Page 266 of The Sins of Silas

His dark eyes were livid, his face contorted. “Oh, Ryia…what have you done?” he growled.

She swallowed, bracing her back against the dresser.

“Amatta, go,” Ryia ordered, but as she went to obey, Ulric grasped her, tossing her so hard into the wall her head cracked, and she slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Kayin went to freeze him with her magic, but the King anticipated the move. He plunged a dagger kept at his side into her chest.

She choked, crying out at the pain, eyes wide and tearful as she beheld her husband's blade piercing her.

The vision swirled into nothing.

We were all silent.

“Holy shit,” Roland breathed.

When I looked over at Silas, I saw him trembling, tears falling down his face, both hands covering his mouth.

I didn't watch what happened next, but I heard it. Heard Amatta's screams as Silas lit her on fire. I only slid my gaze over to watch his reaction to that final night together.

“You will not give up. You will not break.”

Tears spilled down his face as he saw me get my ice, watching as I wailed in agony over the fact that I was leaving him.

I expected it to continue playing my memories now that Kayin was gone.

But I was wrong.

My brows furrowed. We were in a cell of some sort, though I had no idea where.

Kayin lay, groaning at the stab wound in her chest.

This was the night we escaped. She had not died two evenings prior. She was still alive.

“What is this?” Kayin seethed, gesturing to her bound wrists.

The cuffs…those dreaded cuffs. The ones she wore appeared to be an older model, more clunky in design but able to erase magic all the same.

“Something that has been in the works for a while,” he commented, grimacing at her from the other side of her cell.

“You really hate Magekind this much, Ulric?” she spat. “Why?”

“What I hate more than anything at this moment is you, dear Ryia.” He grasped the bars of the enclosure. “You slept around with human trash and made me believe those children were my own.”

Her brows went together. “Silas is yours!” she barked.

Ulric released a guffaw. “You stupid bitch.” His dark glare was sickening. Kayin shrunk into the corner of her cell, and the King’s cruel smile only grew. “I would’ve believed it, as I thought he and I shared some physical features. But you miscalculated, Ryia. I figured out Silas wasn’t mine the moment I read those letters.” He tilted his head to the side. “Do you know why?”

She shook her head, glowering at him with hatred.

Ulric lifted his hand, tilting it ever so slightly.

No.

No.

No.

Kayin’s eyes widened in horror as Ulric removed his glamour, showcasing his pointed cartilage.

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