Page 147 of The Truths We Burn

“Heard about your accident, Toasty. Gotta learn to be more careful around bikes—they get hot.” Rook smirks, only pouring fuel on the already roaring flames.

My heart jumps a little as I look at him.

His silver chain necklace catches the sunlight, my attention directed to his exposed chest, where a few buttons of his shirt are undone. The ink adorning his skin is partially visible, enough to make me lick my lips, enough to make me want more.

He arches one dark eyebrow, letting me know he is very aware I’m eye fucking him.

The dark purple dress shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, the black slacks to match straining against the toned muscles in his thighs—it’s not something I’m accustomed to him wearing. But it’s starting to become something I could get used to.

“Aw,” Easton pouts. “Still jealous I fucked her first, or are you still upset that she’s here where she belongs instead of playing pretend with you?”

Rook pushes himself off the doorframe, moving into the space, filling up the room with his presence. I don’t miss the way Easton backs up as he does.

“That’s where you’re misunderstanding, Sinclair,” he says. “She’s never had to pretend to enjoy anything with me.”

His rebellion makes me ache.

He’d gone his entire life being told he was the devil. It was a role he’d accepted, one that could shield him from his pain and the rest of the world. He would always be that; that would never change.

And I had learned to accept the demons inside of him.

However, it doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of more.

Easton turns to me. “Is that the life you want? Slumming it? Being an outcast? I know you don’t want that for yourself, Sage. Pick me, you know I’m right. You choose me and all your problems disappear, but if you go with him, I can’t guarantee you won’t be caught in the crossfire.”

I’ve been told since I came back about how I’d fallen from grace. How I’d become someone completely different than who I used to be. But I think that’s because I’m becoming the person I was always meant to be.

And I want to do that, standing next to the person I was always meant to be with.

This moment is my eternal damnation origin story. Instead of hiding it, I acknowledge for the first time publicly what it is I want. I show him exactly what it is I want for myself.

I walk quietly past Easton, knowing my actions will be enough to give him his answer. I feel his judgmental eyes smite me as I’m cast out of their self-righteous heaven once again.

But they could not throw me from a place I descended from willingly. Not this time.

I stand next to Rook, unsure of what my place beside him means but knowing I want to be there either way.

I look over at him, hellfire eyes blazing, knowing that if he were to tumble from the heavens again, falling like lightning from the sky, I would be the thunder that chased after him.I would stay there with him, in eternal flames as long as it was his fire that licked my body.

He is my Lucifer, and it’s time for me to show him I could be his Lilith.

Rook

I’ve never been afraid of anything.

I told myself that if fear ever arose, I would face it head-on with a smile and a match.

But as soon as an ounce of trepidation came for me, I did the complete opposite. I turned in the other direction, and I ran.

I’ve never been afraid of anything.

Until her.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

The billiard room door shuts behind her loudly, trapping us inside the teakwood-smelling space. I hear the fireplace crack, needing to be stoked, but I ignored it.

“What kind of man am I if I let you show up to your father’s celebration party without a date?” I ask jokingly.