Page 31 of Magic of Sins

“The palace?”

Caden raises his eyebrows. I’ve surprised him.

“Yes.” I nod, determined now. “Princess Ophelia will help me. And I’ll be safe there.”

I don’t feel quite as confident as I sound. The princess wasnice to me, but will she be as understanding about my late-night trip to the East End? Will she give me shelter? After all, she still needs me for her deal with Caden. People’s lives depend on it.

Caden looks out the window, deep in thought. In the distance, the neon lights of the bars and clubs are flashing. It’s started to rain and small droplets of water run down the window.

“All right,” he says after what seems like an eternity. He presses a button that lowers the divider between us and the driver’s seat. “To the palace.”

The limo starts moving immediately, and I can’t shake the feeling that little by little my whole life is slipping away.

Chapter Nine

Princess Ophelia’s personal guard meets me at the palace entrance. She doesn’t ask questions. Not about why Caden’s limo dropped me off. Nor about why I’m now skulking behind her with a tear-stained face and scraped hands as I follow her in.

I’m tired. Terribly tired. At least we hardly encounter anyone as we make our way through the palace, so I don’t have to maintain my forced smile after Erin turns her back on me. Only a few butlers and maids scurry about, hurrying past us with heads bowed.

Once again, I go over the words I’ve prepared for my encounter with the princess. Already my cheeks burn with shame. I’ll have to tell her about my visit to the East End, and about Caden’s enemies having become aware of my existence. But I’d better keep the details to myself.

A set of white double doors at the end of the hallway are yanked open before Erin and I even reach it. Ophelia is wearing a long, flowing nightgown. Her dark-blonde hair falls loose around her shoulders.

“Kaya,” she exclaims when she catches sight of me. “My God, how awful. Mr.Nox just called to tell me what happened. Are you all right?”

Taken off guard, I nod. Caden sure works quickly. I wonder if he told the princess everything that happened. Even those things I would have preferred to keep to myself.

Ophelia beckons me toward her. I search her face in vain for a hint of whether or not she’s judging me. She seems friendly as always—even a little worried.

“Come in, come in. You must be exhausted.”

I gladly accept her invitation. The princess’s bedroom is huge. The carpet is a soft fluffy white, and I look up to see high ceilings that were once probably decorated with stucco. Its remnants left patterns that can still be clearly seen. In addition to a large bed, there is a desk, a wardrobe, and a small sitting area. A door appears to lead to the adjacent bathroom.

“You’ll probably want to freshen up first,” Ophelia suggests.

In the bathroom I look at my pale face in the mirror. The tears have left streaks on my cheeks, my eyes are red. Fortunately, there is no sign of Ava’s lipstick, which I applied a few hours ago.

I wash my face and hands. Then I carefully roll down my tights, which I put back on in the limo, to take a look at my scraped knees. The blood has dried and left a crust. I carefully wash it off. It stings a little, but that’s probably the least of my worries right now.

After tending to my wounds, I sink down on the edge of the bathtub and bury my head in my hands. What am I supposed to do? I have a life to lead, a job. I can’t just hole up in the palace and hope Caden’s enemies won’t find me here. But if they do, what will they do to me? Will I end up like my mother? How could I have followed Amy to that strip club? I should have known it was a trap.

“Kaya?”

Ophelia pushes the door to the bathroom open a little and peeks in. I lift my head and wrestle a smile onto my face.

“May I?”

Ophelia points to the edge of the bathtub as if it were a chair, and this my room into which I’d invited her for some tea. I move over to make room for her. Together we stare at the white rug and the beige tiles of the bathroom.

“I can only imagine what you must have gone through,” Ophelia finally breaks the silence. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” I shake my head, but then it does burst out of me—unstoppable, like water finding its way downstream. “They wanted me to eat a strawberry, and I knew that it was wrong. I tried to resist, but… My body stopped obeying me, and then his hand was on my dress. He pulled down the zipper and…”

My voice fails me. Tears run down my cheeks again. I shouldn’t have told her; I want to press my hand to my mouth to stop myself from saying any more. Ophelia will think I’m a filthy sinner. She’s theprincess, by all the seven virtues! She can’t just overlook what I’ve done.

But Ophelia doesn’t say anything, just silently pulls me into her arms, her hand stroking my back soothingly. Her touch is far too personal, but I allow it. It feels infinitely good to be wrapped in her warmth and comfort. To know that she doesn’t look down on me.

My story must sound terribly confusing to her, but she doesn’t ask me to clarify. Instead, after a while, she rises and pulls me back toward the bedroom.

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