Page 63 of Magic of Sins

“Not so fast! You didn’t think we were just going to let you two walk out of here, do you? The party is just getting started.”

Caden turns to face him, infinitely slowly. The look of unadulterated anger on his face makes me cringe. But it’s directed at Jared, not me. My heart hammers at the tension in the air.

“Don’t test me, Jared. You know my patience is limited. And you know I can make life very difficult for you in the East End.”

Seemingly unimpressed, Jared just shrugs. Then he opens the cufflinks on the sleeves of his shirt and rolls them up, as if getting ready to fight.

“Oh, I’m well aware, Caden, and I’m willing to take the risk.”

Chapter Seventeen

Caden doesn’t stand a chance. He’s not the type of guy to fight with his fists. And apparently Jared was counting on him coming to my rescue. Syrus and two other men grab Caden and yank him away from me. Before he can even begin to fight back, his face is struck by a fist. I cry out in shock as blood splatters on the red carpet.

“Shh! Calm down, princess,” Jared says, wrapping an arm around me from behind so I don’t rush to help Caden. His breath is hot against my ear. “We’re just teaching your white knight a lesson.”

Caden wipes away the blood from his upper lip with the back of his hand. His nose looks like it’s broken, but if he’s in pain, he doesn’t show it. Instead, he throws his head back and laughs.

“Is that the best you can do? Are you such a lowly bunch that you let fists speak when arguments get you nowhere?”

In return, one of the men rams his elbow into Caden’s stomach.

“Caden!” I yell.

He’s still laughing, but now it sounds stifled.

Desperate, I fight against Jared’s grip, but I’m caught. I taste so much anger that I feel sick to my stomach. Groaning, I bend forward and vomit onto the floor as the world blurs around me. If Jared wasn’t holding me, I’m sure I would keel over. I just barely manage to not give in to my sin magic. They urge me to pull on the threads, to feed on the anger of those around me.

My eyelids flutter; red and black dots dance before my eyes. Caden has stopped laughing and all I hear now are hissuppressed grunts of pain every time a fist lands.

He’s going to die.

We’re both going to die.

The certainty gives me the strength to fight back one last time. My head snaps back and clips Jared’s chin. He cries out in surprise, and his grip loosens. I’m free, but my legs refuse to obey me. I hit the ground hard.

“Kaya!”

Caden’s voice is wild with worry. I look up at him, at his beautiful face which has so much worry written over it. Then everything goes black.

“Are you all right?”

I hear Caden’s voice before I’m fully awake. I open my eyes and look directly into his gray-blue ones. He looks terrible. His face is crusted with dried blood, and his lip is split open. A bruise stands out on his right cheek.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” I reply, feeling drained, and let my gaze move past him to have a look around.

Caden and I are locked in the underground room where I was held earlier. Seems that I had been unconscious, and I can’t remember how I got here. Caden is leaning against the wall facing the door, with my head cradled in his lap and he’s covered me with his coat.

When I sit up, his muscles tense. His gaze becomes alert.

I try to remember all the things I’ve learned in the past few hours.

“Is it true?” I ask. “Am I the king’s daughter?”

Caden takes a deep breath and slowly expels it. From the pained look on his face, I can tell that doing so hurts him. He probably has some broken ribs. Instead of answering, he just nods.

“But my mother was a sin mage. How does that even work?How did they even…?”

I bury my face in my hands and let out a frustrated sound. This is all too much for me. I was just coming to terms with my maternal heritage. And now my father is supposed to be King Henry I?

---