Chapter 28
Abram
Come.
A faint whisper in my mind made me hesitate.
My pulse quickened. That voice, it slithered through the back of my consciousness like smoke I couldn’t clear.
Gods, I had heard this whisper before. The night that Elowyn cast the spell for a husband.
It had been Nyxthra’s voice I heard repeating Elowyn’s name over and over.
“Wait out here,” I told Farris and Ezra. “I’m going to talk to Philip.”
“That’s not a good idea.” Farris tried to stop me, but I turned to her.
“It’s fine. Nyxthra is with me. I’ll call for you if I get into trouble; you keep a look out here.”
“Are you sure you’re going to remain calm?” Ezra’s brows pinched together.
“I promise, I can do this.”
Farris and Ezra nodded.
My chest tightened as I crept through the gardens, the scent of wet soil clinging to the air.
Every crunch of gravel beneath my boots felt too loud.
I used my magic to move inside of the house, my body materializing in the dim light.
My gaze darted across the space, alert, but when I turned pain exploded across my jaw. Philip's fist connected with my face.
I grunted at the impact as I stumbled into a dining table. The legs scraped across the floor making a terrible noise. My teeth rattled.
Philip smiled at me like a fucking psycho.
“Loma’s not home.”
“Fuck Loma.” I spit at him. “I know you have Elowyn; give her to me now.” I stood up, jaw throbbing, and he grinned even wider.
“Did you not hear?” He stepped closer. “Elowyn is already in love with me.”
Something evil burned under my skin as I looked at his smug face. My fingers twitched at my sides. I didn’t want to believe that I had already lost her. My rage escaped me without warning. I lunged.
I charged at Philip, his face falling when he realized I was furious. I tackled him into a wall, but we just fell through the flimsy wood. The crash echoed through the house.
I heard my tunic tearing as Philip gripped it in his slimy hands. My heart roared in my ears.
I straddled Philip and punched him over and over. He swung up and knocked me off of him. We rolled, his elbow connecting with my ribs, my breath leaving me in a hiss. He crawled toward me, trying to get the upper hand, but I drew my foot back and kicked him in the chest.
“Fuck!” He wheezed as he rolled around the floor.
My gaze moved down to the blood seeping through his white tunic. I stepped forward and ripped it, revealing that he had been stabbed. Relief filled me when I realized that the bloody knife was used on him and not Elowyn.
“Did my wife do that to you?” I smiled proudly.
“My future wife. My fated mate,” he snapped.
I stepped forward and pressed my boot into the wound and he screamed into the heavens. The sound made my stomach twist with a dark satisfaction.
My star mist circled Philip and dragged him to the dining room chair. He hissed at me like a wild animal as my magic wrapped around him like a vice.
“I’ll fucking kill you,” he sneered.
I smiled at him in reply, and his eyes filled with suspicion. I glanced around the space, taking in his home.
“You and I need to have a conversation about Elowyn.” My hands rested on the table top as I leaned toward him.
“You mean my mate.” His smile just pissed me the fuck off.
“My wife.” I grinned when his smug smile faded.
I tugged open my already shredded tunic, ripping it the rest of the way. I pointed to my intact marriage bond.
“You see this?” I sneered. “It’s my marriage bond to Elowyn. She’s my wife.”
“Your marriage means nothing to me, her, or the heavens. The heavens made her for me, and she will always choose me.”
I hesitated for a moment, and he noticed. My throat tightened.
“You really think she would pick you over me? Elowyn may have thought she loved you, but that’s because she hadn’t met me yet. Give me another week with her, and she’ll be desperate for me—in every sense of the word.”
I know I told Ezra I could keep my cool, but I lied.
My hand trembled as I reached across the table and punched Philip across the face.
The sickening noise of his nose breaking made something evil curl deep inside of me.
I didn’t give him a chance to recover as I gripped his hair in my hand and slammed his face into the table. The crack of wood echoed.
“Fuck!” he yelled. “You motherfucking cock sucker.”
“This conversation is getting us nowhere. Clearly you need a visual of how much Elowyn loves me.”
His eyebrows pinched together as a cruel smile overtook me. I felt out of control. My blood thrummed in my veins. I felt the need to make sure there was no chance Elowyn wanted this bastard over me. I turned and looked at Nyxthra, grateful that she had followed me.
“Where is she?” I asked.
She started moving, and I followed. Fear and excitement coiled deep inside of me.
Every step down the hall filled me with both dread and hope.
I could smell the faintest scent of her somewhere close to me, and my body buzzed.
Fuck, I missed her. I could feel the tears stinging the backs of my eyes as Nyxthra stopped in front of a door.
I tried to open it, but it was locked. My magic pulsed from me and shattered the door. Splinters flew. I stepped in and immediately was smacked with something heavy in the stomach.
“Fuck.” I leaned over and gripped myself.
“Abram?” her soft voice trembled like she wasn’t sure I was really here.
“Elowyn.” I breathed out in pain as I stood.
Her pretty honey-colored eyes drifted over me as tears filled them. But she didn’t move to hug me. She looked down to the ground like she couldn’t stand to see me. The sight broke something in me I didn’t know could still shatter.
“What is all that noise?” she asked.
“Philip and I had a disagreement,” I said softly. “I need you to come down stairs with me.”
I held out my hand for her. She immediately stepped forward and took it. My gaze didn’t leave hers as I leaned in and hugged her to me. She didn’t hug me back though, and a new level of fear gripped my entire body and soul. What if she didn’t want me?
But he locked her in this room… unless it was Loma. I kissed her forehead before pulling her with me. I could feel her hand trembling in mine as we descended the stairs. My body was shaking because I didn’t know what I’d do if she told me she did want Philip.
When Philip tied up to a dining chair came into view, she hesitated.
“Elowyn, thank the heavens, save me from your psycho ex-husband.” Philip looked at her.
But Elowyn just stared at him before turning her attention to me. I dropped her hand and stepped backward.
“Abram what’s going on?”
I swallowed hard as my eyes shifted red, even though I tried desperately to contain my emotions.
“You know Philip is your mate,” I whispered.
Her eyes widened; she didn’t know that I knew.
“Yes.” She nodded.
“Do you want him, or do you want me?” I asked, the question strangling me. My body shook slightly.
Please choose me.
“Tell him that you would never pick someone over your fated mate,” Philip demanded.
Elowyn looked at him for a long time before looking at me. I could see the worry in her eyes the longer she stared at me.
“But Loma is your mate,” she whispered.
She wanted to know that I didn’t want my mate either, and I was happy to oblige.
“I don’t want Loma. I want you. Do you want me or Philip?”
Elowyn’s silent tears streamed down her face when she looked at me. I was about to ask her what was wrong but she started talking before I could.
“But you already finished your marriage bond with her. You gave her your star and finished your mating bond.” She was talking so fast and through tears that I almost didn’t catch what she said.
I stilled and turned to Philip who gave me a cocky smile.
“Did he tell you that?” I asked her.
She nodded, and I gripped Philip’s hair in my fingers and slammed his head into the table over and over until he cried loudly. My red eyes flickered to her.
“I did no such thing. I don’t want Loma. I’ve had no feelings toward her. I would not touch her, marry her, or give her the star that clearly is yours. He lied to you.”
Her eyes widened as she stared at me. Gods, she was so pretty when she looked like this… happy but confused about how I could want her when she wasn’t my mate.
“Tell him he’s fucking crazy, Elowyn, now.” He was barely conscious.
I turned my murderous glare to Philip, not liking the way he was speaking to her. I used my star mist to wrap around his mouth and shut him up. My gaze moved back to Elowyn who was still watching me.
“You’d pick me over Loma?” she asked.
“I already did.” I didn’t hesitate.
“Why?”
“Because I love you, Elowyn,” I confessed.
I watched her reaction to the words I never said to her. Her chest rose and fell quickly. Her cheeks flushed as her lips parted.
“But if you love him, I will not stand in your way.” It was a lie.
Philip was dying even if she thought she loved him. I couldn’t let him live. She moved so quickly that her arms wrapping around my neck had me stumbling into the table. Her lips crashed into mine.
Elowyn’s fingers gripped my ripped tunic, yanking me closer to her.
Relief and desperation collided in my chest, and I could feel my pulse thundering as I pulled her to me.
Philip’s muffled screams echoed faintly in the background, but I tuned them out, focusing solely on her.
Every instinct in me screamed that I couldn’t lose her, that I wouldn’t.
I deepened the kiss as I turned her so she was against the table, my heart hammering in my chest like it wanted to escape.
My hand wrapped around the back of her neck and yanked her into me, and I felt the raw intensity of her surrender.