Sinful Mates 1-3
chapter 149 Forty-Seven

Evelyn's POV

The stream shows April walking through the hospital corridors with a gun in her hand. Aprilwalks up the corridors before walking into a ward out of sight. The live stream continues to playwhen you hear a bang. Ryland switches the TV off and all eyes go to me before I walk over grabbingthe remote from Ryland and turning the TV back on. My heart thumping against my chest as I flickthrough the channels trying to replace the news report again. Ryland tries to take the remote from me,but I snatch it away from him. I need to know; I need to know what happened. Where Lana was, mymind racing the cold tendrils of fear creeping into me, my stomach dropping as I break out in a coldsweat instantly. My hands shaking as I clutch the remote before frantically flicking past the channel.I press the back button, and a news anchor was standing out the front of the hospital. Policeblocking entry to the hospital behind her.

The flashing of police lights flickering against the building as cops were running around tryingto secure the hospital, people running from the building in complete chaos.

“What you just seen on screen was the wife of the well-respected constable Derrick Tanner. Thereports coming from inside is that a double murder, suicide. We believe the youngest victim of thedouble homicide is the adopted daughter, fourteen-year-old, Lana Tanner. The girl has beenresiding with Mrs Tanner while her husband recovers in hospital. It is not known what caused thesudden these sudden events to unfold but it is tragedy we may never understand.”

Three images come on the screen, a picture of April, one of Derrick in his uniform before thefire ravaged him and lastly a picture of Lana. Her beautiful face full of light, the picture-perfect girlnext door. My lungs restrict, my legs buckling underneath me as I stare at the screen. I could see thenews lady talking but no volume as went completely death to my surroundings. I couldn't hear athing going on around me. Couldn't think straight as I stared blankly into space.

This is my fault, I told Thaddeus not to kill her even though he wanted to. That was a mistake, Ikilled the only sister I ever had because I didn’t want to live with the guilt of taking April away fromher. But April not only took her husband's life but that of Lana's before taking her own. I killed her, Iset off the chain of events that lead to her death, if only I listened to them. If only I never went tothat house. If only I told Thaddeus to kill her, Lana would still be here.

My breath coming faster in short puffs with the realization that just dawned on me. I killed her,the closest person to family I ever had was dead. The person I was willing to kill for died because Iwanted to believe April still had good left in her, that her understanding was only tainted that shewasn't to blame for her actions. Thaddeus was right, April deserved death, but Lana didn't deservethis. This was never meant to affect her, I thought I was protecting her by letting April live because Iwas afraid, she would end up back in the system, the system no child wants to be a part of. Myidiocy killed her. My failure to see what she was capable of killed Lana. The little girl I fought toprotect for an entire year was now dead, everything I did was for nothing but more importantly mymistake killed her.

Orion POV

The moment Lana's picture came up on the screen she buckled, her legs going out fromunderneath her, her nails digging into her palms so hard she was drawing blood. She looked hollowas she continued to stare at the screen, eyes wide and a dead look on her face as the colour drainedfrom her face. The emotions coming from the bond told us how destroyed she was inside, yet shedidn’t say a word, was completely mute trapped in her own thoughts and guilt. She thought thiswas her fault. Evelyn shut down, completely shut down. She was right in front of me but with thelook on her face she might as well have been a million miles away.

Thaddeus was a raging storm inside, the darkness creeping in. Ryland was the first to move. Hehesitantly walked over to her frozen form crumpled on the floor. We could all hear the erraticbeating of her heart as it thumped against her chest. The shallowness of her breathing like shecouldn't catch her breath. The tremble of her bottom lip before she bit down on it hard enough todraw blood. Evelyn was breaking and none of us knew what to do other than stare at her.

Ryland reaches his hand out to brush her hair from her face and she moves away beforestanding, the remote slipping from her hand and breaking apart on the floor, the batteries fallingout as she turned almost robotically, she was there right in front us, but nobody was home. Evelynmoving more on instinct like a zombie as she walked up the stairs on auto pilot. She didn’t wantanyone near her. Didn't want us to touch her like she knew she would break if we did.

“I need to go; I can't be here” Thaddeus says, as the storm within him raged to magnitudelevels. He looks to the stairs wanting to go to her but won't risk exploding near her. He felt her guilthitting him along with his own. He never intended for April to kill Lana along with Derrick, hewanted her to suffer but he never imagined in a million years that Lana would also pay the price forwhat he implanted in her head.

“Go” I tell him and within a blink he was gone. He was a ticking timebomb on the brink ofexploding. Ryland looks to the stairs Evelyn's despair hitting us like a tidal wave as it crashed into us.Racing upstairs she had locked the door. I twist the door handle till the handle snaps, falling apart inmy hand and we replace Evelyn on the floor, broken. She was screaming inside, you could see it on herface as she broke, tears rolling down her face, her face turning red and blotchy as she wailed, herhands ripping out her hair as she lost it. Completely lost the plot.

Ryland grabs her hands stopping her from pulling chunks of hair out, her nails digging into herdelicate skin leaving scratch marks as she clawed at herself, like she thought she could claw awaythe pain she was feeling inside.

“Orion do something” Ryland yells to me as she loses control. Ryland pulls her onto his laprestraining her hands which were now digging into his leg above the knee as he rocked her, tryingto sooth her while she wept. Kneeling beside her, I grip her face, forcing her to look at me. Her eyesred and puffy, dead as she stared back at me. She was completely distraught. I let the fog slip overher, her breathing evening out, her tears slowing, and she still tried to fight against it, as her bodyslowly relaxed, her hands unclenching. Ryland's leg bleeding with the little half-moon shapes of hernails.

“Sleep Evelyn” I tell her, as Ryland brushes the hair sticking to her face from her tears. Sheshakes her head trying to fight off the compulsion.

“Sleep Evelyn” I repeat, and she goes out like a light. Her eyes shutting as I force her to sleep,her body going limp in Ryland's arms, her head rolling back against his arm before he stands,clutching her to his chest and lays on the bed with her. I sit beside him, trying to think but comingup blank. Death was something we were used to, eventually when you live as long as we do, youlose everyone you have ever known that is the downside to forever, the curse of immortality.Everyone you ever know will eventually die around you. But Evelyn never experienced that, shenever had family. Never stayed any place long enough to grow close to someone, so this was newto her, this was devasting. The closest thing she ever had to family was now gone. Even Derrick afterwhat he did, couldn't break her, Thaddeus couldn't break her. Lana's death though, did. This brokeher, never have I seen her look so fragile. This was going to haunt her worse than that vile mandoes.