Chapter 25
Abram
We didn’t speak for the first hour.
Philip’s estate stood pristine at the edge of the upper ring of the city—a sprawling manor of ivory stone and dark wood beams, all wrapped in climbing vines and fragrant night-blooming flowers.
A wrought-iron fence circled the property, enchanted with subtle wards that shimmered when the moonlight struck just right.
Candlelight flickered behind tall arched windows, casting a soft, golden glow that gave the illusion of warmth, of safety.
Ezra sat on the edge of the rooftop like he wanted to throw himself through the window below. Red mist curled at his fingertips, dissipating before it could give us away. I leaned back against the chimney, cloaked in shadow and silence.
Too many guards. Too many enchantments. Too many unknowns.
“I don’t think that’s Farris in her bedroom pacing around like that.” Ezra finally sighed. “She doesn’t do that.”
I wasn’t sure how he could tell. We hadn’t actually seen the woman at all, just the shadow pacing on the wall.
“Just how often do you come and spy on her?” I asked.
Ezra looked at me and smiled.
“At least once a day. I just feel better when I see her.”
Ezra looked proud of himself. I didn’t blame him. I wouldn’t be able to stay away from Elowyn. I’d stalk her every day too. In fact, I’d live in those fucking woods over there if I needed to.
“I should go talk to her.” He cocked his head to the side in concern.
“You could go check on her,” I said dryly. “Have a heart-to-heart while her husband murders you.”
Ezra snorted. “I’ve died before. Wasn’t that impressive.”
He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t ask. I wasn’t sure if he was joking.
A gust of wind blew through the trees behind us. The smell of smoke and iron drifted from the city below. Somewhere, a hound barked once then whimpered quietly.
I narrowed my eyes at the windows.
“I count six guards, minimum,” I said. “Two on the upper balcony, four near the rear gate.”
Ezra stiffened beside me.
His fingers twitched again, and the red mist curled tighter then vanished altogether. “She’s not in there,” he murmured.
I glanced at him. “What?”
“I don’t feel her,” he said, more to himself than to me. “I always feel her when I’m close, like this humming under my skin. It’s—” He broke off, eyes narrowing at the window. “That’s not her.”
As he said it, the shadow on the far wall shifted, lifting something from a chair.
A feather duster.
Ezra made a noise somewhere between a growl and a groan. “It’s a fucking maid.”
The figure turned, stepping into clearer view as she passed by the candlelight. Her hair was dark, tied in a neat knot at the base of her neck. Not Farris.
Ezra cursed and rubbed his hands over his face. “He’s hiding her.”
I didn’t answer. My gaze swept the perimeter again, looking for movement, for clues. The balcony guard scratched his neck, yawned. The others remained still, alert.
The side veranda door suddenly opened, casting a wedge of warm light onto the garden path. Two figures stepped into the glow—Philip, straight-backed and sharp-jawed, and Loma, dressed in a tailored black coat that swayed with the night breeze.
Ezra’s eyes locked onto them, expression unreadable.
“No one’s seen her,” Philip said flatly. “She left the estate without a trace. Not a guard, not a servant—no one knows where she’s gone. I told you Farris would run the first chance she got.”
Loma’s jaw flexed. “Then she’s hiding. And if she’s hiding, it’s because she’s run to someone.”
Philip’s gaze slid toward the city beyond the gates. “If she’s gone to Ezra…” His voice dropped, cold enough to frost glass. “If she’s with him, I’ll gut him myself.”
Loma’s eyes narrowed. “You kill him, you draw the gods’ gaze. You make it messy.”
“Well then seduce your mate and get a god on our side,” Philip snapped.
I instantly became pissed off. No woman would ever touch me but Elowyn.
“He is too far invested in your mate to want me. Besides, we don’t need mates. Now think, where the fuck would Farris have gone?” Loma asked.
“I don’t know. If she isn’t with Ezra then I have no clue. She has no friends, no family, nothing but the fucking annoying god.”
Ezra scoffed like he was offended.
“Well she’s been gone for three days now, so what the fuck are we going to do?” Loma snapped.
“We find the Sword of Wern and take it to Gilyx like we planned.”
Fuck. This wasn’t good. I sighed as they climbed into a carriage, and we watched them disappear into the city. Ezra turned to me.
“Farris is missing.” He looked concerned. Then a small smile spread across his lips. “She ran away from him, which means she didn’t want to stay.”
Ezra smiled then. A small, tentative smile like he didn’t trust the expression to last.
Something caught my eyes as I stared at him. His soul threads were circling him for the first time in awhile. Pink strands curled around him, calling to me.
The city noise faded around us, the clatter of distant streets dulling to a low hum.
The wards along the fence flickered faintly, their magic brushing against my senses, but I barely registered them.
My attention had narrowed to Ezra alone—his posture, the way his magic curled inward instead of lashing out, the quiet ache threaded through his soul.
His fate was calling me. It was inviting me to look. It felt odd that it was coming forth now.
But the threads were right there, humming softly beneath his skin, luminous and tangled, brushing against my awareness like they were waiting.
Just a glance. I needed to know that he would be alright…that Farris would be alright.
The world tipped.
Soul threads unfurled beneath my sight, radiant and intricate, weaving outward into a future I hadn’t seen in a long time. Ezra’s fate shimmered, volatile but alive, strands of red and silver braided together with something darker.
Then the vision snapped into focus.
Ezra was laughing.
Not the sharp, deflective humor he wore like armor but real laughter, loose and unguarded. His magic was quiet, settled beneath his skin like a sleeping beast at peace.
He was kissing a woman.
Her hair was black, falling loose over her shoulder, catching the light as she leaned into him like she belonged there. Her hands rested at his chest, familiar, unafraid. Ezra’s touch was reverent, not desperate—like he wasn’t trying to keep her, only choosing her.
She was not Farris.
The realization struck hard enough to steal my breath. I tore my hand away as the threads recoiled, the vision shattering into sparks that dissolved back into the night. Ezra would never choose someone over Farris. Something about the vision felt wrong. Maybe the heavens were fucking with me again.
Ezra turned toward me, brow furrowing. “What was that?”
“Nothing,” I said too quickly.
The word tasted like a lie, but I didn’t take it back.
I couldn’t.
Maybe I was mistaken. Maybe the fates showed me the wrong woman by accident.
Ezra searched my face for a moment, then exhaled slowly, looking back toward the estate. “She didn’t stay,” he said again, quieter this time. “That has to mean something.”
I nodded, even as my chest tightened.
“It does,” I agreed.
My gaze drifted back to the city lights, to the endless weave of paths I could see but no longer fully control.
For the first time in a long while, fate had shown me Ezra's future and it was nothing close to what it had been. Which meant something in the fates were still fucked.
“Well that puts us in a bind.” I sighed. “Now we have no one to kidnap.”
“I was looking forward to seeing her again,” Ezra sighed.
I swallowed hard knowing that he loved Farris with everything he was. The vision was wrong, that is what I told myself over and over again.
“I don’t know how much longer I can go without seeing Elowyn,” I confessed.
Ezra nodded as we both looked over the twinkling lights of Falgon.
“Let’s head to my house while we figure things out, in case Farris is headed there,” Ezra suggested.
“Alright.”
I glanced at the city once more, wondering where Elowyn was hiding. My gaze turned toward the woods. She would never live in the city. She liked solitude, like I did.
Where are you, little weaver?