Page 65 of Soulbound

All he'd dreamed about in the last month was facing Morgana and making her pay for everything she'd done—to him and to others. He'd spent long restless hours staring at the canopy of his bed, planning exactly how to defeat her.

And the second he saw her, it all went wrong.

"Can you heal her?" he croaked, sliding his hand over Cleo's pale fingers.

"There's nothing to heal," Ianthe said sadly. "Nothing but rest, and hope—"

"There is one person we might be able to turn to," Eleanor murmured, meeting the Prime's eyes.

"Who?" Sebastian demanded.

"Madrigal Brown," Ianthe replied grimly.

"I don't know her." And while he'd do anything to save Cleo, the expressions on both their faces concerned him. "Neither of you like this idea. Why?"

"This information doesn't leave this room," Lucien murmured.

Sebastian gave him a dangerous look from beneath his lashes. "Who would I even mention it to?"

"Good point." Lucien sighed. "Madrigal's the head of the Sicarii. While you might not know her, she knows who you are. She was the woman who stood against Ianthe the night of Ascension in order to try and gain the seat of Prime. The moment you walked into the gathering with a demon inside you, she saw something in her future that made her resign. Ianthe won by default, which means you cost her the chance to be Prime. She's no friend of yours."

An assassin. And not just any assassin, but the head of the Order's Sicarii. "Does she know Bishop?"

"Yes."

He looked down at Cleo, pale and still upon the bed. His heart twisted in his chest. "What will it cost me?"

"Probably nothing," Lucien admitted, but there was a hesitancy to his voice.

Sebastian looked up. "What will it cost you?"

It was Ianthe who answered. "Goddess knows. A favor. My soul. I'll pay the price, however. Cleo is dear to me."

He didn't know what to say. "Thank you."

Ianthe's cool gaze settled upon him. She slowly nodded. "I'll assume you'll stay here with her?"

"Of course."

"We'd best see to the ballroom. Cleo's not the only one who took an injury," Lucien murmured.

Ianthe looked grim. "I hate owing that bitch a favor." She swept toward the door. "Let me go send Jeremy to beg Madrigal for help. Then I have to make sure everyone else is all right downstairs."

The door closed behind them, and Sebastian paced by the bed. He could feel Eleanor's steady gaze upon him.

"It's not your fault," she said.

"I shouldn't have confronted her—"

"I'm not talking about your wife."

Sebastian turned toward her helplessly. Eleanor slowly levered herself to her feet, limping toward him with her cane in hand.

"Your mother was going to cut out my heart," she said. "If you hadn't defied her, I would be dead."

"I cost you your magic." And Morgana had only captured her, because Eleanor had tried to save him from his mother's collar.

"It's still there inside me," Eleanor said simply. "I have a long path of healing in front of me, but I will be a sorcerer again. And I have a chance to try, because of you. You should stop blaming yourself for the actions of others."