“I am not,” I say. Her eyes pop wide, and I see the regret instantly cross her face. “You’re going to mock me for it?”
“No. I didn’t—” Her lower lip bobs, as if she’s holding back tears. Worse, a flush of blood heats her cheeks, sending her scent into the air. It’s too much, too tempting…I squeeze my eyes shut.
In my head, I could kill her so easily. I could have her body drained of blood before Oskar realized it. He’s mere steps away, blocked only by a single door.
I could do it though. I could sink my teeth into her and?—
I tighten my hands into fists and hold my breath. After a long moment, I open my eyes, taking a step to put distance between us.
“I can read, Grace,” I say finally. I force my lips into ateasing smirk, as if I haven’t just fantasized murdering her. “You shouldn’t be so judgmental.”
I don’t allow myself to look at her as I finally read it. It’s better that I don’t see the blood rushing through her cheeks, just beneath her soft skin. With my breath held, I can’t smell her, can’t imagine the way she’d taste.
I read the list. Once. Twice. Slowly, my fake smile evaporates.
Needy. Little. Witch.
“A list of demands?” I say, looking up at her. She stares right back, those blue eyes hardening, sharpening like jagged glass. I toss the list at her feet. “You seem to have forgotten?—”
“I have not forgotten anything,” she interrupts. She snatches the paper from the floor and shoves it against my chest, holding it there. “You said you would adjust your ways, so long as I tried again. This is me, saying I’ll try again. If—and only if—you keep your end of the bargain.”
“I agreed to not treat you as a prisoner,” I say. “I never promised royal privileges. My own team doesn’t get this stuff.”
“Well, you said it yourself, they’re replaceable,” she shoves the paper against my chest again, her nails scraping through my shirt. It shouldn’t be arousing. It’snotarousing. Grace pulls away, letting the note fall between us. “I am not replaceable, Sebastian. So if you want me to try again, this needs to happen first.”
My entire body turns hot. I am a caged animal, and she’s threatening me with fire. The heat boils deeper, until it’s all I can feel, until the rage bubbles through my veins and into my lungs.
“Perhaps I should visit your little friend. Tessa, right?” I snap. Despite the way Grace steps back, I move forward,raising my voice with each word. I’m yelling by the end, charging forward until we reach the wall. “Let’s see if that gets you to try again!”
Grace stares at me in shock, but just when I expect her magic to explode, to tear through me as it has twice already, she closes her eyes. Her eyelashes are wet, tinged with unfallen tears. The sight sends an ache through my jaw, and I realize I’m clenching it tight enough to crack teeth.
I force myself to relax, to step back. Grace is nothing but a pawn, a necessary means to an end. There’s no reason to lose my mind. Once she breaks the curse, I’ll send her back to the human world, or hells, even to the coven, if that’s what she wants. For now, it doesn’t matter if I hurt her feelings, if I make her despise me.
“I’ve already warned you,” I say, lowering my voice. “If you think?—”
Grace’s eyes open, wild and violent, and she cuts me off before I can manage another word.
“You so much as hurt Tessa,” she says, “And I’ll kill myself while you think I’m sleeping. You and your fuckingteamwill be left to break the curse with my cold, curdled blood.”
My chest heaves with each breath, lips stretching over my teeth. I don’t realize I’ve extended my fangs, that I’ve leaned closer to Grace, until her breath hitches.
“Scare me all you want, Sebastian,” she says, words trembling. “It doesn’t change the truth. You need me, and I think we both know…you need mealive.”
I press my hands against the stone, caging her between my arms. It takes every ounce of strength not to buckle right here. To give up everything for one moment of weakness. It’s only the fact I can’t decidewhatI want most—to kill her, to taste her, to fuck her senseless—that keeps me from acting.
“It’s time for you to leave,” she says. Her breath is hot on my ear, and my cock twitches.
It’s that, far more than her request, that makes me flee her room like a coward.
Only once the door is closed do I take a breath. The stale air of the manor fills my lungs, but I can still smellher. It’s as though her scent has taken residence inside me, and now I’m not sure how to get it out.
“You all right, Master?” Oskar asks.
I blink. He’s standing at his usual post, stationed directly across the hall from Grace’s room. Unlike Beatrice, he hasn’t once complained over watching her. Truthfully, I think she might remind him of his late wife.
“Fine,” I grit out. Behind me, Grace bangs on the door.
“You’re in trouble with that one,” he says. He gives me a knowing smile.
