Rennick knew he should have told Amelia his letters might stop for a while, but he hadn’t. He laughed humorlessly at the irony of timing. A letter sat on his desk to be delivered tomorrow night, but he was too late.
The stab of fear that she’d fallen in love with someone else in his absence almost brought him to his knees again.
Ignoring everyone’s curious stares, he turned to Finn. “Meet me in my rooms at dawn.”
He strode toward the ballroom exit, ignoring Ora’s voice calling his name as Finn told her to leave him be.
Once in his rooms, Rennick fell into an overstuffed chair in the corner of his sitting room, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes, connecting with Greta.
Another man touched his mate, possibly loved her, and Rennick wouldn’t take it lying down.
He didn’t blame Amelia—she had needs he wasn’t there to fulfill—but he’d not give her the chance to fall in love with someone else.If she hadn’t already.
As Greta crossed the barrier and wove in and out of the evergreens, his inner turmoil grew, and when Amelia’s small village finally came into view, he urged the owl to fly faster.
He felt Greta’s unease.“This is a bad idea.”
“We’re only here to see who she’s with,”he told her.
Greta landed gracefully on a branch outside of the boardinghouseAmelia moved into after graduating school, but Rennick didn’t know what to do from there. He weighed his options and decided Greta would have to peck at Amelia’s window until she opened it.
Greta bristled.“I’m not going anywhere near her window.”Even the owl feared finding another man in her room.
He prayed to the gods he was wrong, that he’d misinterpreted her emotions.
Please be home alone.
Time stood still when Amelia’s soft laugh floated from across the street, where a man walked her down the cobblestone sidewalk toward the boardinghouse.
Rennick wanted Greta to attack him, but the owl held firm. The man walked Amelia to her porch, kissed her cheek, and waved goodbye.
She smoothed her hair, giving him a smile that men went to war for. A smile Rennick would do far worse for. He drank in everything about her down to the rosy hue of her cheeks until she disappeared inside.
Greta begrudgingly followed the man to a small bookshop one street over from the library, and Rennick watched as the man unlocked the door and disappeared inside. After a few minutes, the glow of a lantern filled a window on the second floor.
He must own the shop and live above it.
Another realization grabbed hold and threatened to drag him into a dark abyss to which there was no return. Amelia hadn’t been wearing her necklace.
Greta took to the skies.
Letter # 82
Hello, Love,
Forgive me for my prolonged absence. My duties are more demanding than ever, and I’ve neglected you. I shouldn’t have left you without notice, and I won’t do it again.
Viciously Yours,
Nick
P.S. I felt you fucking him last night.
Amelia stared at the letter with a mix of horror and rage.
With every month that passed without a word from Nick, she’d been worried something bad had happened, but then the logical part of her brain recognized that his letters had become increasingly less frequent over the last few years.
She always knew it was only a matter of time before they stopped completely, but the letter in her hand suggested otherwise.
