Page 117 of Devoured

Immediately, I know he doesn’t only mean Sin. He means Evie and Portia too. Good. That means they’ve been in contact. They’ve been able to protect one another. I bury my fingers in the delicate fabric of my dress and realize—this is the first time I’ve ever felt safe here. Not entirely. I’m not a fool. But… being in this room with Sin and Calix, knowing Calix is watching over my friends, I can breathe again. Really and truly breathe. And that breath I exhale feels miles long.

“I’m okay,” I tell him, wishing he could read my mind and see everything that happened in the throne room.

“Okay,” he echoes, his gaze saying, “Tell me later.” So I nod.

I will tell him later, and together with Evie and Portia, we’ll decide how to proceed. I’ll tell them how my powers fail when I try to do too much at once, and they can tell me what we’re going to do now that ambassadors have begun to abandon Cora.

“Drink this.” Calix passes me the glass of water. I obey, if only because my throat still hurts. “We should get you up to walk a little. Maybe find a way to get some sun on your face.”

“Before sunset,” Sin says. “Portia can take her outside during supper. Cora will be watching us, but she shouldn’t care about Portia’s absence too much. So long as we distract her, of course.” Sin shrugs and tucks his hands into his pockets. “Maybe you can throw some wine in my face, and I can make a fuss about the state of my hair.”

I blink at the suggestion, startled. A distraction would help, and even better if Sin is the one to provide it. Cora wouldn’t expect that, and it’d give me time to talk to Portia. To figure out if she’s been in contact with the other courts and who might be on our side now.

“Realistic,” I say.

“Yes,” Calix agrees. “You are always fussing over your hair.”

“And that’s why it always looks fabulous.”

Calix looks pointedly at the strands of blond sticking up in disarray, and Sin glowers. “Now doesn’t count,” he argues. “I’ve been caring for the sickly.”

“You’re a saint,” Calix deadpans.

Sin nods. “And when they erect a statue in my honor, my hair will look stunning.”

Calix tries—and fails—to repress a grin, which makes Sin beam. I laugh too, unaware that I’ve done so until both sets of red eyes fall to my lips.

Instantly, my grin fades, and I glance anxiously between both boys, unsure what to say or how to say it when we’re all three in the same room. They seem to realize it too. Sin coughs and clears his throat. A nervous flush creeps up my neck and over my cheeks. Calix, however, nudges my foot with his knee. He doesn’t speak, simply leaves it there. Touching me. Comforting me. Letting me know that he’s here.

“It’s okay,” his eyes seem to say. “You’re okay.”

I almost believe him.

Then Sin looses a breath, and my foot jerks from Calix as if he’s burned me.

Tensing, I wait for the moment to implode, but Sin only shakes his head and says, “My two favorite people under the same roof. How lucky am I?” He crosses the room and throws himself over Calix, landing on the far side of the bed. The mattress vibrates as he rolls onto his stomach and kicks out his legs behind him, dramatically and flamboyantly. “Now, Vanessa, tell me you know how to play Texas Hold’em.”

“Um—no. I don’t.”

“Excellent.” Sin pulls a deck of cards from his pocket with theatrical flourish. “That means I’ll have a better chance of winning. Calix, I’m convinced, cheats.”

Calix grumbles. Snatching the deck from Sin, he begins to shuffle the cards deftly. I stare at his hands for a second too long. “I have never cheated in my life.”

I drag my gaze between them, unsure whether to laugh or cry. Then Calix catches my eyes again and gives a small, reluctant smile. My breath catches.

“What are we wagering?” Sin asks, still smiling that pure, sunshine smile. “Our clothes?”

“Absolutely not,” Calix and I say simultaneously.

Sin laughs at that, and for a moment—an entire, beautiful hour—I forget about Cora, about this castle, and about my powers. For a moment, I am just a girl learning how to gamble with her friends.

39

VANESSA

WHAT DO YOU THINK? BLACK OR GRAY?”

Cora extends an arm toward me, long ribbons of sheer fabric hanging from her elbow and billowing in the cool breeze. The pink ocean spills gently against the seawall as the Realm of Superiority’s sky glimmers a bright, sapphire blue. Winter has finally begun to thaw, and with it, so has her composure.