Page 13 of Soulbound

Color saturated the world around her.

Sunlight stained her eyelids.

And thank goodness, it no longer hurt her so badly to look upon the gardens, which had always been her one great love.

The first week after she lost the blindfold she'd worn since she was five had been the worst. It had been a month now. The headaches no longer plagued her so badly, and sunlight was no longer a spear through her raw eyes. She couldn't stay out here for very long—she was still growing used to using her neglected eyesight—but every day was a little better.

A shiver trembled over her skin, and Cleo looked down in shock. It felt almost like one of her Foresight visions was forthcoming, but that was impossible. Her first prediction had been that she would lose her Visions the day she gained her sight back, and so far she'd been correct. All she had left were her dreams, and her Premonition, which was marching down her skin like little ants in steel shoes.

It felt like a storm brewing on the horizon.

Like the tickle of a feather down her spine.

What on earth—?

Cleo's breath caught as she finally realized what had been bothering her all along. The tiny little knot in her mind—which she associated as the soul-bond she shared with the husband who refused to have anything to do with her—was pulsing.

Sebastian is coming.

Of course. The meeting wasn't for another two hours, but it was clear Bishop and Sebastian were arriving early.

A thrill ran through her. Cleo hurried into the house, capturing a hint of her reflection in the mirror. Her cheeks were red from the chill, and oh, heavens, she was wearing her worst gown, and—

Ianthe lifted her head from where she'd been patiently reading a book to her daughter, Louisa. Her voice trailed off. "What is it?"

"Sebastian." The word came out breathlessly, so Cleo cleared her throat and tried to explain. "I can feel him coming in this direction."

The other occupant of the room, Eleanor Ross, looked up sharply. Eleanor had been Drake's lover before the demon possessed him, and she'd been waiting impatiently for any word of the demon. "Already? The meeting's not for another two hours."

"Sebastian's coming?" Louisa looked up in delight, her dark plaits swinging. "Oh, that's wonderful! We can take tea with him." She seemed to remember where she was now. "I mean, may we, Mother?"

And all of a sudden Cleo realized what this meant.

This would be the first time Sebastian had set foot under the same roof as the woman whose daughter he'd helped kidnap. Louisa had been a pawn Sebastian's mother, Morgana, used to force Ianthe to betray her master. Sebastian had been Louisa's ally at the time, protecting her from his mother's wrath, but Ianthe wouldn't have forgotten her blackmail ordeal.

No, to Ianthe, Sebastian was the reason she'd betrayed the man she loved as a father, and then he'd been the reason that man offered himself up as a vessel to the demon.

Damn him. His imminent arrival set her all at sea. "I could meet him at the gate perhaps, and—"

"It's fine." Ianthe closed the book, her violet-blue eyes shining with a Prime's cool strength of will. "I called for the meeting. I knew I would see him. Besides...." She brushed Louisa's hair, not quite able to keep all her disapproval off her expression. "Lou thinks he's her friend, and that he protected her when his mother kidnapped her. Lou, why don't we sojourn to the garden? I know you would like to see Sebastian, but Cleo's his wife. I'm certain she would like a moment or two alone with him, and perhaps he can come visit you in the garden when he's done?"

Would he even want to see her? Cleo froze. She'd sent him over a dozen letters in the past month and tried to see him twice, but he was either "not at home" or "under the weather."

"Coming, Eleanor?" Ianthe asked.

Cleo was no fool. What he was, was avoiding her. Her heart pounded.

Why could she be so brave when she was facing down a creature from the mirror, but tremble at the thought of seeing him again? She wanted to see him. She'd stared wistfully at her ceiling every day for a month, cursing him under her breath for tying her in knots like this. But now the moment was here....

Eleanor limped toward her, leaning heavily on the cane she now used. "Just remember... the boy's been through a great deal, but that's no excuse to treat you poorly."

"I wouldn't let him anyway," she said crossly.

Eleanor smiled. "Good luck."

Ianthe and Louisa had vanished, and Eleanor followed them out, her cane tapping on the tiles. Cleo hastily tidied her hair in the mirror. Then there came a sharp rapping at the door. She hurried out onto the top of the stairs.

The door opened, and the butler announced his guests in a monotonous drone Cleo ignored, searching for faces, her heart thundering behind her ribs—Mr. Bishop, Lady Eberhardt, and—