This was so much worse.
This was his closest friend—his only friend.
This was Ari, a name he could only bring himself to call her in the safety of his thoughts.
He had no way to rescue her from the danger she was in. No way to take the risk on his own shoulders instead. He didn’t kid himself. The princess, with her skills, her connections, and her confidence, was worth five of Sebastian to a businessman like Teague. There would be no more trades. No more negotiations.
He closed his eyes and focused on taking slow, deep breaths. On counting to one hundred and then counting again while he waited for his heart rate to slow. For his muscles to stop shaking.
He couldn’t rescue her, but the princess was remarkably capable of rescuing herself. He had no doubt she could prove it if put to the test.
But she wasn’t going into Teague’s home to find a way to rescue herself. He knew his princess. She was going to search for the key to destroying Teague.
And what would happen to her if she got caught?
Sebastian swallowed hard and straightened in the saddle. He might not be able to rescue her, but he could help her with her search. He could be another set of eyes and ears. He could protect her from getting caught.
All he needed was a way to earn Teague’s trust and gain entrance to his home.
Teague trusted only those who proved themselves absolutely loyal to him. Who didn’t hesitate to do every unspeakable thing he required.
Sebastian’s skin crawled at the plan that was taking shape inside his head. It would mean becoming everything he hated. It would mean diving headfirst into the squalid underbelly of east Kosim Thalas.
It would mean following in his father’s footsteps.
The band of tension around his chest felt like it was crushing him and his scars burned, but he ignored them as Teague’s carriage entered the street and moved toward the intersection.
He shoved the rest of his fear into the dark, shadowy corner of his mind where the memories of his childhood lived. He’d put his plan into motion. He was doing this for the princess. It didn’t matter what it cost him as long as she was safe.
Holding on to that thin comfort, he urged his horse onto the road several carriages behind Teague’s and began to follow it.
TWENTY-FIVE
ARI WOKE, BRUISED and sore, to find the sun streaming through the windows of her room on the second floor of Alistair Teague’s villa. She hadn’t been able to see much of the property when she’d arrived the night before, but even with the sparse torchlight provided at the gates and the porch, she’d been able to tell that the place was nothing like the rest of the homes in Súndraille. Instead of gently domed rooftops and gracious arched windows, Teague’s house squatted in the center of a wide, tree-filled lawn. The roof was flat, the walls were dark, and the windows resembled narrow cat’s eyes glaring suspiciously at the world. She’d gone to sleep feeling trapped and terrified.
This morning, the shutters on her narrow window were thrown wide, and a crisp sea breeze tangled gently with the sheer drapes. She closed her eyes as the scent of brine and sun-warmed grass drifted in and imagined she was standing on the south cliff with Sebastian, reveling in the power and mystery of the sea.
Tears burned her eyelids, and she blinked rapidly. She wasn’t on the south cliff. She wasn’t with Sebastian. She was trapped in a monster’s lair, one simple word away from losing her soul.
She was alone.
All her life, she’d been surrounded by people she cared about and who cared for her. Her mother. Thad. Cleo. Mama Eleni. Sebastian.
Now her mother was gone. Her brother and her friends were out of reach. And Ari had foolishly thought she could bargain with the Wish Granter and win. She’d thought he’d choose not to take Thad’s soul in exchange for a chance at unlimited power and the promise of safety that power brought, but that he’d leave her out of the bargain.
Leave her free to find how to destroy him.
Instead she was trapped in his villa, cut off from everyone she knew and every resource she had, and Teague was poised to exploit Thad at the cost of entire kingdoms.
Grief swelled in her throat, and tears spilled onto her cheeks.
What if she never saw Thad, Sebastian, and Cleo again?
What if she couldn’t find anything that would show her how to stop Teague?
A knock sounded at her door, and she quickly wiped tears from her face as the door opened and a tiny woman old enough to be Ari’s grandmother shuffled in carrying a tray.
“Breakfast,” she said matter-of-factly, as if finding the princess here was business as usual.
Ari sat up slowly. Her arms had long slashes from the beast’s talons. Her back ached where she’d been kicked. And something in her chest sent a sharp pain through her whenever she moved.
The woman’s eyes, nearly buried in mounds of wrinkles, watched shrewdly as Ari struggled to get from the bed to the slim wooden chair that rested beside the open window. The woman put the tray, with its covered plate and mug of tea, on a table beside the chair.
“I’m Ari,” the princess said, her breath catching on the pain in her chest.
“I know who you are,” the woman said in the dry, papery voice of old age. She lifted the lid off the plate, revealing a dish of yogurt with honey drizzled on top and a slice of dry toast.
It was barely enough food to qualify as a snack, much less breakfast, but Ari found she couldn’t stomach the thought of putting a single bite into her mouth. Not with the pain that lit her on fire from the inside every time she moved.
She looked away from the food and found that her window faced the sea. Last night, hearing the crash of the waves against the shore had comforted her. Now it somehow made her life at the palace seem unbearably distant.
“Eat,” the woman said. “You’ll need your strength. The boss won’t tolerate someone who doesn’t pull her weight.” She sounded smug. Like she’d already decided Ari would be a liability Teague would soon cut loose.
“I’m not hungry.” Ari reached for the mug of tea, which smelled like lemons and cream and something dark and exotic that she couldn’t quite place. She took a sip. It was just as delicious as it smelled.
The woman smiled grimly. “That will fix what ails you. I’m Maarit. I do the washing up, the ironing, the dusting, the sweeping, and the shopping. Don’t expect to be taking any of those from me.”
Ari took another sip. “Am I going to be doing housework?”
Maarit sniffed, though she watched the princess closely. “What else would you be doing?”
Ending Teague, she hoped.