Sinless (Deadly Omen Book 1) Read online

  Then she slapped our oldest brother in the face.

  Every single one of our jaws dropped to the floor, except Eliam. Even Gray had woken himself long enough to see it all go down.

  “How dare you?” She hissed at him, her voice quiet and deadly, and admittedly sexy as hell. “I didn’t choose to be here with you, but a stranger was kind enough to offer me a place to stay during a very difficult time in my life. I don’t need your bullshit, you pig!”

  She spat the last word in his face and fled the room, squeezing past Kel and Beck, and rushing up the stairs.

  When I had first seen her the night before, I hadn’t meant to be so scary. Her presence just caught me off guard, and I had no idea who she was or how she got there. I should have known it was the old crone playing her games, but I really didn’t know, and I had never done well with the unknown. But what Eliam just said… He deserved more than a slap from a woman who’s strength was nowhere near rivaling his own.

  For a long moment, we all sat in silence, but then four of us were taking off up the stairs.

  As started up the stairs, I could hear Gray’s voice floating from the kitchen, full of distaste and pity, much more than our brother deserved.

  “What the hell did you just do, man?”

  And then I joined the rest of the guys at her bathroom door, pacing relentlessly, clenching and unclenching my fists as I struggled with what I should – or could – even do in a situation like this, one I had never been in before. All I could do was attempt to control the beast, the rage inside me, while hearing her tears and being helpless to stop them.

  8

  Ria

  I don’t like crying. Aside from the obvious red nose, swollen eyes, and puffy cheeks, I had another big reason to not ever cry, no matter how bad things got.

  I heaved heavily into the toilet beside me, by stomach contracting painfully as my delicious coffee was forced from my body by sadness.

  Misery might love company, but sadness loved to be completely alone.

  The banging and shouting outside the door had stopped, but the guys had started murmuring amongst themselves, and I could hear one of them pacing irritably in front of the door.

  I didn’t want to see anyone right now. I wasn’t so much upset by Eliam’s quick dismissal of me as I was that it had kind of struck me that I just wasn’t the type of girl that guys wanted around for casual reasons. If I wasn’t naked, drunk, or both no one gave a damn.

  “I don’t dislike you, but I really don’t want you here…”

  The words echoed around in my head for what felt like an eternity, fading away as I dry heaved over the toilet and returning just as I found the river of tears slowing, forcing me to repeat the vicious cycle. After the seventh or eighth time the tears came back my breath started becoming shallow and desperate, my heart racing as I struggled for air. The panic attack was grabbing at me, and no matter how many times my inner self tried to force it away, it just kept coming.

  My vision was becoming hazy and black around the edges when I heard a metallic sound somewhere nearby, and I leaned my body up against the cabinets to keep from cracking my head open when I passed out. Darkness sounded nice right about now.

  A figure crashed into the bathroom and fell in front of me, but I couldn’t make out any features as my focus was solely on trying to steady my breathing.

  “Ria.” A calm, soft voice called out to me, laced with a strange accent that I was having issues identifying at the time. “Ria, are you okay?”

  I couldn’t bring myself to form words, so I simply shook my head limply, closing my eyes to avoid dizziness.

  “Ria, just listen to my voice. You’re going to be alright. Can you hear me?” The voice pressed on, calming my distressed nerves a little.

  I nodded lightly, careful not to jostle my enraged stomach.

  I felt a warm pressure on each of my hands in my lap, little soothing jolts of electricity weaving their way through my veins. I know I should have been alarmed, but having a panic attack makes just about anything seem normal.

  “I’m going to count now, and I need you to start counting with me when you feel like you can, okay?” I nodded again and the voice started counting.

  His voice was soothing in a strange sort of way, the words slow and emphasized in strange places. My muddled brain was trying to make sense of everything that was happening and who was sitting on the floor with me, but I was having a hard time forcing coherent thoughts to form.

  Eleven.

  Twelve.

  Thirteen.

  Fourteen.

  I snapped my eyes open, my vision suddenly clear as I drew in a deep, steady breath. “Gray?” I asked in surprise.

  “Just count with me.” He instructed quietly, his hands warm and soft around my own. I took a moment to analyze him again, noting the raggedness about him and warm look in his amber eyes.

  I shook my head. “I feel fine now.” I told him gently, attempting to withdraw my hands.

  He held on tighter and stared into my eyes like he could find the answer to life within them. “You had us scared, Ria. We heard you, and then you went quiet.” He genuinely did look worried and it warmed my heart a little. Who cared what Eliam thought as long as I had those beautiful eyes to look at.

  I gave him a small smile. “I could have been naked.”

  Gray gave me a cheeky grin. “But you weren’t.” He reminded me.

  “But I could have been.” I leveled a mock glare at him, still smiling to show I was absolutely not the least bit upset. I mean. I was kind of upset that he had picked the lock on my bathroom door, but thankful all the same.

  A throat cleared from the doorway. “And then we would have had ourselves a party.” Beck said as he grinned like a Cheshire cat.

  I extracted one of my hands from Gray’s grasp and pulled the hand towel from the counter. I raised an eyebrow at Beck, who raised one back as I threw the wadded up towel in his face. “Perv.” I said with a roll of my eyes.

  He chuckled. “I’ll be back in the room with the guys.” He told Gray before turning to me again. “Unless you want to take me up on that party?” He wiggled his brows and backed out of the doorway with his hands up as I searched for something heavier to throw.

  Gray looked at me with a smile on his face and worry in his eyes. “Are you okay now?” He asked, squeezing the hand he still possessed.

  I nodded my affirmation. “How did you do that?” I asked out of curiosity.

  His smile turned sad for a moment. “I have a lot of experience with women and panic attacks.” He got to his feet and hauled me up with him, holding onto my waist for a few seconds to make sure I had my balance. “Do you want me to get the guys out? They just want to make sure you’re okay.” He nodded to the open door, where I could see four frustrated-looking, giant, ripped, sexy as hell guys looking everywhere but in my direction.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat and shook my head. I needed to let them know I was fine, and then I needed to figure out my next move. I wasn’t about to stick around some place where even one dickhead didn’t want me around. I was better than that.

  My inner self and I squared our shoulders and took a deep breath as I forced my legs to move. I walked through the open doorway and flopped down on my bed, staring up at the canopy for a second before sitting up.

  “I’m okay.” I said to the worried faces that were now staring me down.

  The angel – sorry, Gatlin – stepped closer to me, looking concerned. “He had no right to say that shit, Ria.” He said, practically growling the words out between clenched teeth.

  “We’re all pretty fucking pissed at him right now.” Rafe chimed in, his beautifully tan face hard with anger. The room filled with varying sounds of agreement.

  This was getting out of hand. These guys barely knew me and had no reason to be putting my feelings above their own brother (friend?).

  “Guys, I think it’s super sweet that you’re all mad on my behalf, but don’t be.”
I said, raising my hand to silence the argumentative sounds that sprang up from the group. “I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I can come up with a game plan.” Gatlin looked downright furious, Rafe looked annoyed, Gray just looked sad, Beck looked like he was in denial, and Kellan looked confused. It was all super endearing, but I really didn’t like being anywhere that I wasn’t wanted; I had an insatiable need to be wanted, and I absolutely did know that it was insane. I was already probably insane anyway.

  “You’re not going anywhere, Little Star.” A borderline annoying voice stated from my bedroom door.

  I threw my hands up in the air. “Doesn’t anybody ever fucking knock?” I shouted in exasperation. I rubbed my temples to ease some of the tension headache that was starting to form.

  Clove ignored me completely and strode between the men that towered over her to sit beside me on the bed. “Eliam, that dear boy, he’s very sorry for what he said. He doesn’t always say what he means.” She started rubbing small circles on my back, and Kellan handed me the two asprin that were still sitting on my bedside table. I gave him a grateful smile before swallowing the tablets quickly.

  Rafe looked completely taken aback. “E apologized?” He asked, completely bewildered.

  Clove snorted. “Of course not. That boy has more pride than all of the Sahara.” She said while shaking her head with an amused chuckle. “No, but he made it very clear that he would like me to come clear up any misunderstandings, which I think is as close as we might get to an apology from him.”

  I looked at her warily, while she stared on at the boys with a small smile. “What misunderstandings?”

  She turned back to face me. “Well, dear, it’s come to my attention that I neglected to introduce you all, and that’s only partially my fault.” She stated, now shooting glares at the guys. “They were supposed to be out of town, but they evidently came back early. I could swear that I told you there were other residents, though.” She mused.

  I looked at her like she had grown a second and third head while the guys looked at me in confusion. “What? When?” I asked. I know for sure that if she had mentioned six guys that were too attractive to possibly exist in this reality, I would have remembered it.

  She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I believe it was when I was giving you the tour.” She said, nodding in agreement with her own statement.

  Okay, maybe I wouldn’t remember it. I was a little obsessed with looking at the house, and I knew she had said a few things, but they mostly sounded trivial. Oops. “I don’t recall.” I admitted.

  The old woman patted my back gently. “No, no, it’s likely my old memory. I tend to be very forgetful when it comes to this lot, as you can imagine.” She whispered the last sentence with a wink and I nearly laughed. How anyone could forget these guys was beyond me. Maybe forgetting things around them, but not forgetting about them.

  “Anyway,” Clove continued on while standing and stretching like she had been lounging on a couch all day. “I really must be going. The very best to you all.” She gave a short little wave and disappeared through the open doorway.

  I stared after her as silence descended on my bedroom, the awkwardness threatening to completely overtake me.

  My inner self was glaring me down as though she couldn’t be more disappointed in me if she tried. I obviously stared questioningly back at her, since it wasn’t my fault that the house was too pretty not to admire or that I had an insane panic attack on the bathroom floor.

  She dressed herself in a slinky outfit and strutted around in it, striking poses as she went. I rolled my eyes at her – mentally, of course. She indicated herself and then me. Which was still me, but you get the idea.

  There she was, a regal seductress with the power to captivate.

  And there I was, pathetic, heartbroken, and way more weak-willed than I had ever been.

  I understood what she was trying to say, but it was hard to channel her when I felt like the very fabric of my world had been burned to shreds, leaving nothing but ash and sadness where my light had once been.

  She stomped around while equipping herself with an outfit that was well suited for a midnight rendezvous with the mafia or something, all black leather and badassery.

  Her message was loud and clear.

  Kick some ass.

  I knew that I was better than this sad, mopey shell I had become, but I just got dumped and wasn’t in the mood to be awesome, despite how much my inner self insisted that I should be. What did she know, anyway?

  Before L – He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named showed up, I was fine. Hell, I was way more than fine. It sucked to come home to an empty house every night, but I was still happy with the way my life was.

  I put my own happiness in someone else’s hands and I couldn’t stand myself for it.

  There, the truth was out.

  He hurt me because I gave him the power to hurt me, and I wasn’t so much upset about the way things ended as I was that I let things get so bad, that I didn’t wear my heart on my sleeve, but handed it over along with a hammer.

  The only reason I got hurt was because I was selfish and stupid to think that he was my perfect match. And that made me pretty fucking pissed off at myself.

  Progress, right?

  Someone cleared their throat, but I wasn’t paying attention in all my internal seething and berating. “I’m not really sure how many looks just crossed her face, but pissed isn’t a good sign, is it?” The throat clearer asked.

  A familiar, clean and crisp scent washed over me as I stared angrily at my bedspread, like it was the root of my deep-seated issues. “I think she’s just mentally talking herself up. It’s easier to do it inside than out, right?” He directed that last part at me, but I was really interested in how the red, satiny fabric beneath me had wronged me. “It’s all perfectly normal as long as you’re not answering yourself.” He said with a chuckled that he didn’t know was ironic.

  I snorted and straightened, jumping up from the bed. I shot Gray what I hoped was a thankful glance, because I wasn’t sure I could trust my face to do my actual bidding after he just unknowingly reassured me that I am, in fact, crazy.

  “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen.” I stated while standing a little taller, my eyes raking over each of the five faces around me. “I’m staying, and I’m doing it because I want to. Not a single one of you has the power to make me leave, and I’m not giving you any. Eliam can shove that stick up his ass a little deeper, because I’m not about to get pushed around by some prissy nobody.” I finished, crossing my arms to look a little more commanding than my smallish stature insinuated.

  A slow clap sounded at my door way, and my eyes shot to the lean figure that was propped against the frame. “Delightful sentiment. Delivery could use a little work.” Eliam drawled.

  I was about to deliver a good kick to his crown jewels, and even opened my mouth to tell him so, when another voice interrupted.

  “Look, we’re all obviously on edge, but it’s way too damn early in the day for this shit.” Rafe said. I heard a dull metal thunk as he spoke and made a mental note to observe for a tongue piercing later. “My time is valuable, and I’d really rather not waste it on keeping you two from jumping each other’s bones out of pure ‘hatred’.”

  “In his dreams!” I practically screeched as Eliam echoed the sentiment simultaneously. Obviously with different pronouns, because if that bastard had called me a he I would have lost my shit for real.

  I could practically see the loathing radiating from my own skin as the other guys nodded their agreement with Rafe and began leaving the room, each calling out some version of “see you later”.

  I didn’t take my eyes off Eliam once and he stared back with frightening intensity. Not that I was frightened, because I could have beaten this asswipe black and blue if his brothers hadn’t just been so kind.

  Eliam was the first to break eye contact, but it was only a nanosecond before his eyes were raking over my entire body, somewhat apprecia
tively.

  Then he smirked as he pushed away from his perch. “Things just got very interesting.” He said as he turned his back and strode from my room, leaving me alone

  9

  Ria

  I paced angrily in my room for the next twenty minutes or so, considering all the possible ways that I could feasible murder a certain giant, sexy, blonde pile of flesh. Seriously, fuck that guy. Who did he think he was? And the way he was eavesdropping was creepy, not to mention stalkerish.

  Ew.

  I decided to shower and dress for the day, since I had hours of sunlight at my disposal. Stepping into the bathroom, I searched quickly for a towel and nodded as I found one, grabbing shampoo, conditioner, and body wash from the little shopping bag tucked into my suitcase.

  I adjusted the temperature and nearly moaned when the water turned hot almost instantly. Being the badass freak of the night that I was, I liked my water to come straight from the fiery pits of hell.

  Peeling myself out of my clothes, I stepped into the stream of disturbingly hot water and relaxed almost instantly. I sat down in the basin of the tub and just let the water do its magical thing, releasing the tension and knots in my muscles that I didn’t know were there.

  Two fucking days.

  All it took was two fucking days for me to be brought to the edge of completely losing it. The amount of hot – and do I ever mean hot – and cold that I’d endured in such a short amount of time was overwhelming, not to mention exhausting and completely mind-fucking.

  My mind tried to recap everything since the night I left my house, but I wasn’t having any of that shit. I just started getting back to myself. I leaned back in the tub and forced myself to focus on the present. Not much better.