Timing it perfectly, Morgana sent a lash of sorcery through the ring on her finger. The collar around his throat tightened just a fraction in response, and Sebastian turned white as his nerves lit on fire. Pain broke his hold on emotion and his concentration. By the time he was gasping at her feet, one knee pressed to the floor and both hands curled around the collar, the room had stopped shaking entirely.
"Now get up," she said, spilling hot, steamy breath into the cool air. "Let us not have this discussion again."
Circling the secretariat, Morgana sat again and examined the letter she'd been writing, signing her name with a flourish and trying to pretend that her hands weren't trembling. She let him take his time to gather himself after that little display. It was easier now. The first time had been the worst. There'd been a wide-eyed look on his thirteen-year-old face, as if he simply couldn't believe that she'd done it. Betrayal was the emotion she most disliked, for it reminded her too much of her own past, but she'd hardened her heart and turned away from him then, just as she did now.
If only he could have been hers... If he could have loved her right from the start, things would be so different. He'd bought this on himself. No mother cared to be despised by her own child.
"I assume," he said hoarsely, as he dragged himself to his feet, "that you have some service required of me."
Morgana sealed the letter. "Several tasks. As I mentioned, our plan is unfolding as we speak. Here." She extended the letter. "I want you to deliver this to Lord Tremayne. Tell him I've agreed to his terms."
"I thought you said that he asked too much."
"I've since reconciled the matter in my mind. His terms of agreement can be overcome." Morgana leaned back in the leather chair and pressed her fingers into a steeple. "In fact, perhaps I should warn you, his terms apply to you directly. I wouldn't want you losing your temper when I'm not there to control it, should the Earl happen to mention it."
"And why would I lose my temper?" This was the deadly soft voice she knew and recognized. He was recovering much more quickly from one of their little 'episodes' these days. "What task have you pledged me to now? Murdering some creditor? Fucking his wife or his mistress, perhaps both at the same time, so the old goat doesn't have to bestir himself to keep them from his throat?"
"No, Sebastian. I know you find such things distasteful."
And there had been that incident three months ago, when an ally of hers, Lady Wormwald, had wanted to see if he looked as pretty beneath his clothes as he did with them on. Sebastian had always been a potent attraction for such potential allies, and Morgana had never shirked at offering him up before, but after Lady Wormwald... Well, she'd never thought that men would be bothered by such duties, but perhaps it was best not to set him into another situation like that, where his emotions could potentially overwhelm him. She'd bribed Lady Wormwald's husband to keep quiet, and really, he was well rid of the bitch, but Sebastian was Morgana's most dangerous weapon. She couldn't afford for Drake to hear even the quietest whisper about him.
Sebastian's shoulders relaxed a hint. "Then what must I do?"
"You're to marry his daughter. An alliance to prove my trustworthiness to Tremayne this time aroun—"
"No." A hand slammed on the secretariat, disbursing papers everywhere. "No, I won't do it."
Morgana looked up, gauging the depth of his distress and finding not quite enough to warrant caution. "Yes. You will. It's not like you have to fuck the little bitch. Husbands and wives keep separate beds all of the time, and Tremayne wishes her to remain pure for some reason. I'd argue, but in fact, I'd much prefer it if our bloodlines don't mingle, as I have plans for Tremayne, but—"
"Do I not get to make one bloody decision in my life? Not even one?"
"If you interrupt me again, Sebastian..." She didn't bother with the rest of the warning.
He breathed out a laugh, his eyes wild. "Your uncle should have cut your throat. He should have realized what a little snake he had under his roof and just how poisonous you could be. It would have done the world a favor."
"And then you wouldn't exist!" It didn't sting. It didn't. She wouldn't let it.
"Would that be such a very bad thing?"
Another tremor shifted through the room, surprising her. She hadn't even felt him drawing in his power. The letter opener vibrated off her secretariat and disappeared into the shiver of papers on the floor. Morgana grabbed for the small writing desk, swallowing hard. This was stronger than before, almost enough to shatter the glass in the windows.
But this time, Morgana didn't have to do anything to stop it. Something shattered in the small bedroom next door and a frightened scream cut through the world.
The tremors stopped immediately.
The girl was crying again, curled up against the door from the sound of it, as if to escape whatever had happened inside the room. Morgana had never been so grateful to hear tears in her life.
She let them drag out, each sucked-in sob a knife into the heart of her son. She could see it in his eyes, in the hopeless way he shut them, his head bowing as if he'd finally given up.
There were shards of ice across her desk, like those found drawn on a window in crisp mornings, which was... a little concerning. The room was so cold and still. The whole house sounded empty of life and noise, as if he'd drawn heat and life from all of it in but a second.
Dangerous, something whispered in her mind. He is more dangerous than you ever believed him.
Not even Drake could gather so much power so quickly.
And just like that, her fear disappeared.
Not even Drake could stand against Sebastian's power, if she wielded it. The entire Triad of Councilors would wilt at the immensity of it. All she had to do was find a way to take it for herself.
