Page 116 of A Sin So Pure

“It doesn’t matter if it was your idea?—”

“Yes, it does.” My voice is firm, my grip on Nora’s hand firmer. “I pulled rank and made her take me.” It wasn’t the full truth, but I hoped that it convinced Nora to go easy on her best friend. “She took proper precautions, tried to talk me out of it too. But you know I can be as stubborn as you when I want to be.”

I run my thumb over Nora’s knuckles, realizing her fingers are bare. Pulses of anger bounce off her skin; it’s one of few times in the past ten years that her inner turmoil has broken through her fortified mental shields.

“Your anger is misplaced,” I say, easing my tone. “Shesavedme.”

Nora heaves a great sigh, head falling back. Her eyes are screwed shut with crow’s feet deep along the outer edges.

“You’re right,” she says, eyes still closed. She clears her throat. “I’m sorry, Josie.”

“It’s okay,” Josie says, quiet.

Then, as quickly as she entered the room, Nora’s standing and storming away.

“He’s a dead man walking,” she growls before she slams the bedroom door shut.

It takes a moment for me to register what happened. I’m stunned, silent and still, left staring at the closed door.

“She’ll be back,” Josie whispers.

“She better come back,” I say, shaking my head. “I almost died, and she’s storming off?”

“She needs to cool down. She has a right to be angry.”

A war of emotions clash in my stomach. I could be angry too, but my body is tired.

My mind is tired too.

Josie sighs, crumbling against the armchair. “You really scared me, Mo.”

“I know.”

Her brown eyes are dark, like soaked soil after the rain. “Please don’t try to convince me to take you across the Veil ever again.”

I snort, though it lacks all humor. “I have no desire to go back there now.”

“Also, before I forget,” Josie says, reaching behind the armchair. She pulls out a solid wooden box and holds it out to me. “I hope it’s not too soon. But I wanted you to know I grabbed it after I swept the building.”

I take it, gently placing it on the covers of the bed. I tip the lip open, only enough to reveal a peak of the guns I bought for Nora and Josie.

An uncomfortable itch comes over me as I stare at the weapons. I ignore the feeling and close the box, putting it to the side.

A sad smile twitches my lips.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

Tears well in my eyes, and my hands start to shake. Breathing becomes hard, my lungs taking staggered gulps of air that catch in my throat. I think the adrenaline in my blood has finally cleared, because my limbs ache, exhaustion clawing at them in tandem with the emotions swelling in my gut.

My cheeks are wet, and I swipe at them, but it doesn’t help.

“Thank you, Josie,” I repeat.

“Do you need a?—”

I nod my head frantically. “Please.”

The empath who can read minds silently reads mine; she lowers herself into the bed next to me, pulling me into a warm hug. I curl into her side, burrowing into her body heat as sobs rack my body.

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