Chapter 33: The curse of death

"Sin," I said, lightly touching his arm, my eyes darting between his and the road in front of us.

"Not now, Annalise."

I swallowed. "I just need to make sure you will be fine. For Angel. Who is going to protect her if something happens to you?"

"That is exactly what I am doing. Protecting her."

Before I could say a word, we turned into the hotel we had left this morning. My heart skipped a beat as the car came to a stop, and Sin grabbed the hammer, then walked out, his steps brisk and stiff.

I followed behind him, my heart thumping in my chest, my fingers lightly trembling. We had just walked past the receptionist when we saw Larissa. She was with three men, a big smile on her face.

Sin stopped, and I turned to him. His eyes had thinned even further, his lips pursed in a defiant straight line.

Suddenly, one of the men turned to us, and he turned back to Larissa. She immediately looked up to us, her lips slightly parting as she held Sin's gaze.

Slowly, she turned away from him, her eyes blinking rapidly as she swallowed. I could see the thick layer of guilt in her eyes and the way she seemed a little uncomfortable in her own skin.

For a whole minute, Sin didn't move, his eyes just fixed on Larissa, one hand holding the hammer, the other tucked in his pocket.

Slowly, he started to walk further, and I knew I should stay back. Sin wouldn't hurt a woman, but if Larissa was aware of that creep being sent over to Angel, then maybe she did deserve to be hurt.

Sin's steps were slow, and he soon got in front of her. The men moved away as he towered above Larissa, his eyes thin.

"Did you invite me here, just so you could have a creep stalk my daughter?"

The question was slow, intentional, and Larissa cleared her throat, then met his eyes. I saw how hard he was holding the hammer now.

She sighed. "I don't..."

"Did you insist I come here, Larissa, just to make a man go over to my daughter?"

She closed her eyes briefly, then met his eyes. "It is your fault, Sin. You were destroying Dante. He needed help. And Sin, Chloe is my daughter too. That creep was just to scare you and not..."

It all happened in a flash, as Sin grabbed Larissa by the neck, pulling her backward, till she hit the wall, her eyes wide.

"Sin!"

"You are even worse than I thought," he said, and for the first time, I felt his voice crack.

It was probably so hard to watch the woman he had once loved become such an unrecognizable monster.

She swallowed hard. "What are you going to do? Kill me? Are you going to kill me?"

"If I have to," Sin said matter of factly. "I hate that you are her mother. How could you do this to your own child?"

"I was saving your friendship! You were destroying the only people who would stay with you, and I needed to make sure you..."

Sin suddenly let her go like a rag doll to the floor. She had already gone red, her eyes wide and popping out of their sockets, her tongue stuck out as she tried to breathe.

He slowly leaned to her, then brought the hammer right to her eyes. "Guess who's blood this is."

Her eyes widened in shock, and she met his eyes. "What have you done?"

"I killed him," Sin answered. "I killed him for even thinking of my daughter in a womanly way when she is nothing but a child. And I will keep it up until I have enough, and I kill you too, Larissa."

She swallowed hard, her eyes darting between him and the hammer. Slowly, he put it away, then raised her chin to meet his.

"I can't punish you right now, but I will. You said you wanted Aldo back. He will be back tomorrow. I sure hope you will like what you see."

He stood up, then turned away, leaving the hammer right at her feet.

"Sin!"

She suddenly yelled, her eyes wide. Sin turned to her as she stood up, her breath heaving.

"You are doing this to us. Me, Aldo, my father, Dante, and even Callum because you think you are more powerful, huh? Guess who is even more powerful than you, Sin. Death. I hope your daughter dies, Sin. I hope you lose her in the most horrible way and you are broken forever. I hope you never have another child as long as you don't understand the suffering of our parents, of the parents of the man you just killed. I may have given birth to her myself, but I curse her with death tonight, Sin. In front of you! The same way you killed that man! Chloe will die, Sin. I swear it!"

I turned to Sin, whose eyes had darkened with hate and a thin layer of helplessness. I doubt there was much to say to that. I had thought my mother was a rotten bitch, but wow.

Sin let out a small breath, and I decided to put him out of his misery. With slow, determined steps, I covered the distance to Larissa, then clenched my fingers into a fist. Without letting my thoughts take over, I punched her right on the nose, causing her to fall back, a bit of blood spilling in front of me.

She fell to the floor, her hair sprawled all over, her hand covering her nose.

"She won't die, Larissa. You top the list of bitchy women who never should have been mothers, even though one of them did give birth to me. Angel will not die. As for Chloe, she is already dead. Chloe is your illicit child, Angel is her father's daughter, and she will outlive you. That is a promise."

I turned away, and my eyes met Sin's. What I saw in them made the soreness of my knuckles worth it. I saw a thin layer of tears, glistening under the massive chandelier lights.