermillion suggested, an annoyingly curious lilt in her voice.

  "With all due respect, your goddessness," I forced through my teeth. "Hell fucking no!"

  The sent the guys into another round of guffaws that I would have thoroughly enjoyed hearing if I wasn't literally backed into a corner by a rabid animal.

  The beast had stopped its pursuit about three feet away from me and I could feel the rapid rise and fall of my chest, cherishing the sensation since I was one thousand per cent sure that these were going to be the last breaths I ever took.

  It just sat there and stared at me, its head cocked to the side in curiosity - probably wondering just how tasty my flesh would be with a little salt and lime. This was it. This was the day that I said my goodbyes to the world that seemed to hate my guts anyway.

  I could have been afraid of anything, any normal thing. Like spiders, snakes, or clowns. Nope. I had to be afraid of one of the few things that it was unlikely I would ever encounter unless I went looking for it. That was exactly my luck, and it sucked big fat ones.

  I was just about mere seconds from passing out and maybe being unconscious for a few more days, if not completely dead, when Kellan - my fucking hero - came to my rescue and picked the monkey up off the ground with absolutely no struggle.

  It seemed fitting that the biggest thing in the room would be the one to take out the biggest threat in the room. It was like Godzilla versus King Kong. That was a little too accurate for my tastes, so I tucked that little tidbit away for later use.

  As Kellan took the demon creature back to his spot on the floor, I felt as though I could finally take a breath and relax, but not quite. It was still staring at me like it wanted to eat me for dinner, I was sure. Just when I was starting to feel better about the situation, the faerie bitch opened her regal mouth again.

  "The seven of you should take him home with you," she informed us. It was apparent that I was the only one shocked in this scenario. "His place is not here with us, it should seem."

  Stomping my foot like a petulant child and crossing my arms over my chest, I levelled a glare on each of the guys. "If that thing comes back to the house, I'm moving out," I announced.

  "Oh good, it looks like he's getting your room, then," Eliam commented gleefully.

  That son of a bitch, I swear I was about to-

  "Then it's all settled!" Queen fae bitch clapped her hands together and smiled brilliantly, apparently not getting the point. Or maybe she did. I'd read fantasy books before that said faeries were sadistic little fucks, so maybe that was something that held true.

  It made me wonder if maybe some of the authors had experienced these events firsthand, since so many seemed to contain accurate information. I needed to catch up on some of my reading - I even had some books that involved a girl juggling multiple consenting guys. Now that was hot.

  But, back to the issue at hand...

  I sat down against the wall, not daring to get any closer to the monkey. "So, did we figure anything out?" I asked, trying to keep my focus on the exceptionally pleased-looking fae. "I mean, as far as my anti-romance bubble?"

  Lady Vermillion stayed quite for a long few moments as she contemplated her response, making me more nervous by the second. I came for answers, though, and I wasn't leaving without them. "The answer is a bit more complicated than the question, and I'm afraid that it may cause a bit of an uproar in your little family here," she finally admitted. "If I am to answer, you must all be forthcoming with one another."

  With that last statement, she pinned Eliam with an intense glare that had the hairs rising on my arms and back of my neck. Eliam was hiding things? Important things? Did he already know exactly what was going on, or was there some other secret swimming around in that annoyingly sex... Blonde head of his?

  Almost slipped up there. I didn't know what all of my triggers were, but I wasn't game for another round of internal gut boxing.

  Eliam's answering grimace told me everything I needed to know. He was keeping something from me, and I didn't have a good feeling about it.

&nb
sp; Finding his expression an acceptable answer, apparently, Lady Vermillion continued. "The magic inside her is one of yours."

  "That would be me. I used my Sin to save her life after she was poisoned." Eliam explained. I was a little disappointed, seeing as I expected her to tell us something we didn't already know. Then again, no one could be all knowing and all seeing.

  "That's not quite correct, my previous statement. I apologise," she said, inclining her head regally. "What I meant to say is that its one of your kind. It is not your power, Eliam, but another's entirely."

  Several long seconds passed as we all tried to wrap our brains around what she was trying to say. It took me longer to process than the others, I supposed because I didn't exactly have a grasp on their world to begin with. At least, that's what I told myself when Gray raised his hand as though he were in a classroom.

  "Is it any of ours? Not just E's?" He asked. Okay, yeah, that was a reasonable question. While he was doing Sin math in his head, I was just trying to remember which Sins were included in the infamous deadly seven.

  The last Sin, the one that wasn't present, was Lust. I never got the story on that one, not really. Was that was Lady Vermillion had been referring to when she looked to Eliam?

  Well, shit.

  The goddess shook her head. "I'm afraid the energy signatures don't match, I'm sorry," she said, sounding genuinely apologetic. What the hell was that supposed to mean? I'd only ever been around the guys, and Eliam, to my knowledge, was the only one who did his magic mojo thing on me.

  "I imagine you already know, which is the reason you brought her to me of all beings," she continued. She was staring at Eliam again and, for some reason, that made me incredibly anxious. What wasn't he sharing?

  When I noticed that the others were all staring at him with the same confusion I felt, my stomach knotted up into a tight ball of nerves. They didn't know whatever he knew, which didn't bode well for me in this situation. You know, since I was basically the lab rat that everyone was watching like a hawk.

  Well, hawks ate mice, so that was either a really good analogy or a really terrible one.

  "So, what can we do? To make this... Curse of sorts go away?" Rafe asked. That was the real answer we came for. How to make my cockblocking bubble go away.

  Lady Vermillion smiled sympathetically at me. "You have two options, one reasonable and the other less so," she began. "The unlikely option would be to convince the caster to remove the hex, but I gather that they're the jealous type."

  "So it would seem," I replied dryly.

  "Your best option would be to becoming more powerful than the original caster and simply remove it as though shedding a cloak."

  A groan came from the opposite side of the room and I turned to find that it was Eliam as he ran a hand through his hair. "I thought you said the first option was less reasonable?" Eliam replied in frustration.

  "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Pride," I snapped.

  He turned to face me and there was an angry fire burning in his eyes that I had only seen once before, in a church, surrounded by darkness and decay. "You're mortal, you're not going to become more powerful than a Sin." He said it all so matter-of-factly that I couldn't help but cringe. That was a little cruel.

  "Ah," Lady Vermillion intervened, swaying cheerfully. "But is she really?"

  Eliam's gaze snapped to her so quickly that I couldn't be sure he was ever looking at me to begin with. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He demanded.

  "I'm with the asshole on this one," I agreed. "I promise that no one has let me forget that I'm nothing more than a pesky, human bug under their shoes, and by 'no one', I mean the asshole."

  Beck made a choking sound from his spot near Eliam and I winked at him. He wasn't the only one with an inappropriate title now, poor thing.

  "That is something that is beyond even my capabilities to predict, children," she answered cryptically. "But now, it seems, our time has expired. I can escort you to the gate, if you like?" Of course, she looked all too eager.

  Given her earlier assumption regarding my presence, it was safe to say that she was probably planning on tricking me into staying. Thanks, but no thanks. Drea would go apeshit if I disappeared before a party.

  "No thank you. You've already done so much and we wouldn't want to further burden you." Gray replied smoothly. He was so diplomatic with his words, but his accent was so gravelly and exotic that it made every word sound borderline hypnotic. Even if I wasn't harbouring a not-so-secret crush on him, I'd still do just about anything he told me with that voice of his.

  "As you wish, then," Lady Vermillion conceded with a nod of her head. "Have a safe trip and do come back to see me in the next century, lovelies. Especially you, Eliam dear." She blew him a kiss that made me gag, then waved as she swept up the skirt of her dress and disappeared in a flash of glitter and light.

  That was a stereotype if I'd ever seen one.

  9 Ria

  Going back through the circle was even more of an experience than the first time. By the time we landed back on human world soil, I was laying down in it.

  "Please tell me we never have to do that again. Like, ever?" I implored the guys. My eyes closed and refusing to budge until the world stopped spinning, so I didn't actually know if any of them were paying attention.

  I heard muttering but couldn't bring myself to give a damn until my stomach settled. Even the sure knowledge that they were discussing me without actually involving me wasn't enough to rouse me. I was glad that I'd dressed simply for the hike, because who knew what I was rolling around in.

  "You know that deer and rabbits have shit exactly where you're laying, right?" Beck teased from directly above me. Oh good. I was being acknowledged.

  "Yep. Don't care. World disobeying laws of physics."

  "That's just your brain actually-" Gray chimed in.

  I cut him off before he could continue. "I'm aware. Let me have this and blame something on the universe, okay?"

  When no one answered, I could imagine that they were all giving each other looks that said, "What are we supposed to do with her?"

  And I was okay with that. Gotta keep them guessing.

  When I felt it was safe enough, I opened my eyes and stared up through the trees, at the last fading rays of sunlight drifting through the branches and casting luminous shadows over the leaves and ground. It was extraordinarily beautiful and I felt like I could lay there forever, just enjoying the peace of it.

  "Anyone have their phone on them?" I asked before I could think.

  Kellan's face interrupted my view as he stared at me in surprise. "Why?"

  "Because I want to take a picture, obviously," I said as I rolled my eyes. What did he think I was gonna use it for?

  "Why don't you use yours?" Wow, he was just all sorts of talkative and full of questions, wasn't he?

  "I haven't kept it charged. I don't want people calling or texting me right now," I answered in an unintentionally clipped tone.

  When he handed me the phone with no further questions, I felt a pang of guilt hit me square in the chest. Opening up his camera app, I motioned for him to come down to my level. I was a little shocked when he did, laying down in the opposite direction with his head next to mine. I turned the camera around and snapped a quick picture of us.

  "You could try smiling, Moose," I teased, camera poised for another shot.

  On the screen, I saw the corner of his mouth tilt up a fraction of an inch and I figured that was about the best I was going to get. He was really adorable in his own silent way, like a big teddy bear was just waiting to be hugged.

  I snapped a few more shots and was about to turn the camera back around when my precious view was blocked again. The sun was setting fast and I wanted to capture the moment, dammit.

  "Why don't I get a picture with you?" Rafe demanded.

  "I want a picture, too! Actually, I want two pictures," Beck chimed in.

  "If anyone's getting a picture, it's me,
and I'll kick your asses if you don't get out of my way," Gatlin growled.

  "None of you need a picture with her, for fuck's sake!" Eliam groaned.

  "Why don't you just take a few more with me?" Kellan interjected, scooting closer.

  I couldn't help it when a bubble of laughter pushed out from between my lips. Once I started, I couldn't stop and I ended up dropping Kellan's phone to my chest as I held my stomach while I giggled uncontrollably.

  The guys, excluding Kel, had all formed a circle above me and stared on in concern.

  "Is she okay?" Beck stage-whispered to the others.

  Wiping a stray tear from the corner of my eye, I tried to take several calming breaths to get my shaking laughter under control. "Your Sins are showing," I snickered.

  They all stared at one another for a long time with confusion written all over their faces. It occurred to me then that they may not have realised how much they actually emulate their respective natures. For some reason, that almost made it funny.

  No one spoke for a good while and the sun had begun sinking lower in the sky, turning the trees and brush around us luminous shades of pink and orange.

  "Okay, okay, if you guys want a picture, you better get in here before it gets dark," I conceded, picking back up the phone and turning the camera back on.

  There was a second of hesitation before I was suddenly crowded with bodies, none of them quite touching me more than the occasional light brush against my head or shoulders. When we were all in position, laying on the moss and dirt covered forest floor like a bunch of idiots, I snapped the picture, smiling the biggest smile I'd smiled in a very long time, it felt like.

  It was a pleasant surprise to me that all of us were in it together, so, just for good measure, I snapped another.

  When I clicked on the thumbnail to review it, I screamed and scrambled up off the ground.