Page 30 of Our Sins in Silver (Coven of Sin 3)

I’d only met Isadora once when we were greeted by the entire coven after our return from Boston. I was so curious to learn more about the ex-Salem Coven member and her mate, Tau. Not because they’d once been loyal members of the SC, but because they’d been mated for four hundred years. Their connection had to be deeper than the Mariana Trench.

The witch’s smile fell when she registered my distraught expression. “Oh. I’m sorry if I’m interrupting anything, Princess. Are you okay?”

Maybe it was the way I had an instant connection to the sweet-as-sunshine witch, but I teared up, shaking my head frantically. “No.”

She rushed forward, holding the mug to my lips. “Here. Take this. It will settle your nerves.”

Isa rubbed my arm in comforting strokes as I sucked down the blood without argument. The liquid trickled down my throat and filled my belly with warmth. It reminded me of the mugs of hot cocoa my mom had slipped beneath the door on cold nights. She always made sure to fill the mug to the brim with mini marshmallows because she knew I hated the bigger ones.

Shit, now I really was crying.

I probably looked like a fucking sight. Here I was, future queen of the dead, with my nipples basically out—my nightgown’s job was not to cover me up—crying like a baby. But Isadora didn’t make me feel like I had anything to worry about as far as keeping up appearances. She just waited patiently while I finished the blood and handed it back to her.

“Thanks...needed that.”

She smiled, her clay mask cracking with the tug of her mouth. “Is there something you’d like to ask me, Princess Ruby? Something that has to do with the library, maybe?”

I gave her a blank stare. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “I’m an oracle.”

I opened my mouth to fire off a million questions, but she silenced me with a waggle of her manicured finger. “Before you ask, I can’t tell the future. The way my magic works is that I can sometimes pick up on future choices a person close to me might make. I get the sense that you’re about to do something difficult.” She chewed her lip as her gaze skated down my sultry ensemble, then to the library door, and back to me. “Even with your mark, you fear Prince Sterling might keep you at a distance.”

I blinked, impressed by her perception. There was a frick-ton more to it than that, but that was a big part of it. Wrapping my arms around myself, I gave a slight nod. “Uh, yeah.”

“Being bonded to a mate resistant to letting you in is painful. Exploring the true depths of the bond...” Her lashes fluttered, and her cheeks tinged a darkish hue with her blush. “Well, you probably know. But it’s different with every couple. To forge the strongest, most intimate connection possible with Prince Sterling, you may have to go deeper than you have with your other mates.”

“How do I do that?”

Isa searched the space around me, pursing her lips. “You have an incredibly potent magical aura about you. I’m not sure how, but perhaps you can use your magic to bring you closer? I’m picking up something that I can’t put my finger on exactly. Whatever it is, it packs a punch. It’s possible that you can find a way to use your magic that might allow Prince Sterling to see you in a different light. To experience something new for you both.” She gave me a knowing smirk, her eyes dancing.

Sterling,seeme? Was she talking about exposing a part of my soul to him I hadn’t before? Or could she possibly be referring to his literal eyesight? Both seemed like impossibilities.

“I don’t even know where to begin with my magic. Can you teach me?”

Her mouth slashed with a frown, cracking the clay even more. She appeared genuinely crestfallen. “I’m afraid not. If you were an oracle, yes. Sadly, you’re not. You’re not even a witch. You’ve got ancient vampire magic, muddled with something else I can’t even read. That being said, pretty much all magic is genetic. So, if you want to know more about your abilities, look to your father. It’s not too much of a stretch to surmise that any magic the vampire king possessed, so might his flesh-and-blood daughter.”

My gut curdled, putting a sour tang in my mouth. “My dad’s magic is evil.”

A door a few yards down the hall creaked open, and a second later, Tau appeared, standing in his boxers. The tailor had his dreadlocks pulled into a wrap on his head, and his face was slathered in the same clay mask as Isa’s. “It’s almost dawn, baby. Come to bed.”

“Coming,” she called over her shoulder, stars in her eyes even when she turned to look back at me. Her chest heaved with an airy sigh, paired with a less cheerful smile than before. “Magic isn’t evil, Princess Ruby. Only the people who wield it.”

And with that, she gave me a tiny curtsy, her bun flopping over as she did, and practically glided to her room.

I stared after her for a moment, wheels spinning as I tried to process everything she’d said, retreading one thing in particular.

Magic was genetic. Meaning if my father could do it, chances were good that I could too.

Considering what I knew about his sinister preference in sorcery...bloody hell. Did this mean I had the knack for wearing people too? Yeah, no. That one was going to be a hard pass for me. People-wearing didn’t exactly fit the Ruby Renada brand. But the mental link with my mates?

Thathad potential.

Chapter thirteen

A Knight's Oath

Inthedarkofthe Knight Mansion’s library, I stood alone in the far corner behind the winding labyrinth of shelves before the bookcase that served as the gateway to Sterling’s sanctuary.

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