I had spent years in foster care being shipped from strangers’ home to strangers’ home. But I had never felt so utterly alone as I did right now.
Tears stung my eyes. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
Josh looked in the rear-view mirror. “We don’t need to make a decision now.” His voice was gentle. “I’ll drive you to Church Heights and we’ll work out what we’re going to do on the way.”
I swallowed back a sob and nodded.
The house was eerily quiet.I left Georgie and Josh in the foyer and ran up the stairs to the bedroom. Karson would have to stay to deal with Sarah, or Rodney, or both. It gave me precious time to get away from him.
I didn’t know if he would take his fury out on me for spelling him. Would he kill me to break the link? One thing I did know, he could never hate me as much as I hated him.
The shadows of fury crept through my body, wrapping around my heart, at the mere thought of what he’d done.
Orange from the night lamp flickered across the room. The night light Karson had bought for me to help me feel safe. I huffed a bitter laugh. Ironic really, I was so afraid of what was waiting for me in unseen places, when all the while I had lain in bed next to a monster. Tears started slipping down my face again.
The emerald in my ring glinted on the nightstand. Wiping the tears off my cheeks, I picked it up and slipped it into my pocket. Then I grabbed a bag out of the walk-in closet and stuffed a few items of clothing in. I was ready to leave the house, leave this life, leave him—forever.
I sucked in a shuddering breath. My heart?—
It was impossible to prepare yourself for the type of devastation walking out on everyone and everything that ever mattered brought.
My heart felt like it was shattering all over again.
That’s when I felt his icy presence.
Chapter 75
Burn In Hell
Acold breeze slithered around my body. I pivoted and noticed the sliding door was slightly ajar, leaving the curtain fluttering.
“Amelia.” He was behind me.
My heart lurched to my throat and dropped again. I didn’t turn. I couldn’t.
I could smell his scent of honey and cinnamon and wild mountains. I loved him so much, and he had taken that love and crushed my heart with his bare fucking hands.
“The first time I saw you was that night of the accident. I mind-controlled you to forget about it and I left. But I couldn’t stop thinking about you for years after.” His voice came out husky and raw, as if he’d been crying. “The next time I saw you was at a bar in Ohio. You were working. You looked at me, and it was like a bolt of lightning struck my heart. There were people everywhere, but in that moment all I could see was you. Then you smiled.” His swallow sounded loud in the room. “And it was like a light exploded through the darkness in my heart. And when we talked, the hollow, the emptiness inside me was filled with something warm and soft. Something I had neverfelt before. Like you were the one thing I’d been waiting for my entire life.”
My stomach churned. I couldn’t stand the sound of his voice, couldn’t stand here and listen to his bullshit. Couldn’t bear to hear him talk about his warm, glowing fucking heart when he murdered my mother, and then took the man I loved and made him cheat on me, made him break my heart.
“Stop talking.” I meant to shout, but my voice snagged on the lump in my throat and came out as a whisper.
“Amelia, please,” he begged weakly. “I couldn’t have known what the witches had done. I?—”
Rage began to vibrate through the pain. I turned to look at him. He stood a few feet away, his eyes damp and filled with pleading, his chest heaving. His grief-stricken face touched a place deep inside me. But I knew the sympathy I felt for him was not real. How could I feel sympathy after everything he had done? No, it wasn’t real, it was the fucking spell.
“I saidstoptalking,” I whispered.
His shoulders slumped. “I tried to go back home, I tried to forget about you, but all I could think about was you. All I knew was I had to be with you.”
He stepped closer and I stepped back quickly. He paused, hesitant, looking lost and desperate. “Please, just listen. I know we can get through this.”
Fire roared in my heart. “You compelled Tom to sleep with my best friend, you compelled me to come to you.” My voice was shaking as it rose. “And you … How could you …? How could you …?” I couldn’t saykilled my mother. The agony twisting inside my chest stole the words from my lips.
“Please, let me explain, I?—”
“You stole everything from me,” I breathed. Tears tumbled down my face uncontrollably. A sob shuddered through my throat.
