Page 133 of A Sin So Pure

IMOGEN

Iwake to a purring in my ear and a strange breeze tickling my nose.

Did I leave the window open last night?

I rub the crust from my eyes, blinking hard as I’m pulled from my dreams.

“Fuckinggods!”

Scrambling to the headboard, with my heart nearly bursting from my chest, I gape at a creature floating mere inches from where I was sleeping. Its ears fold back against its head, the gray creature—sprite—wrings its sharp talons together, bashful.

“Hello,” I say, as my heartbeat calms.

Its ears perk. Bulbous eyes stare at me, unblinking, little black voids. A single talon points to itself then to the wardrobe in the corner of the room.

“Were you the one who brought my travel case up?” I ask slowly.

It nods. Its wings flap harder, and it flies across the room to the wardrobe. With care, it pulls the doors open, and disappears inside the folds of fabric before emerging with a grip on one of the dresses I packed. It’s one of the simpler ones, a green silkbase with a starburst of black beading extending from the boat neckline and into beaded tassel sleeves.

Placing the dress on the edge of my bed, it points at it, then to me, squeaking a command before disappearing in a plume of shadow. A second later, it’s dropping matching shoes from the wardrobe and a brush from the restroom vanity on top of the quilt.

My hand lifts to my lips to hide my smile.

“Ah,” I croon. “So, you’re my alarm clock then?”

Its head, round as a baseball and about the size of one too, tilts to the side, long pointed ears twitching in turn.

It’s actually quite cute.

It still hasn’t blinked though.

“It’s been watching you sleep for nearly a half hour,” Nora says, exiting the bathroom. “It clearly likes you more than me.”

“Should I be worried by that?”

“No, everyone likes you more than me. Why should it be any different with the sprites?”

Nora deftly buttons the cuffs of her button-down, fastening a silver metal cufflink to the white fabric. She’s already got on her vest and slacks, both impeccably tailored and colored a deep charcoal gray, the halfway point between her skin and hair.

I throw the covers off and pad to the end of the bed; picking up the brush, I huff a laugh.

“I’ll tell you this, little sprite,” I coo. “I’ll need more than this to be presentable for today.”

Nora snorts, righting her vest.

“How long do I have?” I ask.

“We don’t have to be down for another hour,” Nora says.

“Oh, then why are you dressed?”

“Because I thought I’d help you with your hair, and I can’t do that if I still have to do my own.” Hers is already set in perfectwaves, one side pulled behind her ear, revealing the pointed tip dangling with a single dew-drop earring.

“I better get a move on then.” I turn to the sprite. “Will you wait outside? I’ll be out as quick as a jiffy.”

It pouts, taking a second to consider, but then it nods, dissipating in a swirl of shadow.

“Huh.” Nora frowns at the spot where it once floated, shadows curling in its place. “I asked it to leave five times.”

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