"Well, you'd better help me get out then, hadn't you?" she demanded. "Because I'm not going anywhere without you." Her throat closed over. "You tried to stop them from killing Mrs. Ross, didn't you? This is my fault. This happened because I demanded that you save her!"
"Hush. Hush..."
Cleo shook her head. "If I hadn't demanded such a thing, you wouldn't have been there." She was flat out sobbing now. "I'm so selfish!"
"No. No, you're not." He was whispering now, still holding onto her face. "You're the most amazing person I've ever met. It was worth it. I'm finally free, Cleo."
"Bastian—"
"Hush." His voice sounded closer, his thumbs stroking her cheeks. "Just hush. Just give me this. Once."
And then his mouth brushed against hers, his breath teasing her lips. Cleo froze in shock as Sebastian finally kissed her, so sweetly it almost took her breath away. A simple touch, but one filled with so much yearning, so much need...
She could feel the tingle of premonition itching over her skin. Not yet! She wanted this to last, wanted—
A vision speared through her; a way in which she could save his life. She could see the threads of sorcery dancing through her own fingers, see how she could save him! Repercussions stretched out, consequences echoing with a warning cry, but she didn't heed them. She had done this. Now, she could undo it. All she had to do was—
Sorcery wove into a fine thread between her fingers. Cleo struck with it, pressing her hand over his chest and forcing that fine web to curl around his heart, binding it to hers as his mouth tore from her own. Something wrenched in her chest, and Sebastian screamed, his body arcing off the floor and pressing up into the palm of her hand as she threw everything she had into this last, final spell. A way to bind him to her, so that not even death could steal him away.
It hurt. Gods, it hurt. She was screaming too, her heart resettling in her chest before finally smoothing into a steady, deliberate rhythm again. Something soft pressed against her face, and as she came back to herself, she found herself lying atop him, her head resting against his chest.
His heart beat beneath her ear, a rhythm that synced perfectly with hers.
His wound was wet and bloody beneath her hand, but sealing slowly. It was a wound that would never fully heal, would always form a weakness for him, but one which owned no mortal effect upon him, at least, not for now.
As for the rest... She had time to think, time to work out how to deal with it... all of it.
"What... have you done?" Sebastian whispered hoarsely. His hands gripped her upper arms, almost painfully, as if he was frightened. "Cleo?"
"I've saved your life, Bastian."
No matter what the consequences were, She wouldn't regret a thing.
"Now help me get out of here."
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ianthe blinked in the soft morning light, trying to remember where she was.
The room was abnormally bright, searing her senses. Lifting a hand to her eyes, she moaned in pain. It felt as though every muscle in her body had been pounded between a hammer and anvil.
"Be still," a dark shadow murmured. Drake appeared in her vision, impassive in black. "You're not to use your sorcery for a very long time, do you understand me?"
"M-my sorcery?"
A hand cupped her forehead, a wash of warmth seeping through her and filling her with strength. Ianthe shivered as her body soaked it up, clinging to the rush of power like a drowning man.
"You exerted yourself immensely," Drake's voice was grave. "From the sound of it, you completely stripped your body of energy in order to protect Lucien, and the demon's psychic assault nearly killed you."
"L-Lucien?"
Drake eased her back onto the pillows and sat on the edge of the bed. "He's safe and well. Far better than you, actually. He forged a bond between you, Ianthe, against your will. A bond far tighter than anything that you wove before. You will never break it. You will carry it with you until one of you dies, and then most likely, the other will follow. A Soul-bond." Drake's dark lashes fluttered against his cheeks as he looked down, his fingers still in hers. "He said you were dying."
Coldness spiraled through her chest. Faintly, the image of being surrounded by nothing but darkness flashed into her mind, followed by a voice screaming at her to come back. Reaching out, it held her there, trapped between life and death.
"What he did is illegal."
The words were a slap in the face. "Not if I chose to accept it."
