Page 57 of A Story of Sinners

His cheek twitched, as if holding back laughter, and a sly smile slipped past his lips. “Something like that.”

We stared at one another for a few moments, the candlelight flickering against the walls.

“There is nothing left for you here, my light. Your supposed mate has abandoned you, the people of this kingdom see you as their enemy and always will, no matter how hard you try to prove otherwise. You have few friends left. You have nothing left to lose by coming with me, and everything to gain.”

He was right—there was nothing for me here. Not anymore.

Sure, there was Redmond, but I had to spread my wings eventually, and if the Otherworld was proven safe, I could return for Gabriella. Time passed differently over there—I could leave for years and probably only be gone for days.

“You must promise not to touch me. I’m not yours, Malachi. I don’t belong to you, and you need to realize that. I made the mistake of leading Aiden on, and I won’t do it to another male. If you get the wrong impression, that’s your own fault.”

His lids lowered as he breathed in through his nose, likely disturbed by my claim. “You have my word.”

“Say it,” I demanded.

His voice was hardly a whisper. “You are not mine, and I will not touch you unless it is requested.”

I shook my head. “That won’t happen.”

“Fine.”

“Will you tell me everything there is to know about my father, about myself? Will you train me to use my powers? Will I have the freedom to come and go anytime I wish?” I asked.

“Yes, to all. I promise,” he vowed.

I narrowed my eyes at him, unsure if his word was much to go on. It didn’t matter—I needed to make a choice, and there was very little time.

“Fine, then. I will go with you.”

His bright turquoise eyes lit with joy, and he smiled so wide, it revealed the sharp row of teeth at the top of his gums. I laughed at the sight. Even his smile appeared threatening.

He moved to leave before I could take back what I said, not willing to risk witnessing me change my mind. “Pack your things. I will see you tomorrow.”

Then, the shadows swallowed him whole.

Chapter24

Ryken

Terrified of the repercussions he might face, Aiden had been unwilling to honor our agreement and allow me to take Dahlia away to Faerie. I argued with him, told him this plan of the demon’s was all a trap, that it would backfire, but my reasoning had been in vain. Aiden remained adamant on signing the treaty with the Otherworld and having the darkness exit the continent, as was every other leader in attendance.

I didn’t blame them for acting in their best interests, but I couldn’t agree.

The treaty was too good to be true, the cost of it unknown. I didn’t know much about the demon or the workings of the Otherworld, but I knew enough to rationalize there was a much larger plan at play, that this treaty would somehow tip the scales far out of our favor.

My own plan couldn’t be enacted until the witches were out of the kingdom and out of my way, so I devised a creative solution.

The first step was disposing of the seer. Though Matilda did not have the ability to see all, it was too risky to allow her to catch wind of our plan. Eulalia had mentioned to Fin once that seers tended to disappear and lock themselves away whenever something took them by surprise. It was how Matilda had unintentionally avoided capture when Aiden made the grand scale collection. So, I’d convinced Redmond to drug the seer and hide her away in the sanctum to be retrieved later in the night. He did it, but not without complaint.

Redmond found Matilda fascinating; he liked her enough to feel guilty and protest my plan, but in the end, he relented. Dahlia was more important.

The second part of the plan consisted of whisking the witches away to Faerie and leaving them under the impression we were exiting the summit. Fin joined as I announced our departure; he personally reassured his mate that we would return for the seer whenever she deigned to resurface. The witches had been addled with nerves at the disappearance of their beloved seer, but they grasped the first opportunity to leave. If we were all in Faerie, then the timeline wouldn’t be disturbed—at least, that’s how Eulalia saw it.

Fin and I changed things up as soon as they were transported to the riverbank outside of the bubble of Faerie. We told them that instead of waiting, we decided it would be best to go search for Matilda right away. They were completely dumbstruck, knowing they had been outmaneuvered, that they could not travel back to Cambriel without transport.

Which brought us to the third and final part of our plan—with the witches away, I would play. There was no way in hell I would give Dahlia the chance to be captured in that monster’s snare. He’d been working her over since the moment he stepped foot in Cambriel, and it was only a matter of time before she caved and agreed to leave with him. She was nothing if not impressionable.

Behind the wall of her bedroom, my breath caught as my nightmare turned to reality.

---