Page 31 of Soulbound

The sudden devastation in his expression struck her. Then it was gone and Malachi pushed to his feet, heading for the brandy again. He shot her a stark, angry look, but as she stood up, she knew she'd troubled him.

"I am not a generous man. I don't simply give anything away." He poured another brandy, eyeing them all dangerously. "I’ll give up the Wand, but there is a price to be paid: one night in my and Odette's bed, with one member of your party. And that is not up for negotiation." He waved a languid finger. "Your choice, of course."

And his gaze settled eerily upon her.

* * *

Sebastian froze as the words echoed around the room.

"Any member?" Remington countered, sounding unsurprised.

"You know my predilections," Malachi replied smoothly, and it was all Sebastian could do not to plant his fist in the bastard’s face.

As if hearing him, Malachi pushed away from the golden throne, sauntering down the dais toward him. "Perhaps this one?" His gaze shifted with predatory intensity toward Cleo. "Or perhaps—"

"If you complete that sentence," Sebastian said, moving with quiet, eerie grace toward him, "you’ll regret it."

Silence fell.

"Don't," Cleo warned him, but he didn't dare look at her. The instant where she'd touched Malachi's face disturbed him, for he hadn't heard what she'd whispered to the man, but it had struck a chord.

Malachi circled him tightly, those predatory eyes seeming to see right through him. "Ah," he said softly, almost mockingly. "The lady has given you her heart—"

A flinch went through Cleo, and Sebastian stiffened.

"—but you have not given her yours," Malachi whispered. "What a tempting, tempting proposition." He turned abruptly, moving with a sinuous grace as he captured Cleo's hand. "Could I make her forget you?"

"How low the mighty have stooped," Remington pronounced.

"To the very depths," Malachi sneered, but he never took his gaze off Sebastian.

Sebastian hovered on the balls of his feet. Remington had warned them all not to threaten Gray. Power whispered through him. Emotion thrived, hot and rich and biting, until he wanted to lash out.

"He's trying to bait you," Cleo whispered, with some exacerbation. "I almost had him. Don't ruin this."

"If he bloody touches you again...."

"You will do nothing," she growled. "Trust me."

"I can almost taste your hunger." Malachi lifted Cleo's hand to his lips, and it took every ounce of will power for Sebastian not to smash him into the nearest wall. "A virgin. How utterly delightful."

Sebastian shifted on his feet, and those green eyes slid to him as if daring him to object.

Remington stiffened, as if prepared to leap forward, and even Bishop was shaking his head in a desperate, don’t do it.

“Untouched,” Malachi taunted. “A perfect rose about to bloom, but you’ve neglected her. And a neglected blossom is so, so easy to steal…."

Malachi pressed his mouth to the inside of Cleo's wrist in a mocking caress, and she gasped, before she suddenly locked him out.

What the hell? There was a wall between her emotions and his. Sebastian pressed against it, but her eyes glazed, her pretty lips parted, and she almost collapsed to her knees. Trust me, she'd said, but it was taking everything in him not to react. "What did you do to her?"

Tension simmered within him. Cleo was breathing hard, her body tight with tension, but he'd felt what went through her when Malachi touched her. Pleasure. Need. Desperate longing.... And then she'd slammed shut the gates on her end of the bond, locking Sebastian out for the first time, and by all the demons in the Shadow Dimensions, he wanted to know what was going on in her head right now.

Was she attracted to the bastard?

Mother of night, did he even have the right to demand to know if she was?

Cleo drew her hand back against her chest as if burned, a flush of heat spilling through her cheeks. There was something in her eyes—sadness perhaps—as she caught and held Malachi's dangerous gaze. "I think perhaps you would know what it feels like to give your heart to someone, only to watch her turn to another."