Page 69 of Lawless Sinners

My skin begins to itch.

It’s the feeling of being in a place that doesn’t belong to me, surrounded by walls that aren’t scuffed stable boards. There’s no sweet smell of hay or the comfort of my family. I need my own bed, my own locked door, my own grief without anyone looking at it.

So, I sit up, scoot off the bed, and put my boots on.

I slip out of Eilish’s room and head down the stairs, ignoring the two security men in the hall who straighten when they see me.

“Miss Tallon,” one says.

I keep walking.

The night air nips at my skin, icy and damp against my hot face.

I pull my jacket tighter around myself and jog toward my car, passing a line of parked Kinnane vehicles. When I reach the driver's side, I shove my hand into my jeans pocket for my keys.

I check the other pocket, then my jacket pockets, my temper climbing.

Fuck my life. The keys are upstairs in Eilish’s bedroom.

“Fuck you.” I curl my hand into a fist and thump the car window.

Pain bursts across my knuckles.

“Motherfucker.”

The word tears out of me as I fist the glass again because the pain in my hand makes me feel something else.

My breath shudders.

I press both hands to the cold window and lower my head as the first sob escapes on a tattered breath.

Then another comes, and I let it all out. Hating myself for the weakness but too torn up to stop.

“What’s wrong, Sera?”

Fionn’s voice slips over my shoulder, and I hurry to wipe my face, breathing hard.

“Nothing,” I choke out, keeping my back to him.

“Then why are you crying?”

“I’m not.”

I sense him before he reaches me. The heat of his body at my back and that awful Harrington calmness pressing against the worst night of my life.

His hands wrap around my arms, and I go rigid.

He turns me into him, and I keep my eyes on the gravel at his feet. With the slightest of touch, he nudges my chin higher and thumbs away a fallen tear.

“See,” he says quietly. “Tears.”

“Go away,” I whisper.

In his silence, he studies my face, his attention lingering on my brow.

“How did you cut yourself?”

I fold my arms across my chest. “Some asshole took a swing at me.”