Page 286 of Psycho Gods
“No, a genius named Edgar Allan Poe.” Jinx leaned into our touch and rested her head against the side of the bed. She whispered, “I thought for sure you’d both hate me. I thought”—her voice cracked—“that I’d be completely alone.”
I whispered, “You’re stuck with us.”
Sadie laughed weakly. “We all have our problems.”
Jinx’s face twisted with confusion. “How can you say that? I mutilated your souls?”
Acceptance was a foreign emotion in my chest as I replied, “It happened a long time ago. Crying about it now won’t change anything.”
Sadie sobbed harder and whispered, “I have a confession—once in the beast realm, I enslaved Aran with my blood when she was asleep, and I made her get me food from the kitchen because I was so sore from training, and she doesn’t remember it.”
I rolled my eyes and replied, “Once I found a kitten and gave it to Sadie as a gift, and it kidnapped her.”
Sadie barked with laughter and hiccuped as she remembered how Xerxes had spied on us. The sound was so ridiculous that I chuckled.
“What even is our lives?” she asked between gasps.
“I think we’re lucky,” I whispered, and Sadie looked at me with confusion.
I explained, “At this rate, we probably shouldn’t be alive. But here the three of us are—it’s a miracle.”
Sadie’s lower lip trembled as she thought about it, then she let out a half scream, half sob. “You both are so special,” she wailed loudly.
“You’re ridiculous,” Jinx grumbled, but she reached up and grabbed my frozen hand. Her fingers were heavily bandaged.
“What do we do now?” Sadie asked as she wiped tears from her eyes.
Jinx said, “What we’ve always done.”
“We survive,” I said with conviction.
I pushed Sadie off me so I could sit up. She clung to me dramatically, and I swallowed more laughter because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Something about watching her sob was so funny to me.
Yes. I was a bad person.
Sadie moaned dramatically, “It’s so much work. I’m tired.”
Jinx glared at her.
I looked back and forth between the sister who’d stolen my soul and the sister she’d given it to.
I felt so sun-god-damned lucky.
My soul had been gifted to the one person I was closest to in all the realms. It had made her stronger and helped her survive.
I shuddered to think what Sadie would be without me. I was literally her best friend and the analytical voice inside her head that allowed her to fight well.
Ever had an impact on someone’s life? Same.
“You would be so lost without me.” I grinned at Sadie.
She punched me in the tit, and I yelped.
“Don’t be insensitive.” She sniffed. “This is a very emotional time.”
“Is it really?” I dodged another punch.
The door slammed open, and a towering shadow entered. My adrenaline went through the roof. Without thinking, I flung myself out of the bed and stood protectively in front of Jinx and Sadie.