Page 47 of Atone

Skimming my fingers over the maple desk, I slowly circle until I’m on the opposite side. Three knives are displayed at the corner, with the smallest at the top and the largest at the bottom. A plaque at the base reads:From sin we are born, and through sin we are revealed.

Something dark weaves up my nerves as I graze my fingers over the handles. Nothing but evil resides in these blades. I’m sure of it.

As I’m brushing over one of the ivory hilts, the door clicks behind me.

On instinct, I grab the handle of the top blade and spin where I stand. My arm is twisting back before I can think, and I plunge the knife forward through the air. It flies from my grip with perfect aim, lodging itself into the now closed door, right beside Alex’s gorgeously annoying face.

My eyes instantly narrow. Which he must find amusing because his shadowed smirk brightens with the faintest hint of mirth.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people.” I clench my fists.

He tilts his head. “And you shouldn’t keep going places you don’t belong.”

Heat drains from my cheeks.

My eyes widen.

Maybe someone slipped something directly into the vodka bottle because I must be hallucinating.

Either that, or Alex just spoke to me.

My ears swim as I try to process the deep, rough tenor of his tone. Clipped at the end. Choppy and out of practice. Like his voice has been trapped in his chest until this moment when he cut it out.

Alex spoke to me.

“You just said something.” It’s so quiet I barely feel the words escape with my breath.

Like confessing a secret.

He nods, his expression not faltering the slightest as he grabs the knife handle beside his head and pulls the blade free.

My heart hammers as he slowly steps forward.

Alex has never scared me until this very moment. There’s something about the way he’s looking at me like I’m his prey. Like he’ll dislodge his jaw and swallow me whole if I’m not careful.

I swallow hard when he pauses a foot away from me with the knife still firm in his grip. My fingers toy with the blade hidden at my thigh. I’m itching to grab the handle and defend myself if the situation turns.

After all, how well do I really know Alex?

Fascination isn’t friendship. And if anything, all he’s done is prove I shouldn’t trust him.

Alex leans forward, setting the knife on the desk.

It brings his body so close to mine that I can’t breathe without reliving every second I’ve spent thinking about him these past few weeks. His chest is millimeters away from grazing my breasts, and my nipples peak with anticipation.

“So it’s true then—you can speak. You just choose not to?”

He clicks his tongue. “I didn’t say that.”

“You don’t say much of anything.” I huff, knowing it’s rude and not giving a shit in this moment because I’m tired of him fucking with me.

Storms brew in his eyes. A gale drowning the green in gold at my snippy comment. He doesn’t like my attitude.

“I guess I know the secrets of the mysterious Alex Lancaster now,” I continue, purposely taunting him. “So are you just going to stand there staring at me, or are you going to kick me out?”

I’m testing the boundaries of a man I probably shouldn’t. One who has fooled everyone into thinking he can’t speak. That he’s lost his mind. While I stare into his eyes now, seeing perfect clarity.

In the fraternity built from sin, he’s exactly who he always was, even if I didn’t want to see it.