Page 52 of A Sin So Pure

I snap my fingers twice, pulling Wrath and Silas’s eyes to mine; the former has the decency to look embarrassed.

“I want Claude and the others to hold the perimeter while Hattie runs reconnaissance. Once she’s given the all clear, Josie and I will take lead. No one is to kill without explicit orders.” I pause, waiting for questions. My people know to speak up if they need. “Wes, I want you to practice putting up a shadow-veil around the building. Let people in, but don’t let ‘em out. I don’t want anyone fleeing before I’m done. Everyone savvy?”

“Yes, Boss,” Wes says. The rest nod.

“Good,” I say, then tilt my head towards the dilapidated building down the street. These Seelie exiles have taken over an abandoned boarding school and turned it into their headquarters. “Hattie, you’re up.”

“Finally,” she sighs, shucking off her coat. “Hold this will ya’?”

Hattie throws her coat at Wrath. He catches it with a bewildered expression, and—surprisingly—doesn’t immediatelytoss it to the ground. He watches, befuddled, as Hattie pulls dual daggers from the sheaths at her side and disappears in a cloud of shadow.

Then, he turns to me, eyes accusing.

“You just said they aren’t supposed to kill anyone,” Wrath says.

Hattie appears behind him in a flash of black.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun with ‘em first,” she cackles.

She disappears again, and I swear I can see a hint of pink flush Wrath’s cheeks in the dark.

“Let’s go,” I say, rolling my eyes and leading the group towards the building.

It’s easy, securing the property.

Once Hattie confirms their numbers, Wes releases his magic and a black shadow encases the perimeter of the old brick building. A few of the Seelie try to shift, buzzing by us as bees and birds, but they can’t get past the wall of inky darkness. Jamison’s men may carry big guns, but it’s clear that they lack the magic to overpower us, the precision to shoot us down, and the organization to out-maneuver us.

Soon enough, we have the Seelie disarmed and corralled in what used to be the front lobby of the building. Water-stained brick surrounds us on three sides, and the doors, covered with shadow, stand at our backs. My nose twitches at the mildew stench lingering in the air as my men secure the last of the Seelie.

Silas and Wrath linger in the background. They watch our operation with hawk-like stares, and every few minutes, they whisper in each other’s ears.

They follow Josie and me to Jamison’s office, the wooden floors creaking with each of our steps. Josie nods at the guard Hattie placed outside the door, and he relieves himself of hispost. She pauses with her hand wrapped around the handle, glancing back at Wrath and Silas.

“How is this going to go?” Josie asks.

I might not be able to hear her thoughts like she can mine, but I know her well enough to parse the true meaning of her words.

Are we letting them see this?Her eyes ask for confirmation.You trust them?

“We’ll handle it like normal,” I say.

Then I open my mind to Josie so she can hear my thoughts.

They’ll see what they want to see. I’m not worried right now.

Josie nods.

I level with the two men. “Are you two staying for this part? I can’t promise it won’t get ugly.”

“I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted to see you in action,” Silas says. He pokes at Wrath’s cheek with one finger and Wrath bats it away. “And he’s stuck with me. We’ll be good. I promise.”

Silas shoots me a brilliant white smile that has me sighing as I open the door.

“You’ve been warned,” I mutter.

It’s familiar, this part.

How many times had Josie and I entered a room exactly like this on Pride’s orders? I find myself slipping deeper behind my protective mask, accessing the well of apathy in my chest.

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