Page 5 of Wicked Salvation

But then,heappears.

Silas strides toward us with slow, calculated ease. His eyes are on me, of course—trying to pull off some look that is supposed to scare me.

It doesn’t.

Suddenly, there’s a smile plastered on Eden’s face, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. He pulls Eden toward him harshly, slamming her against him. Her fake smile wavers ever so slightly. She looks up at him, then back at me. She’s doing a terrible job trying to fool me.

“Everything alright, love?” he asks, smoothly.

This nut job hasn’t broken eye contact with me.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Her voice is airy. “Lucian and I were just talking about our favourite memories of Vivienne.”

She’s so scared of him she has to lie, but she’s “forgiven” him. I notice the way his shoulders relax when she says that. Even if he does know it’s a lie, it placates him because it means that she’s too afraid of him to tell the truth. He still owns her mind.

Silas finally looks at her, leaning down to kiss her forehead. It stings like a wasp on the back of my neck. “Your parents were just asking for you,” he says. “Let’s go back?”

She nods and then they’re gone—she doesn’t even look back.

Fire explodes through my veins, and I leave the courtyard. There’s nothing else for me here, anyway. I gave Vivienne’s parents my condolences in private. As I did to Marita—I don’t care much for her family because I’m certain they played a part in covering up Vivienne’s death.

That’s the thing with Augustine.

Throwing money at an issue usually gets rid of it.

Well, every issue butme.

The entire walk to my cottage, my thoughts are consumed by Eden. Ihatewhat religion does to girls like her. It teaches themto accept control as care. To mistake obedience for devotion. To believe that sacrificing their life is fucking holy.

It’s taught Eden that accepting Silas’ abuse is her fate.

But Silas won’t just ruin her.

He’ll kill her.

Well, not if I kill him first.

II

EDEN

The aftermath of Vivienne’s death sucks the air out of every room I step in. I wake up each morning to her empty bed, neatly made like she never slept there. Her side of the closet is empty, and so is her side of the bathroom sink.

I no longer open the windows.What’s stopping you from ending up the same way she did?Every time I look at them, Lucian’s words echo in my head—and it hurts that he’s right.

Whoever pushed Vivienne might come for me too.

So I keep the windows closed.

At some point, I started sleeping in her bed. When it was clear I had no intentions of leaving our dorm room, Silas tasked some girl with delivering my meals. I barely eat. My teachers have given me grace as well—emailing me the lectures and accepting electronic copies of my assignments. I can’t tell how much of it is because of my grief, or because of my status, but I’m grateful all the same.

It’s been a week. I know at some point all the courtesies will be gone. They’ll expect me to move on. To get over it. I don’t know if I ever will. How do you keep going on with life when it feels like the world’s stopped spinning?

When I roll out of bed, the clock hanging above the door says it’s midday. My sleep was restless—it feels like my brain was on the entire time, reliving the moments Vivienne and I had.

Especially that stupid argument we had about Silas.

I was so mean to her.