Page 20 of Magic of Sins

But the back …

I turn around, craning my neck to get a better look at my reflection. The open back of the dress ends just a few inches above my bottom. A golden snake winds itself across my spine, held in place only by slender gold chains attached to the edges of the fabric.

The idea of walking through the East End like this makes me sick to my stomach. The sin mages will undress me with their eyes.

Or rather, they won’t need to. There’s hardly anything left for them to take off. I might as well walk around naked.

I don’t have a phone number to reach Caden, or I’d tell him right now that I’m done. And I can hardly ask Princess Ophelia for his information. She’d be shocked if she knew about my deal with the sin mage. She might even have me punished for it.

“Kaya, is everything okay? You’ve been in there for over an hour,” Ava calls, knocking on the door.

“I’m fine,” I reply, wiping my eyes.

It seems silly even to me that I’m crying over my clothes, but I can’t help it. This skimpy black dress embodies everything I fear.But it’s also the only hope I have of finding out more about my mother’s death.

“Are you sure?”

I can tell Ava’s not convinced. I haven’t told her about my arrangement with Caden. Though I’m sure she wouldn’t judge me for it, the words just won’t cross my lips.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

I force myself to smile, even if Ava can’t see me. In the mirror, a distorted grimace looks back at me.

“All right,” my roommate says after a moment’s hesitation. “I’m off then.”

She’s going to another underground party tonight.Be carefull!I want to say to her. But it’s me who’s standing in front of the mirror in this sinful outfit. I’m the one who wants to go to the East End with a notorious sin mage.

What was I thinking? Caden can do whatever he wants to me if we meet outside the safety of the palace. No one will know where I am. And if something happens to me…

Stop!I silence my doubts. For the first time in my life, I have the opportunity to learn more about my mother’s death. So far, no one has been able to tell me anything about who she was or what happened to her. With Caden’s help, I might finally get some answers. But he can’t make me wear this dress.

After Ava leaves the apartment, I venture out of the bathroom and go to her room. I search for one of the outfits she wears to underground parties. She hides them in a box in the back of her closet.

I decide on a black dress that reaches past my knees. The fabric on the arms and shoulders is transparent. I don’t feel entirely comfortable in the outfit, but at least I’m not showing as much bare skin as I did in the snake dress. I find one of Ava’s lipsticks and paint my lips a soft pink color. It’s one small compromise I can make. By the time I’m finished, the doorbellrings.

Caden promised to pick me up. Only now do I realize the idiocy of that idea. Mrs.Hughes is probably waiting at the top of the stairs to see who’s coming to see us girls. The old lady is awfully nosy. If she sees Caden in his flamboyant getup, she’ll probably have a heart attack.

I quickly pull on my boots and throw on my coat. I grab a sharp knife from one of the drawers in the kitchen, wrap it in some paper towels and put it in the handbag I also borrowed from Ava. Now I at least have a weapon if one of the sin mages in the East End tries to attack me. Feeling a little more prepared, I close the apartment door behind me and cross the hallway.

Through the milky glass panes of the front door, I see a hazy silhouette. I take a deep breath. If I go out and shut the door quickly enough behind me, I might prevent Mrs.Hughes from catching a glimpse of my visitor. Not so much if she’s upstairs at the window, watching the front entrance from there.

My hand shakes as I nervously turn the knob and dart outside. I almost collide with a young woman standing on the doorstep. She’s about my age and clad in a gray dress, her blonde hair hidden under a bonnet. Her face seems unremarkable except for her eyes, which immediately catch my attention. One is green, the other blue.

“Oh, sorry!” I squeak in surprise.

Is she a friend of Ava’s?

“Miss Ashton.” The young woman winks at me conspiratorially. “The limo’s waiting.”

She’s the chauffeur. I’m relieved because this way Mrs.Hughes won’t know about my inappropriate companion for the evening. But the feeling doesn’t last long. What will Caden say when he sees my outfit? Will he even agree to take me, dressed like this? Part of me - the part that’s less brave and more terrified—hopes he won’t.

We walk toward a dark blue limousine with tinted windows. Just before I reach it, the back door is opened from the inside. I hesitate to get in. This is my last chance to change my mind. If I turn back now, I can pretend the conversation between Caden and I never happened. Like I didn’t agree to take a trip to hell with him.

“You’re not going to chicken out, are you, Kaya?” I hear Caden’s muffled voice through the half-open car door.

The tone of his voice is mocking, even more so than usual. But it’s his words that make me pull myself together and get into the car. He smirks as I slide into the seat across from him.

Tonight he’s dressed even more extravagantly than the last time we met. He wears a dress coat made of black and gold brocade, with a dark-blue vest underneath. His black boots shine. The outfit suits him, though I’m glad Mrs.Hughes hasn’t seen him like this.

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