Branded (Sinners, #1)

“What were you screaming about anyway? It was terrifying,” he says.

I knew he’d ask eventually. “Please, not now. I’m fine—really I am,” I say, but he persists.

“No, I’ve never heard you scream like that, ever. Not even when you were branded.” I push away from him, stunned.

“You saw my branding? Why didn’t you tell me before?” My face flushes red with the humiliating memory. I want to run out of this room and never look back. He grabs my hands. I shake them away.

“Just listen to me for a second,” he says.

“Just stop. Not now, I just want to rest. Please, just leave me alone.” I curl my legs to my chest, wrapping my arms around them.

He leans forward. “Just let me say what I need to say. Then I’ll shut up, okay?”

“Okay,” I say with hesitation.

“I’m a guard. You’re my assignment. I had to watch you from the moment you came into the compound. It’s an order, and I had to follow it. I didn’t know you then. I only knew of your sin and that I was your escort.” I don’t take my eyes off the wall. “It wasn’t my choice. I know you won’t believe me, but I’m going to tell you anyway. I saw the pain they inflicted on you and I have no desire to watch anyone go through that again. It’s sickening. When I joined the guards, I thought things would be different. I had the impression that what I was ordered to do was for the best. I was ordered to come, ordered to do my job, so I did.” He bites his lip and then continues his passionate rant. “I believe there was a reason I was placed here. I know there are good people here. Innocent people. They shouldn’t be here. Lexi, you shouldn’t be here.” My heart thaws, letting him in. “I have to act as if I don’t care. The other guards, some of them watch, and he watches. The commander has hidden cameras—” I hold up my hand to stop him.

“Wait, he watches us? He records us for his pleasure? Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“You were a prisoner, so I didn’t tell you, but everyone knows. He has cameras hidden in the streets so he can watch. He loves the power and some of the guards get off on it. Thankfully, he can’t bug every room since there’s too many people in the Hole.” He slides over, taking my chin. He lifts until I look at him. “Promise me you won’t say anything. Not only would they kill you, they’d kill everyone you have contact with here,” he says with disgust.

“Including you and Zeus?”

He nods his head. “Yes, including us.”

“Does he have cameras inside our rooms?”

“No, he only watches the streets. People would find ways to damage cameras if they were obvious,” he says. We hold each other’s stare for a few seconds until Zeus barks. We both jump and look at him, but he’s asleep.

“You should sleep.”

“Like that’s possible now,” I say with sarcasm. My mind runs a marathon. He stands up to move and I grab his shirt. “Please don’t leave.”

“I’m not leaving, just going back on the floor. I’ll be right here if you need me,” he says, but I don’t release his shirt. I lift the blanket up. He looks at me, and knows what I’m asking him to do. He climbs in, turns the light off, and rolls on his side with his back toward me.

“Cole,” I whisper, “for some reason I believe you. You haven’t really given me a reason to distrust you.”

He reaches back, grabs my hand, and squeezes. “Thank you. That means a lot.”





CHAPTER 10


The piercing siren blares outside Cole’s window, reverberating through my temples. He faces me, eyes open and my right arm lies across his chest. Sometime during the night, I’m guessing I pulled him toward me. Or he just realized what happened.

“I better get ready. I still have training,” he says as he backs away.

I feel like a line was crossed last night, but maybe I’m wrong. “What on earth am I supposed to do while you’re gone?” I sit up on one elbow, fearing the thought of being alone.

“Well, Sutton asked Bruno to stand in my place whenever I have to be away from you. We both agreed that leaving you alone for even a split second is way too risky. Everyone seems out to get you, but I promise I won’t let that happen.”

“Wait a minute. Who’s Bruno?” I sit up and see the mess Zeus made of everything last night. He didn’t just shred my blanket—he completely annihilated it. “Zeus, what did you do?” He looks up and I can’t help but laugh. Pieces of cloth hang from both sides of his head and he gives me a guilty look. He’s busted.

“He’s a friend of Sutton. They go way back and since Sutton trusts him, so do I.” Cole goes into the bathroom and closes the door. “He should be here any minute.”

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