Page 37 of The Devil and His Goddess (Sinners Do It Better #2)

Harper

ICY TERROR COATED MY INSIDES. My hands shook as I stared at the name on my phone, and almost against my will, I swiped to answer the call. It was like seeing a disaster on the side of the road. You knew you shouldn’t look, but the horror snagged you, unrelenting in its grip on you.

Could I answer the calls from my family? No. But my mind was willing to torture me further by accepting this one? Apparently so. I knew I shouldn’t answer, but I couldn’t stop myself.

I held my breath when I brought the device to my ear. I didn’t speak. I couldn’t, even as a thousand words cycled through my head.

Silence filled the other end before a soft, choked voice called out, “Harper? Are you there?”

I bit the inside of my cheek as my breath heaved in my chest.

“Look,” Mandi whimpered from the other end, “I really hope you can hear me. I … I need to talk to you. Please. I-I-I really, really need to talk to you. Can we meet?”

Nausea rolled through my insides, and when I tried to make words, they only got stuck in my throat.

“We can meet at the coffee shop near work,” Mandi barreled on, sniffling into the phone. “Please? I’ll buy you a drink.”

Buy me a drink? Buy me a drink ? I wanted to scream bitterly in her face. The last time I’d accepted a drink from her …

“What do you want?” I managed to choke out.

A sigh of relief came from the other end. “I just want to talk. I think we both could use it.”

There was nothing Mandi could offer me that would change what had happened. There was nothing she could do to fix what she’d helped to break. But there was one thing she could do—tell me why.

It was only because I wanted to know why she’d done this that I found myself sitting at a small table, a cup of untouched coffee in front of me with a fidgeting Mandi across from me.

“Thank you for coming out,” Mandi said, tucking some blonde hair behind her ear. She waved her hand at the crutches leaned against the wall by her chair. “I’m sure you’ve heard about my leg.”

“I heard,” I replied flatly.

Tears welled in her eyes, and she quickly swiped beneath them. “The doctors said I won’t be able to dance again, even if the injury recovered perfectly. My leg is ruined, Harper. My life is completely fucking ruined.”

There was no pity for her to be found inside of me. As she blubbered and complained about her situation, my fingers curled on the tabletop with an overwhelming need to slap her.

Her leg was ruined? Her life was ruined? The thoughts made me want to laugh out of spite.

“Did you call me here just to bitch about your leg?” I asked, uncaring that the question came out nasty.

She sipped on her coffee and shook her head, the misery not leaving her face. She tugged on the sleeve of her sweater and asked softly, “W-Why didn’t you call the cops? I’ve been expecting them to show up at my house all this time.”

“The justice they offer wouldn’t be good enough for me,” I snarled, thinking about the fate in store for Drake and all Perseus had already done to ruin Mandi’s life.

She sniffled, and her cloudy brown eyes squeezed shut. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing now?”

“The Father at my church said I can atone for my sins by seeking your forgiveness. He said my bad luck and my leg are God’s punishment for helping Drake. Maybe my life will get back on track if I make amends for what I’ve done.”

The idea would’ve been laughable if it didn’t hurt so much. Even when reaching out to apologize, it was for her own benefit and reward. It was to alleviate her guilt and suffering instead of offering any sort of reprieve to the one she’d hurt.

But what had I expected? This was Mandi .

“Why did you do it?” I gritted out and dug my fingernails into my palm. “Why did you help him—”

I couldn’t finish the sentence. The words choked me until I had to sit and breathe through all of the bitter pain swirling around my gut.

Her head continued its stupid shaking, as if she could make all of this go away if she shook it a bit longer. “I-I didn’t know what he was going to do until after he’d done it. I—”

“You didn’t know what he planned on doing to me?” I hissed. “Why the hell would he want you to get me alone and drugged, Mandi? Don’t act stupid now when you never have been before. And what the fuck does it even matter what he had planned? You knew he was up to no good, but you still helped him.”

Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, and she ducked her head. “I just wanted to be the star without your shadow constantly looming over me.”

My entire being froze, and I stared wide-eyed at her. What ? Fire zipped through my body, incinerating the numbness under the rush of anger.

“I wanted to have my moment without everyone comparing me to you,” she barrelled on. “I-I wanted to knock you down a little so you knew how it felt to be less than me for once. That’s all . I didn’t know he’d—he’d, you know … I hoped he’d scare you enough to shake you up at work. That’s it. I didn’t—”

I grabbed my hot coffee and shot to my feet, turning the cup over her head. She yelped, and the café went quiet as the brown brew dripped down her light hair and face, staining her clothes. She stared up at me in disbelief, mouth hanging open and red eyes bulging.

“Poor you, Mandi. Poor fucking you. Your leg is hurt? You just wanted to beat me?”

My life had been destroyed over some petty need to exceed me in ballet? I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t stand that all it took for her to aid in my assault was a competition she’d built in her own head.

I tossed the empty paper cup at her, smacking her in the chest. “You can’t make amends, Mandi. Not because second chances aren’t possible, but because you will always be a selfish bitch.”

I grabbed my bag and started to leave, pausing only long enough to add, “And if it wasn’t obvious, you aren’t forgiven. You and your Father can shove that idea right up your fucking asses, because your life falling into shambles isn’t God’s punishment. It’s Hell’s. Don’t ever contact me again.”