The Wish Granter (Ravenspire #2)(103)

Ari’s mouth dropped in horror as Maarit’s skin shimmered, a light spreading along her veins to gather in her chest.

“Sebastian, something’s wrong with her,” Ari said as Maarit threw her head back, the cords on her neck standing out in sharp relief.

Ari’s stomach pitched, and a yawning chasm of fear opened deep within her as the ball of light in Maarit’s chest drifted out of her body and began spinning rapidly in place, a brilliant cyclone that hurt to look at.

Maarit slumped in Sebastian’s arms, all vestiges of life drained out of her.

He let go and stumbled back as the woman’s body hit the floor.

Ari met Sebastian’s eyes for one heartsick second as the cyclone of light slowed to a stop and shimmered into the vague shape of a man.

“Run, Ari!” Sebastian yelled as the light shuddered, like a snake shedding its skin, and became Teague, standing there in the flesh, his golden eyes glaring, the glittering diamond vial clenched in his hand.

Ari lunged over Maarit’s body, her hands reaching for Sebastian’s outstretched arms as Teague’s cold, polished voice said, “Dhéanamh.”

Pain, terrible and absolute, flooded her body—a thousand daggers slicing her to pieces from the inside out. Her veins glowed.

“No!” Sebastian screamed as he caught her and pulled her against his chest.

She met his gaze and tried to form the words “I love you” but the pain receded, the study faded, and then there was nothing.





FORTY-EIGHT


“ARI!” HER NAME ripped its way out of him, a jagged blade that scraped him raw and left unbearable grief in its wake.

He sank to his knees, clutching her to his chest as a hurricane careened through him, destroying the hope she’d given him, shredding the belief that with her love, he could become the man he wanted to be.

“Ari,” he whispered as the hurricane’s wreckage cut him to his core. Her head tipped back, and he looked at her eyes, begging her to let him see a spark, a hint of the princess who’d marched into the arena and turned his entire life upside down. Begging for hope he knew deep down was already gone.

Her eyes stared past him at nothing.

“She really was the most resourceful girl.” Teague’s voice was coldly furious as he stood over Sebastian, putting the stopper in the vial. “It would be a shame to let that mind of hers decay into dust.”

He crouched and lifted a pale hand toward Ari’s face.

“No.” Sebastian hurled the word at him as he pulled the princess closer to his chest. “You don’t get to touch her.”

Teague laughed softly. “You foolish boy. Once I own their souls, I can do anything I want. Maarit’s body has served me well for years.” He lifted the vial as if to show Sebastian the trapped soul of Maarit caught somewhere inside. “But her limbs are weak, and her mind has nothing new to offer me.”

“No,” Sebastian said, but Teague continued as if he hadn’t heard.

“Arianna’s body, though, now that will be an excellent vessel. Intelligent, youthful, and very rarely sick.” Teague smiled slowly.

Sebastian’s chest burned with every breath he took. “You can’t take her body. You can’t just occupy something that isn’t yours.”

“Her body is an empty vessel.” Teague twisted the vial so that it caught fragments of light from the window. “And I hold the key.”

“She isn’t yours.”

Teague’s golden eyes met his. “She is now.”

Sebastian bent his head over Ari’s chest and shook as the hurricane of grief that devastated him became a firestorm of bone-deep rage.

None of this would have happened if Teague hadn’t orchestrated it.

If he didn’t survive on preying on the innocent and the desperate.

Sebastian was one of the desperate now, and, by all the stars, Teague was going to make a bargain with him. He was going to give Sebastian the deepest desire of his heart, and that bargain was going to ruin the monster who’d killed Ari.

Sebastian had promised to protect her. He wasn’t done keeping his promises.

Gently he lowered Ari to the floor, careful not to let any part of her touch Maarit. And then he stood, towering over Teague as he said with quiet vengeance, “I want to make a wish.”

Teague laughed and stood as well. “No.”

“I wish for you to return Ari’s soul to her body and bring her back to life.”

Teague shook his head, his laughter mocking Sebastian.

“In return, I will pay any price you name.”

Teague stopped laughing. “If you think I’m going to play this little soul-swapping game with you after the princess betrayed me, you really don’t know me at all.”

“I know you.” Sebastian stepped closer to Teague, his hands curled into fists, his body vibrating with the need to hurt him. “Have you forgotten? I’ve spent the last month and more running every part of your business. Collecting on your debts. Enforcing your punishments. Even taking a soul. There isn’t a single task I haven’t done for you. I know that power is what you truly crave and that you’ll do anything to keep it. I’m offering you power over me, and through me, power over as many others as you’d like.”

Teague cocked his head. “Explain.”