Chapter Eight
I can feel my mind breaking free of Jared’s grasp. It’s like a thick fog is lifted. I blink in confusion and shrink back from Amy, who hurriedly licks the chocolate sauce from her lips.
First comes the horror of what I almost did.
Then shame.
I jerk my hands up and cover my bra. Jared’s moved away from me, Amy as well. I see fear in her eyes. When I look up, I’m peering into Caden’s face. It’s set in a rigid mask, except for an angry fire glowing in his thundercloud eyes.
“Get up!” he orders me harshly.
I wince. Amy slides off the bench to make room for me in such haste that she almost falls over. Caden grabs me by the wrist and yanks me to my feet. He snatches my mother’s photo off the table and stuffs it carelessly into the pocket of his dress coat, bending the corners. The only memento I have of my mother, crumpled. Tears fill my eyes.
“Don’t ever lay a hand on my property again, Jared,” Caden threatens. “You won’t get off so easily next time.”
“Look, I didn’t know she was…” Jared protests weakly.
A growl similar to that of an animal predator rises from Caden’s throat, abruptly silencing Jared.
Caden is so angry, I don’t dare protest as he drags me toward the entrance of the strip club. My half-unzipped dress flaps around my waist. Humiliated, I lower my head, sobbing quietly and unable to stop. Everyone can see me like this, but hardly anyone looks. Is a sobbing, half-naked girl so common in a place like this that no one bothers with it? Or are they just as scared of Caden as Jared and Amy are?
We leave the strip club behind us. Caden doesn’t stop until we’re standing in an alley so dark, I can barely see my hand in front of my face.
My mind goes blank. Suddenly, I’m completely at the mercy of my senses. I hear Caden’s breath close to my ear, feel it bursting in small puffs on my face. The wall of the building is rough and unyielding at my back as Caden presses me against it. His fingers still clutch my wrist. For a moment, I’m paralyzed.
“Damn it, Kaya! Have you lost your mind? You can’t just run off like that. And what the hell were you doing in that strip club anyway?”
Caden’s flattened palm slams against the wall next to my head. I flinch and my heart skips a beat before jolting back to life. Even in the darkness, I can see the storm raging in Caden’s gray-blue eyes. He seems so unrestrained that my stomach sinks with fear.
“You’re hurting me,” I choke out, trying to break free from him.
Caden immediately loosens his grip. The storm in his eyes subsides, and his voice becomes strangely gentle.
“You can’t just… This is the East End, Kaya. The fucking East End!”
As if I didn’t know that myself.
“I shouldn’t have brought you here. I shouldn’t have…”
Caden hesitates. A moment ago I wasn’t sure, but now I am—his voice is shaking. With anger? Or was he seriously worried about me?
Only now do realize I that I’m still standing in front of him in just my bra. I’m suddenly glad about the darkness that surrounds us. Not only because this way my bare skin and glowing cheeks are hidden from Caden, but also because this way he can’t see what his closeness is doing to me. It’s confusing me. It awakens a shimmering longing I didn’t know I could feel. Shocked, I shut my eyes tightly and force myself to breathe calmly.
“May I get dressed again?” I ask quietly.
Caden huffs. “Of course.”
He lets go of me and turns away, taking two steps farther into the alley. I pull my dress on but I struggle to close it, my hands are shaking so badly. When it’s halfway zipped, I just give up. I’m a picture of misery.
“Caden?” I ask timidly.
Caden turns back to me. “Yes?”
“What you said back there…”
She’s mine.
Don’t ever lay hands on my property again, Jared.
“It was the only way to convince that bastard to release you. A sin mage can stake a claim on his victims, then no one else has the right to mess with them.”
“Sounds lovely,” I reply, sniffling.
“Welcome to my world.”
He seems to have calmed down a little more.
“Did they do something to you?” he asks, worry lacing his voice.
They made me eat strawberries.
It sounds silly even to me, and I’m embarrassed to admit that I had so little self-control. Jared had no trouble manipulating me. If Caden hadn’t come…
“I’m fine,” is all I say.
“You’re not.”
Caden’s matter-of-fact statement makes my throat tighten. I don’t want to cry again, so I swallow down the feeling of my own helplessness. He takes off his jacket and puts it around my shoulders. It smells like him. Expensive whiskey and a crackling fireplace.
“Come on,” he says gently. “Let’s get you away from here.”
A little later, we’re back in the limo. Caden looks at my scraped knees in the dim interior light. Before we reach my apartment, I’ll have to pull the tights back over them.
Hopefully, Ava’s not back yet. She’d know something was up right away. What would she say if I told her about my involuntary visit to that strip club?
Caden seems absentminded and almost a little nervous. He sits across from me and keeps running his hand over his mouth. I pull his jacket tighter around myself and would disappear into it completely if I could.
After we’ve sat there for a while, I finally dare to ask, “Why aren’t we driving?”
I just want to go to bed. To sleep and forget about what happened tonight. Even though I’m sure the events of tonight will follow me into my dreams.
Caden glances at me before immediately looking away again.
“You can’t go home,” he says softly.
I frown. “What do you mean?”
Of course I can go home. I just need to wipe my tear-stained cheeks and put on my tights so Mrs.Hughes or Ava don’t ask any prying questions.
Caden gives me a pained smile.
“It would be different if any other sin mage had claimed you. But I’m not just anyone.”
I’m trying to remember what Ophelia told me about Caden. He’s one of the most dangerous sin mages of all time. He owns most of East Virtue and has information on all sorts of influential people.
Okay, so he’s not just anybody. But what does that have to do with me and with why can’t I go home?
Caden leans forward in his seat. A lock of blond hair falls into his face. His hands jerk forward as if he’s about to reach for mine, but then, as if coming to his senses, he crosses his arms in front of his chest and looks at me urgently.
“I have enemies, Kaya. People who would love to see me dead and who would do anything to hurt me.”
“You think they might try to hurt me,” I say in a strained voice.
It’s more of a statement than a question, but Caden nods anyway.
You’ve got to be kidding me. I haven’t even been with Caden for four hours. It’s not even midnight, yet my world has already been turned upside down. I worry at my bottom lip.
“These people don’t even know where I live,” I try to reassure Caden as much as myself.
“They’ll figure it out.”
“Maybe Jared doesn’t tell them about your claim on me. Maybe he’s embarrassed by the whole thing.”
I know that I’m grasping at straws. Jared was intimidated by Caden, but he didn’t exactly seem like the type who was good at keeping quiet.
Caden leans his head back and sighs.
“I could take you to my place. You’d be under my protection there,” he suggests.
Under his protection. Yeah right. He’s one of them. It’s only a matter of time before he tries his sin magic on me and manipulates me like Jared did. But I don’t want to go back to my apartment either.
“I want to go to the palace,” I say.
“The palace?”
Caden raises his eyebrows. I’ve surprised him.
“Yes.” I nod, determined now. “Princess Ophelia will help me. And I’ll be safe there.”
I don’t feel quite as confident as I sound. The princess was nice to me, but will she be as understanding about my late-night trip to the East End? Will she give me shelter? After all, she still needs me for her deal with Caden. People’s lives depend on it.
Caden looks out the window, deep in thought. In the distance, the neon lights of the bars and clubs are flashing. It’s started to rain and small droplets of water run down the window.
“All right,” he says after what seems like an eternity. He presses a button that lowers the divider between us and the driver’s seat. “To the palace.”
The limo starts moving immediately, and I can’t shake the feeling that little by little my whole life is slipping away.