Page 119 of Soulbound

She needed to find out what it was.

And to do that she needed to know the truth, despite her disgust. "You were never going to kill me in there, were you? You wanted Sebastian to think you were going to do it...." It had everything in the palms of its hands, manipulating events until they lined up for it. Cleo tried to focus. She'd always wondered.... "Was it your idea to send Morgana in to try and destroy the Ascension Ball?"

"Yes."

"You had to know Morgana and whatever sorcerers you dragged out of the bowels of London's depths had no chance against a gathering of nearly four hundred sorcerers."

"Yes," it whispered, looking amused. "Keep going, White Queen. You're almost there."

None of its actions in the last month made any sense. Her brow furrowed. "Morgana was a decoy. The Blade and Wand were decoys."

"I have spent many days walking these parks you humans have created. And I have discovered something. What happens if you poke an anthill?"

They all stir and rush about, tilting at windmills.

"Morgana enjoyed the assault. She thinks only of revenge, for hers is a small mind."

All along they'd misconstrued its intentions. "Drake, Morgana, and my father raised you twenty-some years ago, and bound you to the Relics Infernal and their will. But you don't truly care about that."

"I never said I wanted revenge, though a part of me would enjoy it." Its lips twisted. "I can't lie, after all, for words are power."

A breath shivered through her. "Then what do you intend?"

"You're the one who's seen it."

London's doom. A sky filled with black clouds. Sebastian. Destruction. Screams.... And a thin slit of light peeling apart in the sky. Drake had said it himself. "You're going to bring more demons through. You're going to open a gate between dimensions."

"I'm going to tear a hole between dimensions," it told her. "This world has so much to offer, and my vassals hunger."

No. No. This was worse than anything she'd ever predicted. And she suddenly realized it wouldn't be telling her any of this if it thought she'd ever have a chance to thwart it.

She reached for the bond, to try and alert Sebastian, but the demon's cage kept her locked within herself. Panic sucked sharply at her. "I won't let you do that."

"How are you going to stop me?"

She reached for the door handle and threw herself at the door, but he flicked a finger and she slammed back into the seat, pressure forcing her to desist.

"Don't hurt yourself," it said. "I just put my queen into play."

The black queen. "I'll never help you."

"Won't you?"

Cleo's heart felt like it stopped in her chest. Was this.... She could barely breathe. Something rippled within her as if it heard its name.

A taint.

Something the demon had seeded within her body at the moment of conception.

"Yes," it whispered, as if reading her mind. "You are my queen too. White queen and black queen. I wonder which will win? It's a risk, I know, but the idea intrigues me."

Something sinuous glided beneath the skin on her arm. Cleo gave a sharp sob. What was it? "Get it out. Get it out of me!" She dug at her arms, but the ripple was gone, though she could feel it deep within.

"As you wish." Moving swiftly, the demon flicked its razor out, and Cleo scrambled madly on the seat as he trapped her beneath him, one hand locking beneath her jaw, squeezing her throat. "Stop fighting. This will all be over very soon."

It pinned her beneath its hard body, but it wasn't painful. "I would never hurt you," it whispered, stroking her hair. "You are my finest creation, Cleo. He never appreciated you."

What was it talking about? Who?