Page 128 of A Sin So Pure

“You can ride with Wrath and Envy,” I say. “They have an extra seat.”

“I don’t want to listen to Envy babble the whole drive.” Silas buckles his seat belt. He twists, turning to Imogen and Leo in the backseat. “You two don’t mind, right?”

Leo looks unsure; Imogen glares.

“Of course not,” Imogen says, voice tight.

“See?” Silas says. “Now get in, both of you. We have a long journey ahead.”

I huff, mumbling, “Fine.”

“Can I still take the front?” Josie asks me.

I nod—she tends to get sick when she sits in the back.

“Of course,” I say, holding the door open for her.

Imogen shifts to take the center seat in the back when I slide into the car; it is cramped but not uncomfortable, given we’re three grown fae.

An awkward silence fills the car.

The car lurches forward, then jolts to a stop at the end of the driveway. I quickly band my hand over Imogen’s waist so she doesn’t fly forward.

“Respectfully, Your Majesty, could you brake a little smoother?” I say.

“You would be a backseat driver,” Silas mutters. His eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror; they sparkle with the same mirth he gives Wrath.

I glare until he breaks our stare, attention moving back to the road ahead.

“This is going to be an interesting ride,” Leo says under his breath.

It wasn’t, really.

The five of us fall into a not unbearable quiet as Silas drives us from the city. We trade brownstones, skyscrapers, and pavement for dirt, rolling fields, and an empty skyline. Following alongside the river, the road runs north across the Unseelie Court.

Grass soon thickens into forest, imposing pines and spruce surrounding us on every side. Imogen’s head has long since landed on my shoulder, and her breath is even as she slumbers. Leo and Josie have followed suit; both will wake to indents on their foreheads from where they lean against the windows.

Silas and I are the only two awake, and I am thankful that he doesn’t attempt conversation. I’d much rather let my mind run alongside the landscape that blurs past.

When the car eventually slows, and we pull into a small outcropping of trees—a dirt patch of a parking lot—I know our journey has ended.

“Are you ready?” Silas asks, not loud enough for the rest to wake.

It’s a thousand questions in one, but my answer to all of them is clear.

“Yes,” I say.

I am more than ready to rid the world of the scourge that is Patience.

I nudge Imogen at my side, and her lashes flutter open. She wakes quickly and silently takes in her surroundings. She, in turn, smacks Leo’s chest, causing him to jolt awake with a snort. I do the same to Josie, poking her shoulder over the back of her seat until she rouses from sleep.

“I’ve got to be honest, this isn’t what I was expecting,” Leo says, popping open the car door. “It’s a bit small for a castle.”

“That’s not Casimir,” Silas huffs, turning off the ignition as we all exit the vehicle. He points to the remnants of a small cabin and stable that meet the clearing, long overgrown and unused. “That’s where stable hands usually stayed when we traveled by horse.”

“Ah, that makes a lot more sense.” Leo scratches the stubble on his cheek. “I’ll grab our bags.”

Silas waves him off. “No need. The sprites will get them once I raise the bridge.”

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