He starts retreating, back to his place on the other side of this tiny prison.
“Aren’t you at least going to give me food?” I ask. I’m sure he can hear the desperation in my voice—it’sallI can hear. “Or let me go to the bathroom?”
“You’re welcome to piss in there,” he says mockingly. The snarled grin on his face transforms his look entirely. Forgotten are those boyish features, consumed by the demonic spark in his eyes. “As for food, there’s no point, is there? You’re a walking corpse, Grace Pruce, and in a matter of days, you will be nothing but ash.”
With a parting sneer, the man returns to his side of the prison, and I press my face against my knees. I do my best to keep my sobs quiet, so he doesn’t get the satisfaction of making me cry.
I don’t meanto fall asleep, but I am woken by a violent scream. By the time I’m to the bars, hands clasped over the rungs, knees pressed to the stone, my guard and I are no longer alone. A second guard collapses through the doorway, his throat torn out, leaving his head barely attached to his body.
“Don’t—”
That’s the only word my guard manages before Sebastian has him against the wall. I strain to follow the action from my cell, but it’s too shadowed to see much of anything. There is only my smarmy guard, kicking his feet in the air,and Sebastian’s back. He’s wearing his usual slacks and a stark white shirt, bright enough he almost glows through the darkness.
“That should be all of them,” Beatrice says. She enters the room, followed by Theo and Cora.
There’s a horrific tearing sound, and moments later, my guard’s head bounces to the gravel. Through the darkness, his wide eyes are frozen open, staring at me.
“I’m here,” I say. My voice is shaking, and I start crying before I can stop myself. “Over here! I’m?—”
Sebastian is in front of the bars. He reaches for them, only to stop when Cora grabs him forearm.
“Careful,” she warns him. This close, the moonlight shines over them. I can see every detail. The thick blood coating Sebastian’s chin and shirt. The way Cora’s hands are trembling. The desperate, wild look in Sebastian’s eyes.
Maybe Oskar was right, I think.Maybe this manisterrified, not just to lose the curse, but to lose me.
“Sebastian,” Cora snaps.
He ignores her. He’s looking over my cell, silently calculating. When he reaches for the bars again, Cora flares her palms at him. He’s thrown backward, smacking hard against the stones. My eyes widen, and Beatrice instantly lurches for Cora.
She flicks the vampire away with an easy twitch of her wrist.
I raise my eyebrows. I can’t help it. I assumed Cora was powerful…but this is a different level.
As if sensing my surprise, she flashes a cat-like grin at me.
“They didn’t condemn me for nothing, Gracie.”
Sebastian growls and pushes to his feet.
“You’re going to kill her,” Cora snaps, placing herselfbetween Sebastian and the bars. “They’ve got this riddled with magic. If you pull her out, she’s going to die. So stay the fuck over there.”
Sebastian’s eyes are one me, and I feel it then. No doubt in my mind. No second thoughts.
Love. He looks at me with pure, tortured love.
“I didn’t run,” I tell him. It’s not one of the many things I’d considered telling him while rotting on this cell floor. And yet, right now, it feels like the most important. “I didn’t try to escape. I don’t know what Oskar told you, but I swear?—”
“I am going to get you out,” Sebastian says, ignoring me. “All right, Grace? I’m going to get you out.”
“It’s going to be difficult,” Cora murmurs. “I need time.”
“Then get started,” he says. He jerks his chin at Beatrice. “You, stay here with them. If Cora needs anything, you fetch it immediately. Understood?”
“Yes,” Beatrice says. She bows her head, slipping behind Cora. My mentor is already muttering under her breath, eyes rolling back as she works.
“Theo and I will be back,” he says, looking at me. He steps forward, touching the bars with forced caution. I grab his wrists, as if anchoring him here.
“Where are you going?” I ask. “Can’t you?—”
