Page 70 of Soulbound
Cleo looked between them. A true apprenticeship? Her father had taught her... enough. But what if there was more? "What would I have to do?" There was too much ahead of them... "I can't. Not now."
But she wanted to. She wanted very desperately to learn everything this woman knew.
"I know what's coming," Madrigal said stiffly. "I caught some edge of your Visions, and I've seen my own. Something dark settles over London. And if you survive it, then come and find me."
This was a deal she could accept. Cleo nodded.
"Firstly," Madrigal said, with an arched brow, "I want to know how you learned to future-walk."
"I'll tell you... on one condition," Cleo said, not forgetting who this woman was.
Again that eyebrow.
"You swear on your power never to raise a hand against Sebastian," she told the other woman fiercely. "No matter what you think is best for the Order."
"She's not going to hurt me—"
Cleo hushed him with a fierce glare. "You don't know that. She's Sicarii, Sebastian."
"She is standing right here," Madrigal said dryly. "And she will promise not to make a move against your husband, unless he makes one against me."
It would have to do. "Swear it," Cleo suggested.
"I swear by the Light of my powers not to attack your husband without provocation," Madrigal replied softly, and Cleo felt the power of the oath settle over the room like a heavy blanket.
Everything was hushed. Sorcery dimmed the candlelight, and even the fire in the hearth flickered.
Then it was gone, the weight suddenly lifted.
"There was a book," Cleo muttered, gesturing to her dressing robe. "Could you fetch that for me?"
Sebastian returned with her robe, and helped tie it on.
Madrigal's eyes glittered. "Which book?'"
"I can show you," Cleo promised, slipping from under her blankets. Her knees shook as she stood, her stomach tight and dry. Hollow. "But first... I need to refresh myself, and eat something."
Chapter 15
"QUENTIN FARSHAW'S Sidestep through Time," Madrigal breathed, turning the book over in her hands. "The full copy.... Sweet goddess, it looks like a hand-written version of it. It must be the original!"
Cleo rested by the fireplace in the sitting room, with an audience this time. Ianthe and Lucien had gathered to see how she was feeling, and although he'd vanished long enough to bring her soup, Sebastian was tethered to her side as though he'd rather be no place else.
It shocked her a little.
Yes, there'd been that kiss. Several kisses now. And a dance. But his sheer attentiveness since the ball led her to believe there was something else going on within him.
He'd barely left her side.
She didn't know what to think. Or how to feel about it.
It was one thing to get her hopes up, quite another to see them dashed. And she'd been brave once, before she lost her world: her father, tyrant though he was; her home; her Visions... everything, in reality. Could she risk her heart, only to lose it again?
Sebastian shot her a quizzical look, almost as though he'd caught the edge of her thoughts, and Cleo flushed.
"The book is important?" Ianthe mused.
Madrigal finally seemed to realize where she was. "Important? It's been missing for centuries, and was named the greatest living treatise on the divination arts." She tuned on Cleo. "How did you get a copy of this?"
