The Sinner Read Online Free PDF Page B

between us is this—I embrace who I am and what I’m meant to be while John Devlin is still trying to run away from his true nature.”
    He was goading me and I knew it, yet I found myself asking, “And just what is his true nature, according to you?”
    â€œHave you never wondered why a man who professes nothing but disdain for the unknown was so inexorably drawn to someone as mystical and mysterious as my cousin, Mariama? Her great beauty aside, of course. I’m sure he gave you any number of reasons for the attraction. He enjoyed flaunting her exoticness in the face of his grandfather’s rigid conformity. Or perhaps he told you that my influence changed and corrupted her. The woman capable of such dark deeds at the end of her life was not the same woman he fell in love with.”
    Devlin had, in fact, confided both motivations, but I wasn’t about to betray him to a man we both considered an enemy.
    Darius continued to study me. He cocked his head slightly, as if something puzzled him. “You must also have wondered about the medallion he wears around his neck. Why would a man who claims to have turned his back on the trappings and privileges of his upbringing cling to an emblem that epitomizes wealth and greed? But then, I suppose it’s hardly surprising. Men of his ilk have always had an affinity for secret societies, particularly those that protect and promote the status quo. John Devlin is no exception.”
    I didn’t try to defend Devlin this time because there was an uncomfortable truth in Darius’s words. I had wondered about those very things. I’d fretted over Devlin’s relationship with Mariama ever since we’d first met and I’d contemplated his affiliation with the nefarious Order of the Coffin and the Claw on many a sleepless night. But I found it hard to admit, even to myself, that the darkness in Devlin and those mysterious gaps in his past still worried me.
    Darius Goodwine had wasted no time in homing in on those niggling misgivings.
    He knelt and picked up a stick, using the pointed end to trace the shadow of a gravestone in the dirt. I watched, mesmerized by his languid movements. His fingers were long and tapered like those of an artist and his nails were meticulous, bringing to mind the dirt-and-blood-encrusted nails of the victim.
    Was that why he had come? I wondered. Did he know something about the dead woman? About her murder? Should I shout for the authorities? They were still combing the woods and the clearing. Too far away to hear anything other than a scream.
    â€œThe Order of the Coffin and the Claw.” Darius pronounced each word with derisive exaggeration as he drew a snake wrapped around a claw in the dirt.
    I hardened my tone. “Why are we talking about the Order of the Coffin and the Claw or even Devlin for that matter? Why don’t you just tell me why you’re really here? What do you want?”
    â€œYou made an important discovery yesterday. You’ve no idea how important. In order to deal with the consequences, you must understand the deep roots and entangled affiliations of those involved.”
    â€œBy discovery, you mean the caged graves?” I slid a hand to my chest, tracing the outline of the key resting beneath my shirt. “How do you know about those?”
    He smiled. “Have you forgotten that I have eyes and ears everywhere?”
    â€œEven in the Ascension Police Department?”
    â€œEverywhere.”
    â€œEven on the other side?”
    â€œ Every where.”
    â€œWhat do you know about those cages? About the victim?” I demanded.
    â€œI know she won’t be the last to die unless you unmask her killer.”
    I stared at him in shock. “Unmask her killer? How am I supposed to do that?”
    â€œThink back.” His voice dropped to a silky murmur, soothing and hypnotic. “In all your years of research and cemetery work, surely you’ve come