Page 14 of Magic of Sins

Princess Ophelia looks shocked when she sees my pale face as I leave the room. I hurry past her and down the hall. My heart races and tears burn in my eyes. I just want to get away from here.

“Kaya, are you all right?” the princess asks worriedly. “Did he do something to you?”

I stop and force myself to breathe calmly to steady my heartbeat.

“No, he didn’t,” I reply in a quivering voice.

That’s just it. If he amplified my feelings and thereby forced me to do what I did, I might be able to accept it. But I licked the chocolate cake off his fingers without him manipulating me! His fingers on my lips, my tongue touching his fingertips—I can still feel it, and it makes me blush.

Caden could be lying. After all, heisa sin mage.But as sure as I was earlier that he was amplifying my feelings, I’m even more certain now that he didn’t. There was no reason for him to lie.

You’rewelcome, love.I hear his last words in my head. Does he really think he’s done me a favor?

Anger rises in me, overriding the crushing feeling of shame. Anger at this arrogant sin mage. Anger at Ophelia and the king. But most of all, anger at myself for letting it go so far.

Ophelia tries to persuade me to stay for tea, but I refuse. My head throbs dully, and I don’t know whether to cry or scream in anger. Rarely has something triggered such intense feelings in me. It scares me and I need to be alone right now. The only oneI could stand to be around is Tinkerbell.

When I get home, Ava is in the middle of hanging her laundry on a small rack in our living room. She hums to herself as she pulls the gray items out of the basket. She’s wearing her hair down and you can clearly see the streak of silver.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” I ask.

Ava wheels around to face me. A pair of pantyhose she was about to fasten with clips slides off the drying rack and lands in a wet pile on the floorboards.

“By all the seven virtues, don’t scare me like that! I came home early. Just didn’t feel like working anymore.”

I sigh. Ava should actually be making up hours, not skipping more work. She did poorly on her last diligence evaluation. Now she’s supposed to work ten hours a day for a month so she’ll do better on the next one. But if she keeps this up, it’s not going to happen.

Before I can say anything about it, Ava is already standing in front of me, fingering the fabric of my blouse.

“Is that a red wine stain?”

Shoot!

Why does my roommate have to be so observant? I was hoping I could just curl up on my bed and be alone with my thoughts for a while. But there’s no escaping Ava’s rapid-fire questioning. “Wasn’t today the meeting with the princess? What was it like? What did she want from you?”

So much for my comfy bed. Sighing, I settle down on our sofa and pull one of the cushions toward me so I have something to hold onto. Tinkerbell, who has been dozing between the pillows, stretches and yawns.

“I don’t really know where to start,” I admit.

Ava’s eyes grow wide with curiosity.

“Tell me everything!” she demands.

After I finish, Ava is unusually quiet. I gnaw nervously on my bottom lip, wondering if she’s judging me. Maybe she thinks I took it a step too far. Even though I didn’t really have a choice. After all, the king demanded it of me.

“Was he attractive?” she finally wants to know.

The question is so unexpected that I’m sure I misheard.

“Who?” I ask evasively.

“You know, that Nox guy.”

That’sall she cares about? I throw my hands in the air and walk over to the sink in our kitchen to get a glass of water. Tinkerbell follows me, mewing, hoping to get a treat. When she sees I don’t have anything for her, she scampers off in a huff to her spot on the windowsill.

“Yes, he was,” I reluctantly admit. I can’t help but think of him licking his fingers one by one.Do you want to know what your sin tastes like?“But that doesn’t matter.”

“Well, I wouldn’t complain if they wanted to put a delicious meal in front of me. Especially if the company was good.”

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