Chapter 26 The Heart of the Problem
The Heart of the Problem
There was no way for me to contact the hospital and ask who my donor was, but I remembered the basics—an omega witch woman, mid-twenties, who’d died in a car accident just a few days before my surgery.
I opened a new tab on the browser and immediately began to search for anything I could find on fatal car accidents from seven years ago. It thankfully didn’t take me long until I found her.
TRAGIC COLLISION CLAIMS LIFE OF LOCAL WITCH
ELMARIS – Authorities are investigating a fatal single-vehicle accident that claimed the life of 26-year-old Liora Talien, a witch resident of the Silverleaf district. The crash occurred on Rivermist Highway when Talien’s vehicle reportedly veered off the road and collided with a guardrail.
Emergency responders pronounced Talien dead at the scene. Police have not released details regarding the cause of the accident, though foul play is not currently suspected.
Talien, known for her work at the Elmaris Botanical Conservatory, was described by colleagues as “passionate about her community and endlessly curious about the natural world.” Friends and family remember her as kind-hearted and vibrant, with a love of music and theater.
A memorial service will be held…
But it was the picture that froze me, that would forever haunt me.
A young, petite woman, with platinum blonde hair and sun-kissed skin, wearing a gorgeous dress in front of the Orithiel Music Hall in Elmaris. The picture of health, glamour, and sophistication.
There was not a doubt in my mind that Liora was the one Victor had seen and scented at that parade.
That her heart now beat in my chest.
A heart that belonged to Victor.
My mom had mentioned I smelled a touch more floral after the surgery, but I hadn’t considered it could be her scent mingling with mine.
The longer I stared at her photo, the more it made sense. The more Victor’s obsession and cruelty towards me became logical, and the fact that I had never felt nearly as much towards him. I had part of what he wanted, but I wasn’t her, and he must have realized it somewhere deep down.
But he was too far gone to admit it, because the effects of the mate bond were there. At least, for him they were.
The feelings and benefits weren’t mutual, though. Did that mean it was it possible to break his claim so we could finally be free of each other?
Had there ever been a broken mate bond before?
It was almost four a.m., which meant I needed to hide the phone and get back to my spot on the couch so there wouldn’t be any weird inconsistencies when the security footage stopped looping.
But as I sat back down, opening the book back up, the loop in my mind refused to stop.
He’s not my mate.
He’s not my mate.
He’s not my mate.
He’s not…
* * *
Victor didn’t come back that morning, and fear clawed at my chest as I worried he had discovered what Accalia had done for me.
I knocked on the door. “Giorgi? Is that you out there?”
“Yes, ma’am,” came a muffled reply.
“Where’s Victor?”
“There was an emergency, and he might be gone for a few days. Someone will be by later to, um, collect your blood.”
My eyes darted towards the TV console, where the phone was hidden. I would have to wait almost twenty-two hours to see what this so-called emergency was.
“O-oh, okay. Thanks, Giorgi.”
I slowly marched back towards the bedroom, scooping up Ember on the way.
I had to trust that something else had called him away, and that Accalia was still safe.
Besides, while it was easy enough for him to punish me, Accalia was a public figure.
If she showed up somewhere with bruises, or, Hecara forbid, broken bones, people would talk.
There was only so much a glamour could cover.
And Victor would do anything to protect his image.
Sleeping alone was a welcome reprieve, even if my body did crave the touch, pleasure, and intimacy Victor provided.
But I was too worried for exhaustion to claim me, and after tossing and turning for a couple of minutes, I got up and walked back into the living room.
I opened the large, heavy curtains, and curled up next to the window.
The sun crept up slowly behind the skyline, pale and distant, its light diffused by low clouds and the fine haze of falling snow. It was the first time I’d looked outside in months.
Glass towers caught the glow of dawn, washing the world in muted gold before the day fully arrived. Below, Noctis lay hushed beneath its white-covered streets, the traffic thinning rather than building as the morning claimed its place.
In the windows across the way, lights flickered off one by one and curtains were drawn, families tucking into bed. The vampire city-state exhaled while the sun climbed higher, unwelcome but unavoidable.
But as the light bathed my skin, I felt renewed. Maybe I’d never be free of Victor completely—not if he needed my blood to survive. But if I could send it to him from some other location where no one knew our connection, would he finally agree to let me go?
I needed to figure out how to lay the groundwork first. If I just blurted out loud that Liora was likely his mate and not me, he’d know that I’d looked her up, and would figure out how I’d accomplished that.
Maybe I could sow a seed of doubt—find an opportunity to bring up the transplant organically in conversation. Not that we had many that weren’t him asking me how I liked his cock. But perhaps in that soft space after sex, when he’d hold me and breathe me in.
A half dozen different segues lined up in my mind as the sun rose higher, my eyes watering and squinting in the bright light.
But I embraced it anyway. I had to learn to live in the sun again. I had to hope that the dark days were over.
* * *
That evening, when my allotted phone time arrived, I immediately opened the Noctis News app, and there, front and center, was the “emergency” that had called his attention.
PREMIERE VICTOR CORVANE AND WIFE WELCOME BABY BOY…
As if on cue, the Sanguis Vita rose in my throat and I bolted for the bathroom, throwing all of it up.
Dammit, why did this still affect me so much? I hated Victor. Accalia hated Victor. They hadn’t even slept together, but the happy news of him and his beautiful wife having a baby still rocked through me with the pain and betrayal an unfaithful mate, refreshed and ready to hurt me all over again.
Staring only made it worse. Her, glowing and holding their infant son, while he stood beside them, smiling and proud.
The perfect family.
And then there was me, scarred and hidden in the background. Kept in the shadows like the dirty little secret I was.
Not good enough to be by his side, to have his children, or to live in his mansion.
A deep sob racked through my chest as I fell back against the bathroom wall. I couldn’t do this anymore. To have my body so obsessed with a man, who manipulated me to make me feel this way about him, when I despised him so much.
I sat there until the alarm on the phone told me it was almost four, and I peeled myself off the floor to hide it. Now I could also be upset about how I’d wasted my one hour of freedom being miserable over that Hecara-forsaken vampire.
More than an hour. I’d wasted four and a half years on this asshole. Cried for him, begged for him, bled for him, nearly died for him.
And what had I gotten in return?
A prison. A beautiful prison, but a prison nonetheless.
“I’m sorry, Liora,” I whispered, patting my chest. “I know you want him. But I’m done.”
* * *
Victor knew something was different about me. I could tell with his caution. His hesitancy. The way he chose his words carefully when he spoke to me.
They were kind, but almost like he was nervous.
But he couldn’t punish me, because I hadn’t done anything wrong.
We still had sex, I still submitted to his feedings, I took my Sanguis Vita and my medicine like a “good omega,” and yet there was a chill in the air.
A detachment in my expressions and responses.
Just enough where he was scrambling to fix what he didn’t know he’d broken.
Because he’d nearly won. He’d had me just as he wanted me—pliant, willing, and docile. And now he was beginning to realize it might just be an act.
“Sage,” he started, his voice going up a bit at the end like it was a question. Like he was testing the waters.
He was getting ready to leave for the evening, his shirt buttoned up and tie neatly knotted around his neck.
I sat up from where I lay on the bed, training my face to be devoid of any kind of expression. “Yes, alpha?”
There was a slight wince in his eyes, as though he knew I only referred to him as that sarcastically. But he swallowed back his anger. “Could you help me with my cuff links? They’re new, and they’re giving me some trouble.”
I dutifully swung my legs around the side of the bed and got up, walking to his side. They didn’t look any different from normal cuff links, but then again, I didn’t know much about menswear or accessories.
Sliding the face through the hole, I twisted the toggle at the other end and then he stopped me before moving to his other wrist, turning me so my back was against his chest.
“I have a present for you,” he purred in my ear. He held me with one arm, his free hand digging in his pocket until he pulled out a gold necklace with a large jade pendant. I stayed still while he placed it on my neck, fastening it behind me.
“See? We match,” he said, showing me the face of the jade cuff link I’d just helped him with.
“Thank you,” I responded flatly.
When I stepped back towards the bed he grabbed me again, this time turning me to face him. “‘Okay?’” he repeated. “What’s wrong with my gift?”
I smiled sweetly. “It’s fine, Victor. I just don’t see the point in you wasting money on me. Who am I going to wear this for?”
His eyes narrowed, the start of a growl building in his chest. “For me, of course. It makes me happy to give you things.”