Page 164 of A Sin So Pure

“And what do you think is going to happen when your king learns who you are? What about your lover? Will lust be enough to keep you together after this?”

Patience drones on, and I attempt to tune him out.

Just make it to the end of the song. Why is this song so fucking long?

I glare at the sprites plucking away at their instruments over Patience’s shoulder. The music is building, louder and louder. We have to be coming to the end soon.

Patience’s hot breath spreads over my ear. “How many years have you spent wondering what would happen if they found out? You were so desperate to hide who you are that you clipped your own wings. It’s a shame.”

“There wasn’t much of a choice in the matter,” I growl.

“I could heal them, you know,” he says, casually.

His hand runs up from my mid-back, brushing over the exposed tips of my scars. Prickles of pain flare along the mottled flesh, and I gasp, shoving Patience away. The music crescendos into a cacophony of sound and I stumble backwards into the Seelie dancers, not having realized how crowded the dance floor has become.

Patience laughs, a booming cackle, and dread fills my veins.

I turn, trying to push through the crowd, but they won’t part for me. The prickles have turned into stabs at my back, the pain growing worse. I shove drunk Seelie down, and they harrumph at me for being rude, but I don’t care.

I need to get away from this man.

I need to get out of here.

My instinct flares; alarm bells sound in the back of my mind.

I’m half tempted to start dropping Seelie right then and there to get past them. But then the double doors on our side of the castle open, letting in chaos.

The rest of my Court’s backs are turned to them, because why wouldn’t they be? That’s supposed to beourpart of the castle.

The Seelie aren’tsupposedto be on that side.

My throat constricts.

I had thought I could go to both sides because I was both Unseelie and Seelie—but maybe I was wrong. Maybe the castle never cared who went where. And we were supposed to trust each other.

We were fools, then.

Seelie guards enter the room, armed with semi-automatics that I’m all too familiar with.

I yell, pushing all the breath from my lungs into this one cry. Silas’s name unfurls from my mouth while Josie’s name screams forth from my mind.

The world moves in slow motion as I break past the last of the Seelie courtiers, who are unaware of their Virtue’s plan to massacre this entire ballroom. Guns like those aren’t used for accuracy, they’re designed to cause the most damage as quickly as possible. As many Seelie will be caught in this crossfire as Unseelie.

White hair whips towards me, black eyes meeting mine before disappearing into shadowy wisps. My gloves dissipate too, leaving me without any barriers.

Flashes of shadow and light spark across the room. Those that can, magic away, leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves.

The Seelie guards unleash their weapons.

It’s a hailstorm of bullets and screams.

I stride forward without fear, wincing at the discomfort at my back. I whip my head from side to side, hunting for Josie, Imogen, and Leo.

Flickers of Wrath appear, pulling the Unseelie one-by-one from the room. Meanwhile, Silas is taking out Seelie guards. He’s a swirling mass of shadow, a black hole sucking in the guards and spitting their lifeless bodies out with speed and accuracy.

Finally, I spot them, Josie standing in front of Imogen and Leo in the corner of the room. Josie’s got her gun out, shooting at Seelie as they slowly inch their way toward the windows. The Unseelie doors now the center of the worst violence; she’s smart to lead them away from?—

A hand smacks between my shoulder blades. A searing agony spears through my back.

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