Chapter 16 #2
My shoulders felt tense as I thought about yesterday.
Elowyn didn’t tell me that her curse meant as soon as she fell in love that the one she loved would be taken.
I stared at the pastries as I cut them out and rolled them.
Maybe she didn’t tell me because she knew she’d never love me, so she wasn’t worried about losing me.
Gods, she was so adamant about finding her mate when I was right in front of her. Maybe she didn’t want me. I heard the floorboard creak and turned to her standing in my tunic. She smiled at me.
“Do you want to talk about why you look pissed off?” she asked.
“I’m not.”
“Your eyes are red.” She stepped forward and grabbed my hand. “Should we talk about yesterday?”
Her wide eyes stared up at me with worry.
“There’s nothing to talk about. We knew we weren’t mates, so it doesn’t change anything,” I answered.
“Maybe he was wrong,” she spoke softly. “Maybe we are mates, and my curse won’t tell us. Maybe that is why you haven’t met your mate yet, because it’s me.”
The hopefulness in her voice and eyes made my chest ache like I was doing something wrong by having a mate bond. I didn’t want it. I was not going to go and find whatever woman the heavens thought was meant for me. She wasn’t. She couldn’t be.
“Maybe. But what if he wasn’t wrong?” I swallowed hard. “I don’t want to let you go,” I confessed. “And your curse…”
“I know.” She sighed heavily. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it.”
I looked at her. “You just need to not fall in love with me, and then you won’t lose me.” Her face fell for a moment. Gods, I wanted her to say it was too late, that she did love me. I was an old god. I’d come back to life if the heavens struck me down.
I stilled. What of the heavens took her from me?
“Abram…” Her voice shook slightly as she stared at me. “Never mind.”
I pulled her to me and kissed her.
“My crowning as queen is tonight. You’ll be there, right?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for anything. It’s the most important day of your witch life.” I smiled.
“I have to go to the coven to get ready in a few minutes.” She kissed me. “I’m excited for them to meet you, even if you are my fake husband. I want to tell everyone around me that you’re mine.”
My heart pounded at her words.
“I want to tell everyone you’re my wife too.” I smiled as I kissed her.
Her honey-colored eyes watched me with some emotion I couldn't decipher.
“Okay, I should go. There is a lot to get ready.” She gave me a hard, lingering kiss.
When she pulled back, she stared at me like she already missed me. She traced over my face softly then smiled before disappearing.
I sat in the empty house for a few minutes before I decided to get dressed. I wanted to tell Della that I was married to Elowyn, and I did not want my mate. She would understand, and maybe she would know what to do. I hurried and dressed before using my magic to go to Della’s home.
I knocked on the door. Haden answered a moment later.
“You alright?” he asked.
“Yeah, is my sister here?”
“Yeah, she’s in the living room with Ezra.”
Oh perfect. I needed to talk to him about what that nutjob Thomas said. I hurried into the living room and stopped dead in my tracks.
She looked up at me with bright blue eyes and hair as dark as the night sky. She smiled softly, her lips curving like fate itself was mocking me.
“Oh, this is my best friend, Abram.” Ezra smiled. “Abram, this is Loma. She’s trying to find some artifacts, and I thought Della might know how to help her.”
My gaze fell to the bond between us.
Mate.
No. No. No. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to be near her.
Loma stood up and held her hand out to me. “It’s nice to meet you, Abram.”
I stared at her hand, my chest roaring with a visceral rejection. Every part of me screamed no.
“You too,” I forced out, shaking her hand quickly before letting go.
The bond pulsed between us like a brand being seared into my soul. Did she feel it too? Gods, I hoped she didn’t.
Disgust and rage rolled through me. Fate was trying to force this bond on me, to rip me away from the only person I ever wanted. I could practically hear the heavens laughing. They brought her right to my door, like I didn’t have a choice in any of this.
But I did have a choice.
My mind screamed with only one thought, over and over, louder than anything else.
Elowyn.
I didn’t want this woman. I didn’t want fate.
I only wanted Elowyn.
And I would burn every prophecy, every celestial decree, every godsdamn bond to keep her.
“Come sit with us,” she purred.
I was going to deny her, to turn and leave, but something pulsed around me, magic, ancient and suffocating, forcing my legs to move against my will. I sat down hard in the chair, rage roaring in my chest.
Was this the heavens binding me here? Forcing me to stay? I wanted to leave. I needed to leave. I needed to get to—
No.
Panic flared as confusion clouded my mind. I glanced around, desperate to anchor myself to something real. Why couldn’t I remember?
Didn’t I have somewhere I needed to be today? Someone I needed to see?
Loma’s eyes locked onto mine, unblinking, as power pulsed between us like chains tightening.
Gods… what was I forgetting?
Elowyn.
Her name burned in my mind for a fleeting moment before darkness closed in, swallowing everything except the echo of her name—an echo that was fading, no matter how desperately I tried to hold on.