Page 51 of Betrayed By Sin

Axle always knows.

But I don’t need witnesses for this.

“Stay,” I whisper.

His ears twitch, and for a moment, I think he’s going to follow. But then he lowers his head again, exhaling a deep sigh.

Good.

I don’t need anything stopping me.

The cold airbites against my skin as I slip through the back entrance and onto the quiet streets.I move fast,pulling my coat tighter around me, blending into the night like a shadow.

Bria told me he isn’t home.

I don’t know where Sin is, butI know where to start.

The club is a graveyard tonight.

No flashing lights. No bass thudding through the walls. No bodies tangled in rhythm, lost to the chaos of sweat and sound. Just stillness. Just quiet.

I reach for the door, it’s locked.

My pulse kicks up as I rattle the handle, harder than necessary, like force alone might undo the space that’s grown between us. But the door stays shut. The music that once lived here is just a ghost now, a memory in the silence.

He’s not here.

A hot flush of frustration rises in my chest as I step back onto the sidewalk. I don’t know where I’m going. I just move. Feet carrying me forward, the city smeared in lights and noise I can’t hear.

I shouldn’t be doing this.

If he really betrayed me, why am I still chasing shadows? What good is the truth if it only hurts?

But if he didn’t…

If Bria was right.

The thought slices through me like glass.

Hope.

God, it’s dangerous.

But I can’t stop. Not yet.

And then I feel it.

The hair on my armsrises before I even hear his voice.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

I freeze, spinning around.

Sin stands in the shadows, just a few feet away.Watching me.

His hands are tucked into his pockets,his stance deceptively casual, but I know better.The dim streetlights cast golden edges along his sharp features,making him look like something carved from shadow and light.

Something I can’t have.