me, blocking my view. “If you don’t leave, I will have to remove you by force.”
“Try,” I whisper, stepping closer. “Since I feel I’m owed at least this moment of grace.” I echo Odette’s words from the night I was first turned.
Another moment. And another. My life is reduced to nothing but these stolen moments.
Boone crowds us. “If Bastien stays to the shadows, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him seeing her from a distance.”
Jae glowers at him. I use the distraction to slip into a nearby space between two narrow buildings. When Jae and Boone shift into position behind me, I tilt my Panama hat lower on my brow and continue watching Celine and Michael walk down Royale.
At first, it is not anger I feel. Rather it is a singular kind of pain. One lanced by amusement. I stole a kiss from the girl Michael fancied, those many years ago at cotillion. Fitting that I should stand by and watch as he steals the heart of the only girl I’ve ever loved.
Michael speaks to Celine as if they share a secret. In return, she offers him a smile, and even from a distance, I can see how much it lightens his soul. He leans closer, and the demon inside me wants to take him apart like a clock, piece by piece, cog by cog. It is the same demon that almost killed Cambion in the swamp. The one my uncle wants to take control, no matter how much I might wish to be rid of it once and for all.
Michael’s fingers flex at his sides as they struggle to overcome an unspoken emotion.
Only a fool would deny the obvious.
Michael Grimaldi is in love with Celine Rousseau. It is in every word he speaks, every glance he spares, every tilt of his head toward hers.
I swallow the anger, the tendons in my knuckles pulled tight.
Though I have been forged in fury, I have no right to dwell in it.
I need to unmake this anger. To unmake who I have become. To seek out Sunan the Immortal Unmaker, whose name has haunted me since I first heard it in Cambion’s thoughts.
An immortal unmaker. One who could return me to my mortal form. The idea of such power taunts me, as it did my mother.
The irony of this is not lost on me.
Michael and Celine walk past us on the opposite side of the street. The instant she steps into my direct sight line, Celine stops. Appears to sway as if she might faint. I realize I have moved into the lamplight like a moth drawn to a killing flame when Jae takes hold of my shoulder, returning me to darkness.
“Sébastien.” Though Jae’s voice is firm, there is sympathy in the way he says my name.
I don’t care. I tug at his grasp until he is forced to restrain me.
Something is wrong with Celine. I can see it in Michael’s eyes. In the way he has to hold her upright, as if she were some kind of delicate flower. A feeling I know Celine would despise.
I breathe in through my nose. Out through my mouth, the muscles in my chest straining against Jae’s iron grasp. Celine tells Michael she wishes to return home. I turn to follow them, unconcerned with everything around me.
Boone takes hold of my other shoulder. “I’ll make sure she is safely ensconced in her home.” His grip hardens. “You should remain here with Jae.”
I know he is right. Instead I spin about, my nostrils flaring. “I’ll be damned if—”
“This is not a suggestion, Sébastien,” Boone interrupts. “Under no circumstances are you to learn where Celine lives. This is not about what you need. This is about her protection.” Lines etch across his forehead. “For God’s sake, think with your head and not your heart, brother. Her memories of you are lost. You are no longer of her world. What could you hope to bring her now but pain and misery?”
The rage turns bitter in my throat. I say nothing, only glare at him, my anguish a yoke around my neck.
“It isn’t your place to protect her, Bastien,” Boone continues. “If you care about Celine, let her live and love among her own kind.”
The pain is so sharp that I cannot speak. The tendons in my fists stretch until my fingers turn bloodless. No matter how much I wish it were a lie, I know Boone speaks the truth. I have no right to feel anything when it