Page 166 of A Sin So Pure

Gun shots echo from the castle and through the lakeside valley. With each resoundingpop,I jerk. Leo’s hand finds mine, and I realize I’m shaking. Not from the cold, though as we get farther from the walls of Casimir the chill deepens, but from the rush of adrenaline and memory.

This can’t be happening again.

My head whips from side to side, searching for the thick swath of Nora’s black hair.

Where is she?

“Wrath went back for her. She’ll be fine.” Josie’s voice is strong and steady. She’s navigated these situations before, and not only with me. “But she won’t be if we don’t get you two across this bridge.”

We stumble through the ancient magical barrier that surrounds the lake, and then through the extra thin film of the shadow-veil. Leo and the others fall to the soil in varied states of respite, but true relief evades me. Gluttony and her Second heave with their backs against a pine and Envy paces in circles, wildly pulling at strands of his hair.

“What the fuck just happened?” Leo says, staring at the castle in the distance in disbelief.

“I knew there was something wrong with that bitch,” Envy seethes. He turns to me, rushing forward with an accusing finger pointed my way. “Did you know she was Seelie? She sold us out!”

Josie steps in his path, a strong hand shoving at his chest.

“Watch yourself, Envy. This is bigger than you,” she says.

They have a silent standoff, the tension thick in the air between them. But Josie’s the one with a gun, and the audibleclick of the safety has Envy backing off. He scoffs, a sneer marring his features.

“You’re just as much a traitor if you knew.” His disdain quickly falls away, a twist of deep-rooted fear and knee-buckling sadness taking over. “And if you didn’t, well, then we’re all screwed.” He falls to his knees, fingers weaving back through his hair, clutching tightly. “Fucking gods. They killed my Second.”

“Josie,” Leo calls. “Is what we saw true? Those were—” His throat catches on his words. “Those were Seelie wings.”

The image of the bright green and black wings flash in my mind.

When Nora’s scream rang through the hall, Josie had sprung into action, pulling Leo and me away from the onslaught of bullets. It all happened in a matter of seconds—the shout, the shots, the way I searched for her in the crowd. When I found her, the overwhelming terror I felt as Patience gripped her from behind had the blood draining from my face.

I didn’t want her to die. She screamed, and I felt her pain, my magic reaching out to her. It was vast and unyielding, like my soul was burning on the inside and bursting out of my back. I’d never felt anything like it before.

Then the wings unfurled around her, a dark halo. I’d seen those wings before. On the mantel in her living room.

Her wings.

Josie releases a slow sigh. She doesn’t deny it. Can’t anymore, I realize.

Nora is Seelie.

“Gluttony, start getting everyone back to Anwynn. I’m going back to help Wrath,” Josie says, ignoring the question. “Don’t bother with the cars. Shadow-walk everyone now that we’re past the wards. You should have enough power for that.”

“What?” I say. My voice is rough and scratchy. “No. No, you can’t go back there. They will kill you.”

I grab the hand that doesn’t hold her gun. Our fingers slip together, mine trembling and hers steady. The rain is now a deluge falling down on us. Water runs down my face, masking the tear-tracks that I know are on my cheeks.

My eyes sting.

Josie’s dark brown hair is slicked and sticking to her skin, darkened to almost black with the water and the clouded light of the storm.

“Don’t leave me,” I beg.

It’s a selfish thing to say, but I say it anyway. I want to save Nora, but I don’t want Josie to go either.

Does that make me a terrible person?

The stubborn fight leaves her. I see it in the way her shoulders fall at my request. Her jaw feathers, and her lips mash together.

My heart starts to ache.

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