Page 117 of A Sin So Pure

“Did all that really happen?” I ask.

“Unfortunately.”

My laugh is a sardonic bark between my sobs. “That’s fucking crazy.”

“Yeah, it is,” she says. “But you’re okay.” Josie whispers platitudes and rubs soothing circles on my back until, finally, exhaustion succeeds in pulling me back into sleep. “We’re okay.”

29

NORA

“Take me to Bramble.”

Silas jolts, straightening his back and shoulders from where he leans against the wall in my living room, one foot bent against the green wallpaper. He’s focused, conveniently, on twiddling the silver rings he wears, pretending that he wasn’t eavesdropping on our conversation.

I don’t want him in my space—when Wrath told us about what happened, I had thought Silas would drop me offoutsidethe building, but no, we landed right in my office. Then he followed me, like a second shadow, up to my rooms under the guise ofkingly duty.

I hadn’t the nerve to fight him. The urge to see Imogen safe was too strong.

“Now, Silas.”

His brows raise to his hairline at my bark. He pushes off from the wall with grace, strutting over to me. My fingers twitch at my side, my entire body trembling with restless anger.

“Yes, ma’am,” he taunts. He points to the green and black wings mounted on the wall. “Nice decor, by the way. Very unique.”

“If you don’t want me to snap this last tether, you need to take me to Bramble right now,” I snap.

Silas is shocked into seriousness. He nods, understanding shifting his features. He holds his hand out, and I go to take it but pause when I realize both our hands are bare.

Silas huffs a frustrated sigh. “I’m not afraid of you, Nora.”

His hand quickly grabs mine. The world swirls around us, an inky swath of darkness that fills every space between us. It’s weightless, traveling by shadow; the only sensation being that of who you are grounded to. In this case, that’s the rough pads of Silas’s fingertips and the cool metal of his rings on my palm.

I rip my hand free of his as soon as we step onto the white, snowy fields outside Mt. Bramble’s entrance.

Flurries catch in my lashes as I storm to the cave, my heartbeat filling my ears. The thin strap of control I have on my rage snaps, and the world blurs around me as I fall into my feelings. It’s always the same when I get triggered, as if I’ve jumped off a cliff, and the rush of air overwhelms my senses.

It’s in the fall that I attempt to compartmentalize. I try to pack away the disappointment in myself—the shame of not doing something more to stop the bad things from happening to those I love.

I’m still not powerful enough to stop them.

Still not powerful enough to stophim.

A need churns my gut. It sets my limbs on fire, the restlessness.

I storm through the complex, taking the stairs two at a time and relishing the way it burns my thighs. Footsteps follow mine, Silas tracking me all the way to the roof.

Some would give me platitudes, try to reason with me—tell me that it wasn’tmyfault that this happened to Imogen. She was right to say my anger was misplaced at Josie. The blame lies with me and Patience alone.

Others would try to fix the issue for me, try to problem solve and use action to cope—and while that should be the option for me, it doesn’t help.

The past isn’t something that can beproblem solved. The future? Sure. But what’s happened has happened. I cannot change the past, and that’s the issue. The mistake has already been made.

I let Imogen fall into the hands of my enemy, and I almost lost her because of it.

Thankfully, Silas serves me neither platitudes nor solutions as he walks a pace behind me.

Does he understand my need for release?

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