Page 29 of Our Sins in Shadows (Coven of Sin 2)

Lavinia dismissed them and took a bag from the tray, tearing it open with her teeth. She flopped on the bed, her blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders as she sucked on the bag, with all the innocence of a teen girl sucking down a smoothie while leafing through the pages ofTeen Vogue.

I gaped at her. “Um, what was that?”

“That was me covering our bases. Now we won’t run into any humans that can snitch on us later.” She picked up the second blood bag and offered it to me without looking up from an article on child delivery.

Good Lord, this girl was freaky.

I took the bag with a sick feeling building in my stomach. “This place is horrible. We have to help free the poor humans enslaved here.”

“Focus on freeing yourself first.”

We sat in awkward silence as we drank our blood. When Lavinia finished with her bag, she focused her attention on the box I’d been staring at for the last ten minutes.

“Open it,” she urged. “It’s a dress, not a rattlesnake.”

It didn’t matter if it was just a dress. Whatever was inside would be a reminder of what my brother had in store for me. With an intense ball of foreboding rolling around in the pit of my stomach, I lifted the lid off the box and pulled the garment out.

The dress matched the color of my hair, and the fabric was a thin and flowy material. Slits ran up high on either side of the skirt, with a plunging neckline so low, there was no way it wouldn’t show off my belly button. It reminded me of an outfit I’d seen in a movie once, worn by a courtesan that had been owned by a maharaja.

A lump settled in my throat.

Easy to rip off.

The back of the dress had a series of crossing ribbons that would need a second person to tie them off. Lavinia cleared her throat, probably having the same thought as me. “Get up and take off the blanket. I’ll help you dress.”

I got to my feet and let the blanket fall to the ground.

Being naked was something that I was getting used to, and even empowered me in certain situations. So it didn’t bother me being bare before Lavinia. Or at least, it wouldn’t have bothered me if it wasn’t for the way she was looking at me.

I resisted the urge to squirm when her gaze settled on my boobs. You think a three-hundred-year-old doctor’s apprentice would have seen a thousand women’s bodies by this point. Yet the girl regarded me like the female form was the most interesting thing she’d ever seen.

I stepped into the dress and sure enough, the slits up the sides showed off a huge portion of my thighs and the neckline dipped past my navel. While the fabric that made up the skirt was opaque, the sections covering my breasts were translucent lace that made a teasing show of my nipples.

While Lavinia cinched the laces tight, I felt her gaze lingering on my curves.

“What is it like?” she asked.

I glanced at her and wasn’t surprised to find her wearing a guarded expression as she focused on tying off the last of the ribbons.

“Um, what is what like?”

“To be a fully developed woman.”

Then I understood. She wasn’t assessing my every curve and bump like I was some kind of scientific anomaly, she was envious.

“Nevermind. You don’t have to answer that.” She sighed, and her brow creased with a puzzled scowl. “I’m surprised you don’t have more mating marks on your body, considering how taken all the princes have been with you.”

I almost choked on my blood. “Um. Can we not talk about this?”

“Oh please. Do I need to remind you I am three centuries older than you? I’m only a child on the outside. I’ve been versed in cravings of the flesh for quite some time now, even if I’ve never experienced it myself.”

I groaned. “Lavinia, I’d do damn near anything if you promise to never say ‘cravings of the flesh’ ever again. Look, I get you’re not a regular underage girl. But it’s still weird to talk about this with you.”

I felt sorry for her. She had seen more of life than several elderly women put together, forever imprisoned in the body of a little girl. There were so many things she would never experience. Things she’d never wear. Loves she’d never have.

It had to be so incredibly lonely. Plus, she was about to sever a three-century-old relationship with her master. It couldn’t be easy for her.

I threw my arms around the girl, gathering her into an embrace. Her tiny frame froze in shock before allowing herself to ease into it. “You’re a weird little mortal, you know that?”

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