Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Elijah couldn’t breathe. His chest felt tight, and he couldn’t take a deep breath.
Tears filled his eyes as he realized what he’d done.
He hadn’t just stumbled into Alistair’s nightmare by accident.
He’d somehow tied the two of them together, giving Elijah full access to Alistair’s mind. Without asking permission first.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I don’t know– I didn’t do it on purpose, I swear!
” he cried, pushing away from Alistair in a desperate bid to put space between them.
He was a monster. The poor man had been mentally assaulted before, and here Elijah was, forcing a connection on him that he couldn’t take back.
Anchors were permanent. Like mate bonds, but more, because Elijah’s power was now intrinsically tied to Alistair.
Instead of having his power expand around him, it would always be wrapped around Alistair.
It was the connection most telepaths dreamed of, a place of peace instead of all the chaos of the things their magic picked up.
The only telepaths who didn’t want that kind of connection were criminals who said the anchor bond stunted their powers.
It was everything Elijah dreamed of, and he was heartbroken, because it was all wrong. Alistair hadn’t chosen him. He’d forced it. He was a monster.
Warm hands wrapped around his, stopping him from leaving the bed completely. “Hey, hey. Shh. It’s okay, Eli.”
“Please don’t,” he sobbed. “Don’t let me off for this. You should be calling the police, Alistair. I shouldn’t have–”
“You didn’t!” Alistair insisted, cutting off Elijah’s rambling sobs. “At least not by yourself.”
Elijah just kept shaking his head. Alistair didn’t understand.
Once he finally realized what Elijah had done, he’d hate him forever.
He had no idea how he’d done it but that didn’t matter did it?
The only one of them who could have made that connection was Elijah.
He’d ruined the one good thing in his life, and it was all his fault.
Making a tsk sound behind his teeth, Alistair yanked Elijah into his arms, pinning him against his chest with a grip tight enough that Elijah couldn’t wriggle free. Not that he wanted to. He knew he should, he was only making it worse by clinging, but–
“Elijah, listen to me. I wanted it. I wanted that connection to you. I wasn’t just talking out of my ass last night. I told you I wanted you to claim me. I wanted to claim you back. It wasn’t just you.”
His gaze flew up to lock with Alistair’s, shock making him freeze in place. “Wh-What?”
Releasing his grip just enough to free one hand, Alistair ran his fingers through Elijah’s hair, his emotions a steady reassurance that soothed the ball of pain and anguish in his chest and made him breathe a little easier.
“You’ve had me wrapped around your finger since the day we met.
I couldn’t help being fascinated by you, even when I was unsure about your magic.
You were so sweetly earnest about making me and everyone around you comfortable, it was impossible for me to be afraid of you.
And you just kept drawing me in. I thought with the blockers, I wouldn’t be able to bind with you, and it broke my heart.
I wanted to be tied to you in every way I could.
Being your anchor wasn’t an accident. I wanted it to happen. ”
Elijah’s bottom lip trembled and his vision went blurry as tears filled his eyes. No one, not even his family, had ever wanted him that much. He didn’t know what to do with it. What did he even say?
A slow smile spread across Alistair’s face. “Say yes, Eli. I might not have gotten the chance to ask you, but I still want you to be on board with this. I’m asking now. Let me be your anchor. Say yes.”
“Yes,” he choked around a sob, closing his eyes as the tears spilled over his cheeks. He stopped fighting to get away, sinking into Alistair’s arms as he was swept away in a kiss filled with love and devotion that took his breath away.
They stayed wrapped around each other as the sun rose and the world woke up outside the window.
The pounding of his heart slowly settled, and the tears dried up.
Still, he was reluctant to leave the circle of Alistair’s arms. He didn’t want to pop the little bubble they were in, tucked away from reality and the rest of the world.
“I won’t say no if you call in sick, and we spend the day in bed together,” Alistair murmured against his lips. “I’d planned on waking you up in a more fun way anyway…”
The idea was tempting, but Elijah knew better than to think they could pull it off. He’d have to face work eventually. If he was going to lose his job, he’d rather get it over with. At least if he lost his job, he wouldn’t be completely alone anymore.
“Don’t think the worst before you even show up,” Alistair insisted, nipping at his lip in punishment. “You did the same thing about the anchor bond and that didn’t turn out so bad, did it?”
Elijah huffed a laugh, still shell shocked that Alistair really wanted the bond so much that they subconsciously bonded together in their sleep. He was pretty sure that was a first for telepaths.
Despite what he said about needing to go to work to face whatever was to come, he was reluctant to move.
The last twenty four hours had been an emotional rollercoaster, and he was still reeling from the fact that he had an anchor.
Thinking about facing the day was a lot more daunting than he’d expected.
Alistair pressed a kiss to his forehead, that steady reassurance easing some of the anxiety. “I’ll be right there with you. I’m your anchor, Eli. You won’t be facing anything alone anymore.”
When they walked into Spellbound hand-in-hand, Elijah found himself holding his breath.
He wasn’t that old compared to most supernaturals, but he’d faced his fair share of poor reactions to his magic.
Mobs with pitchforks weren’t unfamiliar to him.
If the company decided he was too dangerous to be there, they’d chase him out.
He was almost expecting his things to be waiting in a box at the front desk for him to retrieve so he didn’t actually have to go fully into the building.
Breathe, Alistair coached in his mind. I won’t let anyone hurt you.
He did as asked, letting out a shaky breath as they headed for the turnstiles.
They’d shown up a little early, hoping if things did go poorly that there wouldn’t be too much of a scene.
It meant the lines were shorter, which was nice, but the way everyone fell silent when he walked in felt a whole lot louder.
Elijah’s footsteps slowed, and his grip on Alistair’s hand tightened considerably.
This was a bad idea. He should have just called to find out if he still had a job.
Brennus would have told him the truth without putting him through this kind of turmoil.
Unless he was angry too for keeping his full power a secret.
“Elijah?”
Sucking in a breath, Elijah spun around to face his brother who stood a few feet behind him. “Hugo, hi…”
Hugo’s eyes flicked to Alistair, then their intertwined hands, before settling on Elijah again. “I see you found an anchor.”
He swallowed hard and nodded. “I did, yeah…”
“That wasn’t because you felt like you had to, right?” his brother asked gruffly, eyes narrowed. “I heard what happened yesterday.”
“I, uh… No. I didn’t bind with my anchor because I had to. I– We wanted to,” he corrected himself. “It wasn’t forced.”
Saying it out loud helped a little, especially when Alistair squeezed his hand in agreement when he said it. It wasn’t forced. He found his anchor.
Hugo stared at him for a long moment before finally nodding his head once. “Well, congrats. Don’t forget to tell Mom and Dad. If they don’t already know, that is.”
He frowned, confused on how they’d know already, unless somehow their dad had a vision about it, but Hugo didn’t stick around to explain himself. He shuffled past the turnstiles and slipped into an elevator, crossing his arms over his chest as the door slid closed.
“You’re anchored?” a female voice asked from behind them. Elijah was going to start getting dizzy if he kept having to spin around to look at people.
Aoi, an SR rep that worked on his floor, stood there with her head cocked curiously, no fear on her face.
She’d always been more kind than the rest. She didn’t touch, but she was friendly, and she’d happily made Elijah her guinea pig with new recipes that she wanted to practice before feeding them to her in-laws. She’d yet to screw up a meal.
“Y-yes,” Elijah answered uncertainly. “Alistair is my anchor.”
Her eyes lit up and she beamed at him. “That’s awesome. He seemed really protective of you. I hoped something would happen. Congratulations!”
“Ah, um, thank you,” he stuttered. He felt a little off balance with her reaction. He was too tense waiting for the worst to happen.
“Are you headed upstairs, or do you have more meetings this morning?” she asked, gesturing toward the elevators. “I’ve got some cookies on my desk I was hoping to share with you yesterday. If you like them, I can make more as a bonding present.”
More employees began spilling in from the doors, all stopping to stare at him and bumping into each other to avoid getting close to him.
To avoid any potential confrontations, Elijah nodded hurriedly and followed Aoi to the nearest elevator, glad that it was empty when it arrived.
No one else joined them, but he found he didn’t mind. He was a little overwhelmed.
He let out a breath after the doors closed, leaning into it when Alistair dropped his hand to wrap his arm around his shoulders instead.
Can we go back to bed? I think your idea of hiding there all day is much better than being here.
The corners of Alistair’s mouth quirked, and he shook his head. If you’d said anything other than hiding, I might have considered it. I’m not letting them chase you out of a job. You didn’t do anything wrong.
It was hard to see it that way when so many people reacted like they had the day prior. He doubted he’d be able to explain himself to any of the people who were unhappy about it. He’d be lucky if no one called the police.
The doors opened to the SR floor, which was quiet for now. They all stepped out together, and Aoi gave him a reassuring smile before heading to her desk. “I’ll see you later?”
Hopefully.