I try to act unaffected by his words, but by the way his mouth quirks, I know he can read my surprise.
“I am a monster, Grace,” he continues. “That means I don’t care what I deserve. There is nothing I will not do to get what I want. I will lie, steal, torture, slaughter. I will doanythingto break this curse, even if that means killing you. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I say through gritted teeth. “I amwellaware of who you are, Sebastian. You don’t?—”
“I will do anything,” he says again, cutting me off. He strides across the room, forcing me to retreat until my back hits the stone wall. He only stops once our chests are inches apart. “Butonlyif I must. If you are willing to try again, I am willing to adjust my method.”
“Adjust?” I echo. I can barely breathe with him this close, his green eyes intense on me.
“I will stop treating you as a prisoner,” he says. “I will notthrow you into battle unknowingly. I will not kill you without due notice.”
“How kind of you,” I mock.
“I willhelpyou,” he says, ignoring me. “Kindness isnotmy nature, but I will try.”
“Why?” I ask. My voice shakes as I speak, and my heart begs me not to listen, not to fall for his false words. I know better, especially from evil-hearted creatures like him.
“If I kill you, there’s no going back,” he says. He steps away, giving me space to breathe, to think.
I don’t respond. I remain against the wall, chest heaving, eyes burning. Sebastian crosses the room. He pauses as he reaches the door, looking back at me.
“Let me know what you decide.”
“I don’t forgive you,” I tell him. “I willneverforgive you.”
“Good,” he says, surprising me. He looks away, voice lowering again. “After you attacked me in the park, I assumedfeartriggered your magic. But it wasn’t fear, Grace, was it? It washate.”
He waits for me to respond, but I don’t. I don’t tell him his explanation is one I’ve considered for nights on end. The same one I’ve feared. Because if he’s right…perhaps I belong with these monsters more than I thought.
10
GIVE ME SOMETHING
SEBASTIAN
“Where did you get this?” I ask.
Grace stands before me, dressed in a pair of grey pants and a shirt that must belong to Cora. It’s too small on her, showing off a strip of her thin stomach. It’s almost as bad as that damned skirt she’d worn. It switches something in my brain, until I’m barely paying attention to the paper in her hand.
I need to focus, but instead, I’m studying her body like it’s a work of art. Maybe it is. Smooth skin, long legs, full lips.
Not for the first time, I wish she wasn’t a witch, wasn’t human, wasn’t essential to my plans. She’d look absolutely divine in my bed. Blonde hair loose over my pillows, knees bent, cunt exposed. She’d probably touch herself while I watched, instruct me to wait before touching her. As if I could resist?—
“Sebastian.” Her sharp voice jolts me out of the fantasy, and thank heavens for that. I was getting carried away, and I’m not sure I was going to stop anytime soon.
I meet her narrowed eyes.
“Were you…” she trails off, mouth curling in disgust, then horror. “Don’t you even think about touching me.”
She looks repulsed, but her pulse quickens. Most likely in fear…and yet, some carnal part of me hopes it’s arousal. Maybe, once all is said and done?—
“Don’t,” she says again. The word shakes, and I huff out a breath. Fear. That’s definitely fear.
“I am notthatkind of monster,” I tell her. I look back to the paper in her hand. She’s lowered it since my gawking, but she raises it again now, extending it toward me. This time, I take it.
I stare for a prolonged moment, trying to recognize the paper. Worn, wrinkled, cheap. The human must have given it to her. Oskar wouldn’t be stupid enough to give her anything without permission. No one else has access to her, now that Beatrice proved untrustworthy.
“Are you literate?” she asks, scoffing irritably. “Apparently I should have?—”
