Sinless (Deadly Omen Book 1)

by Jenica Saren

  Eliam took a step forward with a pointed, sympathetic look at his ginormous brother. "The problem with djinns is that they will grant any wish, but with a heavy price." His expression was grave and made me shiver again, but not in the sexy, aroused way. "They granted the peoples' wish for a way to harm the Sins, but it would harm them in two different ways: it would stain and deteriorate their souls, and it would kill them. The only way to cure the poison's effects would be for a Sin to remove theirs and then burn it away with their own."

  "So, the poison was the villagers' gift and curse?" I asked, completely bemused by the unexpected, twist on such prolific biblical lore.

  They all nodded simultaneously.

  "Yes." Eliam answered. "But there were still those who thought the price would be completely worth the prize." It was an interesting way to view things, especially since prizes were meant to be won, not bought.

  I furrowed my brow in confusion. "So, why didn't the angels - I mean, djinns - just give them a poison that would kill the Sins?" I asked, needing clarification.

  Gatlin laughed darkly and I turned to meet his equally dark gaze. "We are older than most things, Ria. There was no way they could have found or created a single thing to destroy us - balance doesn't allow for it."

  "Okay, but don't you offset the balance?" I was trying to make sense of the new information I was gathering, and I was absorbing it all greedily.

  "We were created to maintain the balance, babe. There would be no free will without sin, but too much sin can also corrupt. So we were created to balance it out by removing and placing sin as needed." Beck explained, looking completely at ease on the floor in front of the long couch in the middle of the room. "For instance, your sins were decided before you were even born."

  That threw me for a loop right there. Did that mean I was always fated to be born into a family that didn't want me? That I was always meant to pursue a career that meant exposing my body to the public eye for sexual pleasure? I found it hard to believe that there was any force out there that wanted me to do what most would consider bad things, unsavoury things.

  Something struck me then that I don't know why I didn't pay any attention to at first. "Wait a second." I turned slowly to full face Eliam. I got up from my perch and walked over to stand directly in front of him, and tried not to shake. "The remedy to saving mortals that were affected by the mortals, is that how you fixed me?" I asked slowly, terrified of the answer I would receive.

  Eliam's hard gaze met mine and he nodded once, quickly. My whole body went cold at once. "You said that sins equal free will. Does that mean..." I trailed off, pleading with my eyes for him to fill in the gaps.

  "I had to take away your sins and replace them with my own over a short period of time. You still have all of your sins, but you have some of my Sin as well." He told me, staring directly into my eyes with an intensity that I wasn't sure whether it was terrifying are extremely sexy.

  Swallowing hard, I maintained eye contact. "What does that mean for me?" I whispered, unable to gather the strength needed to speak at a normal volume.

  "It means," he said slowly. "That we're connected now and have a much longer lifespan than any human being."

  "And...?" I pressed.

  "And, you may have some residual side effects that include abilities that are similar to our own." He said it like a fact and not like it was super world-altering, life-changing news that he was delivering.

  Turning my head to glance at the guys, I saw that they all wore similar tight smiles, obviously hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

  I looked back at Eliam and shrugged my shoulders. "Okay." I said nonchalantly. I spun on my heel and made my way to the door, intending to head straight up to my bed room, get into some new pajamas, and enjoy the rest of my... Saturday? Wow. The realization of how much time I had lost caught up to me and I had to mentally shake my head to chase the thoughts off until much later.

  I heard Eliam splutter behind me as I pulled the door open. "Okay?" He blurted, sounding astonished. "That's it?" I looked behind me to see his mouth hanging open wide enough to catch flies and had to keep myself from outright laughing.

  "Uh, yeah. Were you expecting something else?" I asked in mock confusion.

  He looked at me like I had grown a second and third head. "Where are you going, then?" His accent was especially thick when he was mad, and it was admittedly hot.

  I pointed out the door way and raised one eyebrow. "I'm going to go change into something comfortable, then I'm gonna start cleaning up so I can relax." My tone made it sound like it was the most obvious thing in the world and I was highly enjoying watching his face turn multiple shades of red as I hurt his pride. Heh.

  With that and without looking back at the six guys - no, the six Sins that were now laughing like I had never heard them laugh before, I made my way up the stairs, knowing that everything was changing.

  But I knew I was strong enough to handle it.

  24

  Ria

  I wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand and leaned my mop, admiring my handiwork. I would have to hire someone to come and fix the windows, but in three hours I had managed to patch the holes in the wall, temporarily fix the sink (I was sad to see the fountain go, but it wasn't very practical at all), put all the furniture back in it's place, and sweep and mop up all the debris. For three hours I'd worked my ass off, and though the guys offered to give me a hand, I took a lot of, well, pride in cleaning up a mess that I had created.

  I had sorted through and worked out most of the more obvious blank spots in the tale the Severin brothers had told me, but there were still a few details that eluded me. I had just called for the guys, and they had only just started filing in as I stood and enjoyed their matching looks of admiration.

  "You did all of this?" Gray asked in bemusement while he glanced around the kitchen and dining area.

  I pushed a stray hair out of my face and smiled proudly. "Yeah. I need to call someone to fix the windows, we still need paint to cover the drywall putty, and I had to throw out some not so salvageable cookware, but it's done." I summarized.

  I was so busy looking around to make sure I hadn't missed something that I didn't see Beck charging in my direction to sweep me up in a big hug that took my feet off the ground. "You're so fucking awesome, Ria!" He exclaimed.

  My heart swelled with joy. "Like, I said, there's still work to be done." I reminded him.

  "Who cares? This was an incredible feat." Gatlin commented, still looking a bit dazed.

  I swatted Beck's hand playfully as a sign to put me down, which he did, but not before grabbing a nice handful of my ass. I shot him a sideways glare that he only shrugged in response to.

  I moved to sit at one of the dining table chairs and gestured for everyone else to do the same as I folded my hands under my chin. I was secretly waiting for someone to notice that I had found another dining chair in basement, along with all of the supplies I needed to make my repairs.

  Once everyone was seated, I waited a moment or two more before speaking. I really wanted someone to mention the fucking chair. "Okay, so I thought of another huge question." I watched their guards all go up at once, shutting me out in case I said something that would hurt them all. How had we all come to care so much about each other already? Well, except Eliam, but he was a dick.

  "Calm your tits, it's nothing bad. Well, it's bad, but not like emotionally bad." I rambled.

  Eliam waved is hand in a circular motion. "Get on with it, Ria." He wasn't harsh in the way he said it, which surprised me.

  I put my hands up. "Okay, so how the hell did crazy preacher guy get his hands on a thousands of years old poison?" I just threw the question out there.

  Several of the guys balked, but they all noticeably relaxed. Paranoid, much?

  "Jonas Holden, the mayor, has been on our radar for quite a while now. He seems to be at the center of all the disappearances, deaths, and the sickness that's going around." G
ray says without too much interest. Kellan's face tightened and scrunched in anger, but I pretended not to notice.

  I remembered Drea telling me about the sickness. She mentioned that the doctors knew it was affecting the supramarginal gyrus and the frontal lobe somehow, and that it eventually caused rapid swelling of the brain, but couldn't quite isolate anything in particular that would or could cause the issues. The people affected by the sickness basically became mindless zombies until they fell into a coma and eventually died. No one had survived thus far, but everyone was hopeful.

  "I know about the sickness, but tell me how the mayor fits in to my question." I urged.

  Eliam was sitting at the opposite end from me, mimicking my posture. I hoped he had noticed the chair. When he glanced at the table in front of me and then back at my face, I knew it. He had totally noticed the chair. "Holden has been the last person to interact with every single person who has been affected by the sickness. Incidentally," he added." He was also there and seen speaking with Father Belvieu just moments before your incident occurred." He stated it all so matter-of-factly that I almost forgot who was in charge of the impromptu conference in the first place.

  I shook my head a little to clear it and looked back up at the guys. "So, you think that the mayor gave psycho preacher the knife-"

  "Athame." Rafe corrected.

  I nodded in his direction, acknowledging him. "You think that Jonas Holden gave psycho preacher the athame that he used to poison me?" I hadn't even finished my question when every single person at the table nodded vehemently. "And you firmly believe the sickness is Sin related, I'm assuming?" Once again, everyone nodded.

  "It's only logical to assume that he is at the heart of it all." Gatlin agreed.

  I noted that Kellan was being more quiet and brooding than usual, so I glanced down the table at him where he sat to Eliam's left. He was staring down at the table with straight up anger in his eyes, his hands clenched into tight fists.

  I looked at the rest of the guys and then pointedly at the human - or, non-human, I supposed - skyscraper. Everyone seemed to get the message loud and clear, thankfully.

  "Alright, that's it for now. I have a lot to think over. And I think I need a stiff drink after today." I added the last part with a grin and everyone groaned. "Oh, come on! I'm a fun drunk." I winked at the guys and got up from my chair - the chair that only one fucking person noticed - and started for the living room, where I fully intended to jump back into my new favourite video game of all time.

  Just when I had reached the couch, I heard Eliam from the kitchen. "Hey, have we always had seven chairs?" His question started the other guys in, debating whether or not the chair had been there the entire time or not. I wouldn't tell him, but I was secretly grateful as all hell for the small gesture. My heart was soaring over something as simple as an extra chair, and I felt like I was walking on air.

  * * *

  It was dark by the time Drea showed up, Chinese take out in hand and confusion all over her face.

  "Uh, did you guys know that you don't have a front door?" She questioned, making me laugh over my squealing as Gatlin and Beck attempted to tickle me for the controller. We all knew that they could have easily just snagged it from me, so the torture was intentional.

  I swatted at Gatlin's hand for the millionth time as he reached for my sides again. "Oh yeah, someone might want to fix that." I gasped. "Angel, how about you be a dear and fix it? I'm afraid I'm just too small and frail for such a task." I feigned a southern belle faint and he snickered at me.

  "Yeah, sure, so small and frail." He rolled his eyes but got up anyway. "Come on, Kel, let's fix the door for the delicate flower over there." He jabbed his thumb back at me and I fluttered my eyelashes innocently, causing the whole room to erupt in laughter.

  Drea came over and plopped on the couch next to me, blocking Beck's access to me. I stuck my tongue out at him in victory. "Looks like all of you are getting on like white on rice." My bushy-haired best friend chuckled while handing me little white and red boxes of fried, saucy goodness.

  I just grinned at her as I snagged a set of chopsticks from the bag and tucked into a box of chicken fried rice.

  Before I knew what had happened, Eliam was reaching around me from the back of the sofa and grabbing the controller from my lap. "Hey!" I objected around a mouthful.

  He smirked at me as he waved the controller over my head. "I don't get a turn, then?" He asked, pretend hurt in his voice and eyes.

  I narrowed my eyes at him in return. "Sure, you can have a turn if you're actually wanting to play and not just stage an intervention." I told him, wagging my chopsticks in his direction.

  He shook his head as he walked around the couch to sit on my other side. "We've created a monster." He mumbled, making me laugh.

  As it turned out, there was someone worse at video games than me, and of course it had to be the most prideful person in the entire room. An entire hour was spent trying to help Eliam master the addictive game over dinner, but he just wouldn't take our advice, go figure.

  "The circle is closing in on a wooded area, so set up the launchpad!" I all but shouted at him as he ran closer and closer to the next circle.

  He glanced at me briefly before ducking behind an absurdly large tree to avoid being spotted by a few players running past. "What do I need the launchpad for?" He demanded.

  I groaned and rubbed a hand over my face. "You need to get up into the trees, Eliam! It'll be harder for them to find and hit you, and you get the surface advantage." I explained, trying to remain calm. "Like those guys on the mountain that shot you down in point two second last game."

  Drea yawned next to me, her few wine coolers apparently more than enough for her.

  "Hey babe, do I need to drive you home?" I asked her quietly as she was falling asleep.

  She shook her head sleepily and smiled up at me. "Don't wanna go home. Sleep here." She snuggled in closer and rested her head right on my boobs, making me laugh.

  "Well, those are mine, so you can't sleep there, but I'll have Kel take you upstairs, okay?"

  Drea nodded against my chest. "'Kay." She mumbled happily.

  I gestured to Kellan to come get her and he quickly obliged, scooping the sleeping girl in his arms like she weighed no more than a kitten, which I doubted she did; she was so small in stature. Kel gave me a quick nod before heading up the stairs to deposit Drea in the guest room.

  I stretched a little and yawned myself. It was so rare that I was tired at night, but the insane events of the day and the night before were likely to blame. While I considered myself to be handling everything well, the guys had still been doing everything in their power to distract me from my own thoughts.

  "Ria." I snapped my attention to Gray and noticed that everyone was looking at me expectantly.

  I cleared my throat and sat up a little straighter. "Uh, yes?" Smooth, very smooth. My inner self taunted. Oh, there she was. I had wondered what she had been up to for the majority of the day. It was nice to have my head be quieter than usual for a change. Maybe she had been having trouble wrapping her head around everything, same as me. Which would make sense, since she was me.

  Gray was staring at me, assessing me. "You're gonna be okay, right?" He looked so concerned. I knew that they likely weren't expecting me to take it very well, so they probably thought I was in denial or something. Hell, maybe I was.

  I smiled reassuringly at everyone. "I'm fine guys, really. It's not like I'm some heroine meant to save the day or something. I'm just a not-so-innocent bystander. I'm cool, promise." I told them all.

  They all collectively sighed in relief and I rolled my eyes. "I am, however, gonna head on up to bed. I'm completely done being in the world of the living." I joked.

  Rafe chuckled and tapped my knee with a fake punch. "Because you're an undead creature of the night?" He guessed.

  "Abso-fucking-lutely." I confirmed with a grin. "Night, guys." I stood up and stretched, then made my way upstair
s.

  But once I was alone and tucked soundly into bed, nightmares of glassy-eyed people and poison coated blades plagued my sleep, and I knew that I wasn't completely okay.

  25

  Ria

  There were a lot of things that I enjoyed in life, I was truthfully very easy to please. However, waking up with the sun was certainly not one of those things that I enjoyed even one tiny bit. After cracking open my eyes and being bombarded with daytime cheeriness, I all but hissed like a vampire before yanking the covers over my head and begging the sunlight to please just go the fuck away.

  Why people eagerly sought out homes with east facing windows was beyond me. Who liked waking up to their retinas burning? Not this girl, that was for sure.

  I could smell coffee, but even the dark, bitter, goodness couldn't rouse me. There wasn't a chance in hell I was stepping foot out into the sunlight this early, lest I instantly crumbled to dust. I could also hear the guys making a ruckus downstairs and contemplated how worth it it would be to spend the rest of my life in a state pen.

  The thought really made me stop and think. If that horrible poison was the only way to harm a Sin, it didn't seem like there was a way for them to die. And if that was the case, why were the guys - especially Eliam - so hesitant to even mention their seventh? If they couldn't die, they were either lying to me, or something worse had happened.

  My paranoia was starting to get to me as I huddled in my little blanket cave. My inner self poked her annoying head around a corner in my head to glare in my direction. Which was all directions, I suppose, since it's my head. Stop overthinking shit. You can't change what's already been done. She snapped at me.

  Okay, yeah, but that doesn't change what could happen. Whatever happened to the seventh could still happen to one of my guys. I thought angrily back at her, feeling like pulling my hair out.