Chapter 27
Abram
Ezra and I were minding our own business…
kind of. We were wandering the streets of Falgon looking for Farris when all of a sudden Ezra stiffened.
His entire body went still like he’d caught a scent on the wind.
I stopped beside him, my heartbeat quickening at the sudden tension.
He glanced around us, eyes sharp and predatory.
I followed his gaze but saw nothing, just the usual hum of the crowded market.
Then he smirked to himself, and that was somehow worse.
I frowned. I didn’t see anything, so I wasn’t sure what he was doing.
He suddenly darted left, moving with purpose, and I cursed before chasing after him.
We weaved through the crowd, his long strides forcing me to push past confused pedestrians.
He picked up speed, his cloak snapping behind him, and I was struggling to keep up.
Then suddenly Ezra grabbed a hooded woman and tossed her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing.
“Package secured.” He grinned.
“Put me down, you bastard.” Farris was struggling against him, her fists pounding against his back.
A laugh slipped from me despite myself, the absurdity of it cutting through the chaos. I smiled and used my magic to take us to Ezra’s home before anyone could notice the scene he’d made. The familiar pulse of power rippled through me, and a heartbeat later, the city melted away.
As soon as we arrived, Ezra slid Farris off his shoulder slowly, deliberately, letting her body drag down the length of his. The air crackled between them.
Farris wasted no time smacking him across the face. The sharp sound echoed through the room.
“Get that stupid smirk off your face,” she hissed. “You prick, I was busy!”
Ezra’s smile only widened, his eyes lighting with a mixture of mischief and something deeper.
“I missed you too, Farris.”
For a moment, she didn’t know I was there, or maybe she didn’t care. Her body stilled, breath catching as her gaze locked on his. Ezra tilted his head and stepped closer until no space remained between them. The tension was suffocating.
“Ezra… I’m married,” she stuttered out.
“Yes, I heard.” His gaze darkened. “I was there.”
The words hit heavy in the silence that followed.
“Yes, so why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, her voice trembling even as she tried to sound sharp.
His gaze dropped to her mouth then back up to her eyes, slow and deliberate. Gods, maybe I should leave and give them some privacy.
“Like what?” he teased.
“You know what you’re doing,” she argued weakly.
He reached out, fingers brushing the hair off her shoulders with such care it was almost tender. I couldn’t see her face, but whatever Ezra just saw on it made his grin deepen into something dangerous.
“You look good, little criminal.”
Farris turned away from him too quickly, her movements sharp and defensive. Her gaze landed on me, like she’d just realized I was there. She hesitated, lips parting as if to speak, before she tore her gaze back to Ezra again.
“What the fuck is going on?” she glared at me as if I were the one who’d manhandled her.
“We need your help.” I smiled, trying to keep my tone friendly, but her anger only seemed to double.
Farris lifted her chin in defiance, eyes flashing.
“Farris, you know I love it when you’re a brat.” Ezra stepped forward and grabbed her, his voice low and teasing.
Her eyes widened as his breath brushed her ear. He whispered something that made her face turn bright red.
“Should I leave and give you two a minute to… talk?” I asked, glancing between them as the tension thickened like honey in the air.
Ezra answered first. “Yes.”
Farris elbowed him hard in the stomach and stepped from his grip. The sharp sound of impact echoed through the room, and Ezra’s breath left him in a grunt.
“Absolutely not.” She stepped forward, fire in her voice. “Why have I been kidnapped by two gods while minding my own damn business?”
Her anger was loud, but beneath it, I saw the tremor. She looked scared, really scared and that unease twisted something low in my gut. What was Farris so afraid of? Her gaze flickered to me, then darted away as if the truth might spill out if she held my eyes too long.
Ezra’s brows furrowed, his focus narrowing as he studied her. He felt it too—something was off. The air between us grew taut with unspoken suspicion.
“You know where Elowyn is,” I accused her. The words were rougher than I intended.
Her eyes moved to mine. For a heartbeat, she looked ready to deny it, but her shoulders dropped, her defiance wilting beneath exhaustion. She sighed, resigned.
“Yes, she is going to be expecting me back home soon. She’ll be worried.”
Ezra’s brows pinched together as he looked up at me. My chest tightened under the weight of what her words implied. My gaze sharpened on Farris, who still refused to look at me.
“You’re living with her?” I asked.
Farris tugged at the ends of her sleeves, her fingers trembling. The movement was small, but it screamed discomfort. Her eyes widened, darting to me.
“You know who Philip is to her?” she asked.
“Yes, her fated mate, but not for long,” I answered. “Now tell me why you are living with her and not your husband.”
The question cracked something open. Farris’s throat worked as she glanced over her shoulder at Ezra before looking back to me, terror plain in her face. Her lashes fluttered rapidly as she fought tears.
“Because Philip beats me,” she whispered.
The air vanished from the room. Ezra’s body went still, the muscle in his jaw ticking once before his eyes flared red.
The temperature shifted, the air trembling with power.
Crimson mist began to snake around his legs, thick and alive.
I stepped back instinctively—Ezra’s beast was rising, and his fury was a living thing.
Farris noticed my retreat and turned toward him. I expected her to flinch, to hide, but she didn’t. She stood rooted, brave or broken enough to face the monster head-on.
His body grew, bones cracking, his presence filling the space until he was more shadow than man. His teeth elongated, his power pulsing through the floorboards. But Farris didn’t move. She met his gaze without fear.
“Ezra.” She spoke softly, the tremor gone from her voice. “It’s alright.”
Ezra’s glare narrowed, his words low and venomous.
“Alright?” he sneered.
“Elowyn saved me. I haven’t been at Philip’s house in a week.”
Ezra’s hand lifted, claws glinting, but even in that monstrous form, he was gentle as he cupped her cheek.
His breathing was ragged, his expression raw.
I could see it, the confusion, the pain, he didn’t understand how she could have ever chosen someone like Philip over him. His hand fell away as if burned.
He stepped back, eyes unfocused, the weight of realization darkening his face. Farris hesitated, then stepped forward like she wanted to close the space between them. But Ezra moved back again, retreating into himself.
“Ezra…,” her voice trailed off, barely a whisper.
“You hated being with me so much that you chose a man who puts his hands on you over me? Was being with me that terrible?” he asked.
My chest ached at the sound of his voice—so raw, so heartbreaking. Ezra had never sounded so… small.
“Please—”
“No.” He shook his head sharply, his hair falling over his eyes. “Tell me why it was so easy to leave me!”
The walls trembled, dust raining from the ceiling. His fury rolled through the room like thunder. Farris shrank, shoulders curling inward, but it wasn’t fear. It was guilt. A single tear slipped free, carving a path down her cheek.
Ezra looked at me, devastation written across his face. Gods, I didn’t understand her either. She knew Ezra loved her, knew he’d burn the realm to save her. Why was she still clinging to a man who’d break her bones over the one who’d die for her?
Anger swelled inside me, anger for my friend. Ezra deserved to be loved. To be chosen. He always had.
“I’m sorry.” She tried, but the words fell flat, lost in the space between them.
Ezra turned and moved away, pacing across the room like he couldn’t bear to look at her. Farris watched him with so much hurt it nearly matched his own. One explanation, one confession, could have fixed this. But she stayed silent.
“Why are you living with the woman who is your husband’s fated mate?” I asked. “Does Elowyn know that he is her fated mate?”
“No, she doesn’t know.” Farris shook her head, still staring at Ezra’s rigid back. He was motionless now, his gaze fixed on the fire as it crackled low in the hearth.
“You two met by accident?” I asked. “Or are you helping him and Loma?”
A cold realization slid through me. Maybe Farris wasn’t just broken. Maybe she was dangerous. Maybe she was helping them.
Ezra turned sharply toward her, suspicion flashing in his crimson eyes. He was thinking the same thing.
"Do not tell me you are helping him," Ezra hissed.
She shook her head.
“It was by accident, but it was also written in the stars,” she said. “My parents said a woman who had death and fate clinging to her would hold the key to everything.”
Ezra’s steps were slow, deliberate, predatory.
“You said your family was dead, that you grew up in an orphanage.”
“I did grow up in an orphanage.”
“A key to what?” I asked.
Farris looked at me then, something old and heavy flickering in her eyes.
“Thomas already told you, Abram. You have to kill him and Loma so you and Elowyn can be together, and to help save the realm. It is part of your fate. If you don’t, they will help Gilyx take over. They are on the hunt for some relics that they think will help them.”
My pulse thudded in my ears.
“How is Elowyn the key?” I asked.
Farris smiled softly—sadly.
“Maybe the heavens knew you’d do anything to have her. But I meant she has the key.”
“Her coven key?” I asked.
Farris nodded while studying me strangely.