Page 59 of Wolfsbane Hall
“Maybe I am blushing because I want you.”
Dean’s lip twitched. “I have no doubt that you want me, Margot.” Dean pulled her hands from his belt, and with a swift and authoritative movement, he pinned them above her head, pushing her deeper against the wall. Margot gasped, and her breath hitched. “You always wanted both of us.” His breath kissed her ear, and she shivered. “You always loved playing with both of us, pitting us against one another.”
Celestine’s breasts rose with her quick breaths, and her core tensed, liking his taunts just a little too much. In this, Celestine and the demon in her mind were aligned.
“You like this?” He sucked her earlobe into his mouth.
“Yes,” Margot whispered. “I have always wanted this.”
Dean moved his lips to hover over hers. “I see death hasn’t changed you.” Suddenly, he stepped away. Margot’s hands dropped to her sides, and her knees nearly buckled from the lack of pressure to keep them in place.
She let out a wanton whine.
“But I have changed,” Dean said. “I am no longer a desperate boy. I am a man, and I won’t play your foolish games anymore.” Darkness overtook his features. “You will give us Celestine back by the night’s end.”
“Oh, will I?” Margot spat back.
“I will make sure of it.” He took three heavy steps toward her again, and once more, he pushed her into the wall, circling her neck with his fingers, but this time, his touch was soft. His gaze caught hers. “I see you in there, Celestine. You might notbelieve it, but you are stronger than her. You can fight this and win.” His thumb stroked her lip. “You just have to believe it.”
Then he turned on his heel and disappeared down the hall.
Margot called after him. “You will fail.”
“No, he won’t.” The dark, chocolate voice caused the hairs at the nape of her neck to rise. The Phantom. “You’ve been a bad girl, Margot.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “And?”
“You were not supposed to kill.” His voice slithered behind her ear. “Should I assume you are actively trying to destroy my show?”
“I’m not actively doing anything.” She pursed her lips in disapproval. “If you didn’t want a character with their own thoughts and feelings, then maybe you shouldn’t have summoned me.”
“You are a piece on my chessboard, nothing else.” The curtains shuddered, and the lights in the hallway dropped. “Nothing else.”
Margot’s eyes narrowed, and her arms gripped tighter around her chest. “I will be your reckoning, too.”
A dark laugh encased her, the sound touching her every pore. “No, you won’t,” the Phantom growled. The hall’s shadows curled around her limbs, caging—not allowing a single movement. “I own you.”
“You don’t,” Margot said through her teeth, struggling against her binds. She winced in pain.
“You can try to ruin my game, but you won’t be able to. For everything you do, I can undo.” The lights in the hall flickered on, and there stood James in his striking dove-gray suit, very much alive.
“Hello, monster.” James waved a finger at a time in a taunting fashion. “Missme?”
Well, fuck.
“You will be a good girl and playmygame.” The Phantom’s voice vibrated the glass of the hallway mirrors—nearly liquifying them. “If you don’t, I will punish you.”
“And how exactly will you punish me?”
“I will send you back to hell.”
Margot swallowed, and her heart sped in her ears. That was the one thing he could do that would ruin all her plans. Margot needed time to fully possess the vessel. Excavating a soul was no easy process. It often took days, months, or even years to do it—though with one this weak, it would probably only be days. And once she did it, the Phantom couldn’t threaten to return her anymore. He wouldn’t have the power to do it then.
But he had the power now.
Margot sucked in a breath. “Fine. I will play your stupid games.”
“Much appreciated. Now go with James to the ballroom. I’m about to make my next move.” The Phantom’s voice echoed in the hallway, and the lights returned.
