Page 167 of A Sin So Pure

“Mo—” She doesn’t get to finish whatever she was going to say because the other Sins rush into the clearing.

Greed carries with him the limp body of his Second. Wrath does the same, but carrying Envy’s Second. Silas strides behind them, a dark god, shadows already whirling around his feet and curling towards each of us.

“It’s time to go,” Silas says. His voice echoes between the trees like thunder.

Shadows wrap around my ankles—what the hell is happening?

I search for Nora behind him, but she’s not there.

“Where is she?” I ask.

No one answers me. The rest of the Sins slowly disappear into shadows. I step around Josie and towards the Unseelie King, my soaked and muddied heels spearing through the inky tendrils of darkness swirling at our calves. My teeth chatter, the icy chill of the winter rain finally seeping into my bones.

“Where is Nora?” I demand. “You can’t just leave her!”

“They took her, and there’s too many to fight right now without reinforcements. We need time to regroup and make a plan,” Silas says.

“They won’t kill her, Mo,” Josie says behind me.

I whip around, realizing it’s only the three of us left, standing at the center of the storm and Silas’s shadows.

“No, they won’t,” Silas says at my back.

“So, you knew?” Josie asks Silas over my shoulder. A huff of sardonic laughter shakes her head. “Who am I kidding? Of course, you knew. It’s the only thing that makes any sense in hindsight.”

“Knew what? That Nora’s Seelie?” I ask.

Josie steps forward, wrapping me in her arms. I’m stuck in place, trembling in her strong embrace.

“You need to calm down, Imogen,” she says, tucking my head into the warm crook of her neck. “You’re going into shock.”

“Why wouldn’t they kill her? They tried to kill all of us! They—they shot me!” My teeth are chattering. My legs are weak and wobbly, and I’m sure I’d be on the ground if it weren’t for Josie holding me. My breaths are coming too fast, and darkness creeps at the edge of my vision—or is that Silas’s shadows crawling over me?“Wh—why are you all being so calm about this?”

“Mo, you need to calm down or you’re going to pass out,” Josie whispers in my ear.

“Nora’s reputation may be wounded, but her life is safe for now. Patience surely has bigger plans for her,” Silas says.

I manage to crack open my eyes, seeing him standing beside us with a look of pure rage twisting his features. There’s something there, in the way his eyes soften, that I recognize. My chest heaves in uncontrollable bursts and my lids grow heavy again.

Josie’s magic worms its way past my shattered mental barriers, attempting to quell my panic. But before the darkness of sleep or Silas’s shadows overtake me, I’m left with a promise from the Unseelie King.

“I’ll get her back.”

40

NORA

LATER

Iwake from suffocating darkness in the water-logged bowels of Casimir.

There’s no natural light. Only a single torch burns on the wall outside the iron bars of my cell, casting everything in an eerie glow.

I lick my dry, cracked lips, wincing as my tongue swipes over a raw and bloodied crack at the center. I lean my head back against the cold stone, the spot at my crown still aching.

I’m still wearing my dress from Solstice, even though weeks have passed—at least, I assume it’s been that long. Without the sun, I would count the passing hours by the meals the Seelie brought me. The food resembled something like breakfasts and dinners at first, but then I got my hands on their delivery boy.

It didn’t end well for him.

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