Page 152 of A Sin So Pure

“I really do love it, Mo. Thank you,” Josie says. She runs her hand over the detailed barrel, which is now sparkling since I had it cleaned. A quiet kind of gratitude exudes from her in the way she handles it so carefully, as if it might break if she drops it despite it already having survived a century of life across the Veil. “I’ll have to see if I can shoot it while riding a horse like the humans used to.”

Josie bites her tongue, poking into her cheek as she raises the gun away from the three of us, closes one eye, and pretends to aim and shoot.

“We’ll have to figure out how to get you to a horse first,” I laugh. “I’d love to see how it goes.”

“What, you don’t believe I can ride?” Josie teases.

“No, you’d definitely fare better than me,” I say. I peer down at Nora. I knock my legs into hers. “Your turn.”

Nora hums, eyes flicking between her box and Josie’s, noting the similar wooden case. “I wonder what it could be.”

“Open it already.” I push at her shoulder.

Her hands still as they lift the lid; the room quiets, and we sit stagnant as we wait for her reaction. Then, one hand moves, fingers trailing over the more modern gun than Josie’s; it’s silver and sleek, a stripe down the center of the barrel engraved with an endless knot. It’s supposed to symbolize unity and strength, and I was going to leave it at that before the attack. But after, it didn’t feel like enough, so I found someone in town to add something extra.

Lower, burned along the wooden inlay of the handle, is a short message.

Scared pieces too.

My lips twist in on themselves, my nerves bubbling to the surface.

“It’s okay if you don’t?—”

“I love it.”

Nora looks up at me, eyes glistening with a mix of wonder and somethingmore.

“You do?”

“Yeah. It’s beautiful. Thank you.”

“I didn’t know what model to get, but I had Josie help me, and the old guy who ran the store, of course. His name was Sal, but?—”

Her brows furrow, all that wonder gone with a blink and replaced with the curious beginnings of anger.

“Wait.Thisis why you were human-side?”

My mouth opens and closes, a seed of dread sprouting in my gut. “Yeah.”

She glares back down at the gun, the air around her growing thick and tense. Then, she takes a single, slow breath; on the exhale, her features melt into something resembling guilt. She closes the case, flicking the golden latch shut with an audible click.

Her fingers intertwine with mine on my lap, and she pulls my hand to her lips, planting a gentle kiss to my pulse point on my wrist.

“Thank you,” she whispers. “I’ll wear it later.”

“Later?” I ask.

“Mhm,” she says. “I have a thigh strap that should work for it.”

“I wanna see the gun,” Leo whines, reaching out with grabby hands.

I roll my eyes. “Open your gift first. It’s better.”

“Fine,” he groans. It takes him all of five seconds to rip open the terribly wrapped box and flick open the lid.

Leo stills, similar to Nora, fingers lingering an inch above the rusted metal key resting on a bed of fabric. His mouth falls agape, lower lip trembling from shock.

He shouldn’t bethatshocked. He’s known this was coming.

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