“She isn’t yours.”
Teague’s golden eyes met his. “She is now.”
Sebastian bent his head over Ari’s chest and shook as the hurricane of grief that devastated him became a firestorm of bone-deep rage.
None of this would have happened if Teague hadn’t orchestrated it.
If he didn’t survive on preying on the innocent and the desperate.
Sebastian was one of the desperate now, and, by all the stars, Teague was going to make a bargain with him. He was going to give Sebastian the deepest desire of his heart, and that bargain was going to ruin the monster who’d killed Ari.
Sebastian had promised to protect her. He wasn’t done keeping his promises.
Gently he lowered Ari to the floor, careful not to let any part of her touch Maarit. And then he stood, towering over Teague as he said with quiet vengeance, “I want to make a wish.”
Teague laughed and stood as well. “No.”
“I wish for you to return Ari’s soul to her body and bring her back to life.”
Teague shook his head, his laughter mocking Sebastian.
“In return, I will pay any price you name.”
Teague stopped laughing. “If you think I’m going to play this little soul-swapping game with you after the princess betrayed me, you really don’t know me at all.”
“I know you.” Sebastian stepped closer to Teague, his hands curled into fists, his body vibrating with the need to hurt him. “Have you forgotten? I’ve spent the last month and more running every part of your business. Collecting on your debts. Enforcing your punishments. Even taking a soul. There isn’t a single task I haven’t done for you. I know that power is what you truly crave and that you’ll do anything to keep it. I’m offering you power over me, and through me, power over as many others as you’d like.”
Teague cocked his head. “Explain.”
“How many?” Sebastian asked quietly. “How many souls do you need to collect to secure your place as the most powerful man in the world? How many bodies waiting to be used by you? Spies in every kingdom at every level of authority and influence. An unlimited supply of apodrasi customers. And the unquestioning loyalty of everyone who hears of the Wish Granter, because they know that if they aren’t loyal, I will come for them.”
“And when you decide to betray me—”
Sebastian slammed his fist onto the desk. “You know me! You know me the way I know you. You know what to put in my contract to make sure I cannot be bribed, cannot be begged, cannot be moved to do anything other than your bidding.”
Teague glanced down at the princess’s body and smiled.
“Return her soul. Destroy her contract. Let her go and never have anything to do with her again, and I will be yours until the day I die. I will show no mercy on your behalf. I will tear kingdoms apart if that’s what you ask of me. I will make sure no one ever gets close enough to you to betray you again.” Sebastian’s chest heaved as he struggled to contain his desperation. “Save her, Teague, and the world is yours.”
Silence stretched between them, thick with tension. The tenuous calm that Sebastian was holding on to by sheer force of will began to unravel, and then Teague said, “How do you propose to get me these souls if I don’t grant them a wish and make a contract with them?”
“Give me a stack of contracts with your fingerprint already on them. I’ll get people to sign them.”
“How?”
Sebastian’s voice rose. “I’ll trick them. I’ll hurt them. I’ll do whatever I have to do.”
Teague met his gaze. “I believe you would. But how will you guarantee that the princess won’t try to free you by coming after me?”
“Tell her that if she harms you, my soul is forfeit. She’ll leave you alone.”
Teague watched him closely. Sebastian held his gaze and willed him to take the bait.
Finally, Teague moved to the desk, lifted a contract, and quickly filled it out. Puncturing his finger on a dagger he kept in the top desk drawer, he pressed it to the debtee side of the parchment.
Sebastian reached for the dagger, but Teague held it just out of reach and said, “There’s a limited window for returning a soul to a body. It’s one thing to put myself into a vessel. A little touch of fae magic keeps a vessel in excellent shape for years. But returning an ordinary soul is tricky. If I wait too long, the body decays, and it can’t be saved.”
“Then don’t wait.”
Teague’s eyes glowed with vicious intensity. “Oh, I’m not going to restore the princess until I’ve seen proof that you’re going to hold up your end of the bargain. I’m going to require a down payment on all of those souls you’ve promised me.”
Sebastian’s stomach plummeted, and panic wrapped around his chest, making every breath a struggle. “How many?”
“One hundred.” Teague smiled. “By midnight.”
One hundred innocent souls collected in the space of five hours. Sebastian held himself rigidly still while his heart thundered and his vision blurred.
He couldn’t do it.
He couldn’t refuse.
Teague had called him on his bluff, and it was either prove himself and trust that Teague would have to honor his side of the contract in time to save Ari, or walk away and lose her forever.
Forcing himself to cut through the chaotic panic that screamed through his thoughts, he latched on to the plan.
Ari’s plan.
The plan he still trusted was their best shot to destroy Teague, if only he did what it took to give her a chance to see it through.
“She’s running out of time,” Teague said softly.
Sebastian took a long look at the princess, lying so horribly still at his feet, and then he grabbed the dagger, pricked his finger, and sealed the contract with his fingerprint.
FORTY-NINE
“BETTER HURRY.” TEAGUE finished pressing his bloody finger to the final parchment in a stack of one hundred and handed it to Sebastian. “You have about five hours left to deliver your down payment.”
One hundred contracts waiting to be signed by those who had no idea what was coming for them.
One hundred souls collected in the glittering vial already stored in Sebastian’s pocket.
The vial that now held the soul of the princess who’d insisted on being his friend and who had instead taken over his heart.
The thought of stealing one hundred souls for Teague sent sickness crawling up the back of Sebastian’s throat and made his chest ache. He was going to do the unthinkable on the desperate hope that at the end of it, he could make everything all right again.
He could destroy Teague.
Rolling the stack of contracts into a thick scroll, he shoved them into his coat pocket, and then turned to face the princess’s limp body lying at his feet.
“I’ll keep watch over your precious Arianna while you’re gone,” Teague said as casually as if they were discussing the weather or the possibility of having an early dinner.
“I’m not leaving her with you.”