Chapter 11
Abram
Elowyn hovered by the bedroom door while I dressed, her fingers twisting together and then falling still, as if she couldn’t decide whether to stay or flee. The sight of her there—rumpled, bare-footed, still flushed from the night—made it difficult to pull my shirt over my head.
I didn’t want to leave.
The meeting pressed at the back of my mind like a splinter. Obligations. Councils. Things that mattered far less than the woman watching me with quiet uncertainty.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, even though I already knew.
She hesitated, then lifted her chin. “I was going to see if you were busy. There’s a gathering at the coven today. I thought… it might be good to introduce you. So they know I didn’t make you up.”
Something warm and dangerous settled in my chest at the thought. Walking in at her side. Letting them see her with me. Calling her my wife without qualification.
For a fleeting moment, I considered cancelling the meeting entirely.
The only thing that stopped me was the faint, irritating whisper of consequence. Of how complicated things could become if my true mate ever appeared—how many lines would blur, how many promises I’d already broken.
And still, the truth was unsettlingly clear.
If my mate wasn’t Elowyn, then I didn’t care to meet her.
Elowyn swallowed under my silence, her eyes searching my face. I should have said yes. Should have gone with her and let the world adjust around us. The heavens would not be pleased if I started neglecting duty.
“I’ve got a meeting,” I said at last, the words tasting bitter.
Disappointment flickered across her face before she turned away too quickly.
“Right,” she said softly. “I know you’re busy.”
She forgave me immediately, and that somehow made it worse. I watched her shoulders sag and felt something sharp twist in my chest. I told myself distance was the only way to keep this from becoming something I couldn’t control, but the lie rang hollow even to me.
“Maybe next time,” I said, forcing a smile that felt thin.
She nodded, offering one in return. “Yeah. Maybe.”
She turned back into the room, and I almost followed. My feet shifted before I stopped myself. If I went after her, I wasn’t sure I’d leave again.
When she emerged a few minutes later, my resolve cracked anyway.
The purple dress clung to her like it had been made with me in mind, every curve a deliberate temptation. My pulse spiked hard and fast. Elowyn was beautiful without trying, but seeing her like this ignited something possessive and unwise in my blood.
Mine.
The thought came unbidden and unwelcome because I had no right to it.
“Do you mind dropping me off?” she asked, her tone light but uncertain. A tub of homemade cookies rested in her hands.
“I actually have something for you.”
Her brow furrowed as I reached for the amulet at my throat. My pulse thundered when I pulled it free and stepped closer, close enough to catch the faint sweetness of her perfume. She didn’t look away as I slipped the chain over her head, the metal brushing her collarbone.
She lifted the amulet, and it began to glow softly. Like it recognized her.
“It’s part of my magic,” I said quietly. “It will let you travel the way I do. Just tell it where you want to go.”
Her eyes widened, wonder lighting her face. “Really?”
“Yes.” I hesitated, then added, “I wanted you to have it.”
Not because it was practical.
Because it was mine and now, in some small way, it was hers. It was something we could share.
Her smile bloomed, soft and radiant, and for a dangerous moment, I let myself imagine this was normal, husband and wife, gifts and small smiles, quiet domesticity. And then I reminded myself that it wasn’t. Not really.
I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into me, unable to help myself. The moment her body collided with mine, the air between us shifted to something soft, charged, dangerous. My lips pressed into hers, and she hummed softly, that small sound sparking through me like fire catching dry leaves.
I pulled back before I lost myself entirely and tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, needing the excuse to touch her once more. Her gaze lingered on mine, uncertain, searching.
“I wish you could go with me,” she whispered. “I hate those gatherings.”
“Why?” I asked.
She hesitated, her shoulders drawing in as if she were bracing herself. “They’re just… boring.” The word felt wrong the moment she said it. “I should go. Thank you for the magic.”
And then she was gone, disappearing without looking back.
The sudden absence of her energy left the room hollow, too quiet. I stood there longer than I should have, staring at the place where she’d been.
After my meeting with Della and Mikel, I would go check on her.
When I got to Mikel’s house in the stars, Remiah was smiling as she held my nephew. I headed toward her and gave her a hug.
“How are you feeling, Remy?”
My eyes dropped to her very pregnant stomach. My brother couldn’t keep his hands to himself. A faint, amused thought, but underneath it, envy. He had something real, something I’d only been pretending at.
“I’m ready to not be pregnant.” She laughed, glowing as she always did. “Della and Mikel are in the office.”
I nodded and headed for the room, but my mind was miles away. Elowyn’s voice replayed in my head—I wish you could go with me. She had looked more disappointed than she wanted me to notice. I did notice. I always did.
“Hey.” Mikel’s voice broke me out of my thoughts. “You’re late… You're never late.”
His gaze swept over me like he was searching for signs of illness. If only it were that simple. I sat down, rubbing my thumb over the faint mark where I burned myself making her damn pastries.
“Sorry.”
“Did you go to Valynth?” Della asked, her tone all business, though her sharp eyes missed nothing.
“Yes, I spoke with Maris Blythe, and she gave me some insight into what is happening, but I don’t think you guys will like what she said.”
Della sat down and stared at me.
I exhaled sharply. “Gilyx is not taking the energy of the realm. Kilryn, the lost realm, is.”
“Kilryn?” Della gasped. “The lost realm? It doesn’t exist any longer.”
I nodded as I stared at Della and Mikel.
“It apparently does still exist. It’s why the veylanthi guardians are protecting the three artifacts.
The magical barriers are keeping Kilryn contained, mostly, but its magic is starting to seep out.
Maris says it’s what is taking the energy from the realm and what is fucking everything up.
I'm not sure if the gods in Gilyx are aware of this. "
Mikel stared at me like I had lost my fucking mind.
“So how do we stop it?” he asked.
“The heir of the Sword of Wern will. That is what Maris said. The sword is powerful enough to kill an entire realm. She said it will appear when it is needed.”
They both stared at me silently.
“I know that you trusted Maris’ mother, but why didn’t she tell you that there is still a fourth realm? Veylanthi are naturally manipulative and sneaky. Are we sure we can trust them?” Mikel asked.
Della looked from me to Mikel.
“We’ve known for hundreds of years that three veylanthi sisters would be born to protect the three fate changing artifacts.
The Sword of Wern, the Bow of Blythe, and the Mirror of Vesmal will save us.
I trust them wholeheartedly,” I said. “If their mother didn’t tell me this part of the plan, it was with good reason. She was protecting me in some way.”
Mikel sighed heavily, but Della watched me closely like she could see the weight of all of this crushing me. Fate was fucked up, and it was my duty to fix it. I hadn't come up with a single reasonable explanation as to why she kept Kilryn from me. I thought we had killed it centuries ago.
“So where are the artifacts?” she asked.
“The bow is in Valynth. Maris is the guardian. The mirror is in Gilyx with Bexla.” I hesitated before I shared this new piece of information with them. “Maris said the Sword of Wern is in Elloryon and always has been.”
Della and Mikel stood up and stared at me.
“What the fuck, Abram?” Della asked, confused. “How could the sword be here and none of us have felt its power?”
“Their sister, I still have no idea who it is, has it hidden that well,” I answered.
“That family has done everything it can to hide her identity from me, from everyone, because they know the danger she’d be in.
The Sword of Wern is the most dangerous thing in this realm, and she has managed to hide it in our realm, right under our noses. ”
“So she is the wielder.” Mikel nodded.
“No.” I shook my head. “I came to the same conclusion, but Maris said none of them are the true wielders of the artifacts; they only protect them for the rightful owners.”
Della took a deep breath before looking at me.
“What if the rightful heir of the sword is not on our side? What if they want to help Gilyx take over the entire world? We won’t be able to stop them. That sword can kill even us old gods for good. We will not come back.”
I nodded.
“If Valayah’s daughters are protecting the heir of the sword this much, then it is because they are on our side. I promise I have things under control.”
Mikel and Della trusted me, I knew this, but this all going to plan literally would determine the fate of all of us.
“I trust you, but I have to say this, Abram.” Mikel frowned. “Someone with an incredible amount of power has to be protecting that sword, and I don’t like that we haven’t ever picked up on it. How are they hiding so well?”
“I agree,” Della chimed in.
I nodded in agreement.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I don’t think we’ll know who it is until they want us to.”
Mikel and Della looked at each other.
“Well, we will do whatever we need to to protect the heir of the sword and pray to the heavens that they are on our side when this all goes down.” Della smiled but it was void of happiness.