Page 17 of Magic of Sins (Magic of Sins #1)

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 his suppressed 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?

As Caden begins to speak, I’m not sure if I should shake him to get the words out quicker or cover my ears.

“Your father—the king—didn’t know who he was getting involved with. He was still a young, unmarried man when he met your mother. He got carried away. Perhaps your mother… encouraged him with her powers. In any case, he spent a single night with her, and you’re the result of that union.”

“But my mother didn’t want me.” I pick up the thread of logic, because that’s still the part that pains me the most.

To my surprise, Caden shakes his head.

“That’s not completely true. She wanted you, but she feared for your life. The king could never know about his daughter and her powers. He would have made short work of you. And if someone in the East End had found out who your father was—well, you saw what happened tonight.”

“So my mother gave me up to protect me,” I conclude, and Caden nods.

“Your mother couldn’t hide her pregnancy. Rumors began to circulate in the East End that she had had a liaison with the king and that the child was his. But it was later said that the child had been stillborn.”

The first time I met Jared in the Crime and Punishment, I showed him the picture of my mother. In that moment, he must have guessed that the story of the death of her daughter had been a lie. I am alive, a child of two worlds.

The daughter of a king with the powers of a sin mage.

“You knew, didn’t you? You knew long before I showed you that picture of my mother.”

I never asked Caden why he demanded for me, of all people, to be brought to the palace. But now it’s obvious.

Caden at least has the decency to look remorseful. As we’ve talked, he’s slumped further and further down; now he’s trying to straighten up again. The movement seems to cause him a great deal of pain, but right now I don’t care. I want answers, even if I’m sure I won’t like them.

“Well?” I ask, when Caden doesn’t answer immediately.

“You’re right. I knew,” he admits.

He closes his eyes, leans his head back and swallows dryly.

“Why?” I want to know. “What did you expect to gain from meeting me? And how did you know who I was?”

My many questions torment him. With difficulty, he lifts his hand and wipes his face, flinching when he touches the bruise on his cheek. For a moment, I feel pity for him. Caden came here to rescue me. And now we’re both stuck in this prison, and he’s badly hurt.

But then again, this is all his fault. If he hadn’t taken me to the East End, Jared never would have noticed me. Caden had known what was at stake, and he risked it anyway.

“Someone close to the king knew of your existence,” Caden says and then pauses to cough. Blood trickles from his split lip, but he forces himself to continue. “He was the one who took your mother to a midwife and paid the woman for her silence. He was also the one who found someone to take you in. The old man was a frequent guest at my gentleman’s club. We got to talking and became friends. On his deathbed, he told me his secret. He wanted to be sure that someone would watch over you when he was gone.”

“Well, you handled that beautifully.”

My voice drips with sarcasm. It’s the only thing I have left, and I take refuge in it because right now it feels like I’m falling.

Caden raises his eyebrows. Despite the pain he must be in, he lifts a hand to my chin and looks at me beseechingly.

“That man believed he had to protect you. But all he did was weaken you. He made you deny your nature.”

I push his hand away.

“He didn’t make me do anything.”

That’s ridiculous. I was fine until Caden came into my life.

“Your powers are a part of you, Kaya.”

A part I could well do without.

A thought takes shape.

“You knew who my mother was— what she was—all along,” I say, my voice low and rough. “Does that mean you deliberately tricked me into sinning so my powers would manifest?”

Caden stares at me, wide-eyed. He looks guilty, and that’s answer enough.

Anger boils up inside me. Anger like I’ve never felt before. I can’t hold it in. It’s too late to be virtuous now. I’m in too deep. There’s no escaping this.

“Who do you think you are?” I spit at him. “My savior? Did you think for even a second that I might have liked to decide my own fate?”

Caden blinks as if this thought never crossed his mind, and that further fuels my anger.

“I had a life, and you took it from me. What, am I supposed to thank you now? Is that what you expected to happen?”

He raises his hand as if to reach for me again, but I back away. If he touches me now, I don’t know what will happen. I want to punch him, but he looks like he can’t take another blow. Instead, I stand up and put as much space between us as I can, even if it’s only a few steps. I force myself to breathe evenly.

In and out.

In and out.

I am usually good at controlling my anger. We learn this sort of thing in kindergarten—to suppress anger, to be calm and collected, and to not be led astray by sin. But right now, I’m having an immensely hard time not lashing out at Caden. I’m sure he can taste my anger. I hope he chokes on it.

We’re both silent for a while. Only the insistent drip, drip of water and Caden’s labored breathing break the silence. I pace restlessly up and down in the small space, aware of Caden’s gaze on me. He doesn’t say anything to defend his actions. Not that there’s anything to say.

“What are we going to do now?” I ask some time later. “Do you have a plan to get us out of here?”

“Before I came here, I let some of my people know. They’ll get you out.”

“And what about you?”

Instead of answering, Caden is shaken by another cough. It doesn’t sound good. When he pulls his hand back from his mouth, there’s blood on it. Is that why he only mentioned me? Because he doesn’t think he’ll make it?

Just like that my anger is gone. I sink down next to him on the mattress, stare at the blood on his hand, and feel terribly helpless.

“Is there anything I can do?” I ask quietly.

He coughs again. Then he gives me a pained smile.

“There is something, but you won’t like it.”

“What is it?”

I don’t want to admit it to myself, but I’m afraid for Caden. He looks so weak, and his clothes are covered in blood. I’m sure he’s got some broken bones. Maybe some internal injuries as well.

“In order to regain my strength and speed up the healing process, I would need to feed on someone,” Caden says.

“I didn’t know we could do that.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know yet, love.”

True. And he was also right to assume that I wouldn’t like his proposal. Although Caden didn’t say it outright, it’s clear that he meant me. He wanted to feed on me.

In my head I go through the seven sins—pride, greed, lust, wrath, gluttony, envy, and laziness. Pride, greed, and envy won’t work, and I’m pretty sure a lavish feast is not in the cards for us either, so that rules out gluttony. And I don’t have the time to indulge in sloth right now. That leaves lust and wrath.

“Well, you may not care for its taste, but wrath is something I have in spades right now,” I say bitterly.

That tortured, weak smile again.

“I would need more,” Caden says.

“What do you mean, more?”

“I would need to pull on the threads.”

And once he does, he will incite my wrath. I remember Ava’s phone call and the horrible state of our apartment afterward. In here, Caden would be the only one I could direct my anger at. What if I hurt him? He doesn’t look like he would be able to put up much of a fight against me.

“So wrath’s out of the question,” I decide.

That just leaves …

Lust.

I give Caden a quick glance, feeling my cheeks start to burn. He knows what I’m thinking. I can see it in his eyes. Maybe he even tastes it on his lips.

The idea of getting close to him should horrify me. Or fill me with disgust, after everything I’ve just learned. But there’s a prickling sensation in my gut that wipes out all those feelings in one fell swoop. I take a deep breath.

“All right.”

“What?”

Caden looks dumbstruck. I can’t believe it myself that I’ve agreed. Slowly, as if he’s a predator just waiting to sink his teeth into my flesh, I draw closer to him.

“I’ll do it.”

My voice sounds hoarse and not like me at all.

Caden doesn’t move an inch. His eyes dart to my lips, then back up to lock gazes with me.

“You can’t grab my threads.” He falters. “I’m not sure I have enough strength to stop if you do.”

My heart is racing. What am I agreeing to, exactly? A touch? A kiss? More than that?

Caden is still leaning stiffly against the wall. I expect him to make the first move, but he doesn’t. He leans his head back and closes his eyes. I wonder how much pain he’s in.

I gather all my courage and gently run my fingers over the back of his hand. I can feel the veins, their bluish color standing out against his pale skin. His fingers are long and strong. I imagine him slipping his hand to the back of my neck, gently pulling me toward him.

Caden’s breathing is labored. I don’t know if it’s my touch or the severity of his injuries. I can’t yet taste his desire.

I move even closer, lifting my hand carefully to his face. Despite the wounds, it’s still beautiful. The high cheekbones, the full lips. The blood should scare me off, but it doesn’t. Not when I know I can heal him with my touch.

“You don’t have to do this,” Caden whispers.

I’m so close to him now, I can feel his breath on my cheek.

“I know,” I reply just as softly.

I’ve never kissed anyone before. I didn’t think I’d ever want to. But I want to now. I want to know what it feels like. Caden’s lips on mine, his hand in my hair.

The heat of my blush spreads through me, lacing through my body like a flickering flame. I timidly move closer. My breathing is now as erratic as Caden’s.

My bottom lip quivers as I place my lips on his. They are warm and much softer than I expected. I feel the butterflies in my stomach grow stronger. Breathing heavily, I pull away again, suddenly unsure.

Caden blinks. His pale face has regained some of its color. His busted lip has healed almost completely. It seems to be working, though Caden can’t have pulled on the threads too much; I’m still in control of my body. Embarrassed, I stare down at the mattress.

“You call that a kiss?” teases Caden, clearly amused. “I think we can do better than that.”

He gently cups my face in his hands and makes me look at him. There’s an unspoken question in his dark gaze. I nod imperceptibly.

When he lowers his lips to mine, it’s like the world around me disappears. There’s no more fear, no more shame. There’s just him. His soft lips. His scent of whiskey and fireplace. His desire mingling with mine. Sweet and dark and burning. I hear the blood rushing in my ears, and my thundering heartbeat seems to resonate through my whole body.

Without any regard for Caden’s injuries, I climb onto his lap and press myself even closer to him. He moans between kisses. His hands move down my neck and over my shoulders to my back. He holds me close as his tongue invades my mouth. At the same time, I feel him growing hard underneath me.

Feeling Caden’s arousal so clearly makes my head go blank. I know there’s a reason I shouldn’t be doing this, but I suddenly can’t remember what it is. Not while Caden is pulling on the threads. My whole being focuses on that spot where we touch, and everything inside me softens and tightens at the same time. I move up and down, rubbing against Caden’s hardness. If only there wasn’t so much fabric separating us. My fingers move to unbutton his pants.

“Kaya, stop!”

His voice sounds strained; desire mixed with alertness.

“I can’t,” I gasp.

He should know that better than anyone. After all, he’s the one pulling on the threads, and as long as he doesn’t let go…

Caden pushes my hands away and grabs my shoulders.

“Look at me!” he says, sounding much calmer now.

I can’t look at him. Not while I feel like this. I want him. I want him so much. Him pushing me away like this almost feels like punishment. The desire is still there. And it’s so much stronger than I am. I lean in to kiss him again, but Caden’s sober voice stops me in my tracks.

“Of course you can. I stopped feeding on you a long time ago.”