Page 70 of A Sin So Pure

“Why?” I narrow my eyes.

“I’m the king?” He rolls his eyes, and it’s nearly playful. “Because I don’t want to look down on you when I ask my next question.”

Begrudgingly, I stand up. I’m bracketed by his legs, and even though we aren’t touching, the heat from his body seeps into me. It’s far too intimate a position.

“Do you want to kill a Virtue with me?”

My magic perks, writhing between my ribs; I have to take a deep breath to settle it inside me.

There’s only one real answer to his question.

“Yes.”

“Then here are my terms.”

19

IMOGEN

Ihang off Leo’s arm with a vice grip—I had forgotten how the cobblestone side streets uptown donotcooperate with heels. He doesn’t hold back his laughter as I hop along on my toes, trying to avoid the deadly cracks between stones.

“Couldn’t you carry me the rest of the way?” I beg.

“Nope. You did this to yourself,” he says. “You must suffer the consequences.”

I groan. “I’m making Nora drive us home.”

“Why didn’t they pick us up, anyway?”

“Because I wanted to run something by you before we get there,” I say.

“Oh-kay,” Leo drawls the syllables out. “Maybe a better time would have been before we left the Den, and you weren’t fighting for your life?”

“Yeah, well, hindsight, right?” I huff.

“So…”

“Right. This is where I’m supposed to tell you what I wanted to talk to you about.”

My throat is tight and my body jittery as I gather the nerve to get the words out. It’s funny, we joke about succession all thetime, so you’d think it’d be easy bringing this up. But I need him to understand that, this time, it’s not a joke.

It hit me the other day, after Nora and Josie escorted me back to Anwynn. I had collapsed on top of my quilt, my soot-smudged shoes dangling off the bed, uncaring if the chemical campfire smell I carried home seeped into the sheets.

Going from such sweet contentment to walking through the burned rubble of their warehouse—seeing Norashoot someone—had me staring at the ceiling of my bedroom for hours.

Suddenly, I was thirteen again, spacing out and replaying how I fucked up my first kiss over and over. Except I wasn’t thirteen, and I was replaying how my girlfriend killed someone in front of me.

I knew her hands weren’t clean. She had neverliedabout what they had to do under the former Pride’s reign, but it hadn’t reallyclicked.

I chose to be a Sin four years ago. To continue my mother and brother’s legacy because that was what they would have wanted. I always knew there was a certain level of danger that came with this position, but I thought I could avoid it if I kept my head down. If I didn’t ruffle any feathers, it would be okay.

Then Nora became Pride and Silas came knocking at my door. Some deranged Seelie is burning down Nora’s warehouses. She’s killing people in turn. And I’ve found myself at the center of all the shit I tried to avoid in the first place.

As I was lying there, staring at the blank ceiling, so pure and white, an inkling of doubt crept into me.

Did I choose to be Lust because I wanted it? Or did I do it because I was grieving, and it was the last thing I had that belonged to my family?

Leo’s advice from weeks ago had haunted me as I stared into the untouched plaster.

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