Chapter Twenty-Four
Macgrath
The world stoppedas I held Ava close. Even though I remembered her as Aveta, the witch I’d loved so long ago, she was no longer that woman to me.
She was Ava. Fierce, independent, and funny. Before Rhiannon cursed us, she had been independent but insecure in some ways. She never understood why I wanted her heart.
Her body, she gave freely and willingly, but her heart she had always guarded viciously. It had taken so long to break through. Years.
Yet now, even after all that happened, the woman she had become was confident enough to trust her judgment and open her heart to me.
It humbled me.
Our daughter was lost, gone forever. I’d never even laid eyes on her.
It hurt more than I expected considering it happened nearly two thousand years ago.
Yet, in my heart, it happened yesterday.
I felt as if all this time I’d lived two lives—one that ended when I lost Aveta and another that began when Rhiannon cursed us.
Those two lives had merged and it hurt. My heart and my head throbbed as aches assaulted me. The physical pain in my temples was nothing in comparison to the heartbreak ripping at my chest.
“Alaunus.” Her voice pulled me back from the brink. My name on her lips was both beautiful and excruciating.
Just as she was no longer Aveta, I was no longer Alaunus. Not completely. While remnants of the human man remained, he seemed like a distant memory rather than the person I’d been.
“Don’t call me that,” I demanded, my voice breaking. When she flinched, I tried to explain. “I—” I swallowed hard. “I’ve been Ewan Macgrath for so long now that I can’t be anyone else.”
“I understand,” she answered, her voice soft, gentle. Her hand rested on my neck, warm and tender. I knew she did. I could feel it.
Now that my memories had returned, I recognized that tone. She had used it to soothe me when I was upset about my father and his expectations or with her. She had once been gentle, kind, and now that I had enough years of watching humans, downtrodden. Her life and the way the villagers had treated her, it had taken a toll.
In this time, my Ava was stronger, fiercer, and no longer shackled by society. She was free and awesome to behold.
I rested my forehead on hers, closed my eyes, and focused on breathing. Our bodies were still entwined but my cock was soft and had slipped from her. Just feeling her skin against mine helped calm me.
As my thoughts settled somewhat I realized that I couldfeelAva. Not merely physically, but in my head and in my heart. We shared a connection of mind and spirit. We had since Ava created me.
My eyes flew open and our gazes clashed. Now that I could think clearly, the memories were sharper. I was able to make sense of the thoughts and images that flashed through my mind.
“Rhiannon took you from me,” I murmured. “She took our child from me. She took everything.” I knew my eyes were glowing. I could feel the heat behind them, the rage. “She will die for what she’s done,” I snarled.
The fury that gripped me was out of my control. It was wildfire, a flaming maelstrom two millennia in the making.
“Ewan.” Ava’s voice barely broke through the wall of ire that surrounded me. “Ewan, please. You’re hurting me.”
Her words and their meaning pierced through. I blinked, returning back to myself. The storm was still inside me but it was no longer controlling me.
I realized that my grip on her waist was painfully tight. I released Ava and stared down at the handprints I left behind. The bruises were already turning purple. She hadn’t even whimpered when I made them but I knew that it must have been excruciating at the time.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I whispered. I wrapped my arms around her and rolled over, bringing her body on top of mine. I placed my hands over the bruises and let a bit of power slip from me. Just enough to heal the broken blood vessels and tender flesh.
Ava sighed and relaxed against me, her forehead resting in the curve of my neck.
“Better?” I asked.
“Yes,” she whispered.
