I nodded, but the guilt still swarmed in my chest like gnats. Abram watched me closely, studying every flicker of emotion across my face before grabbing my hand tightly, anchoring me.
“How are you feeling today?”
“Better.” I smiled weakly.
He smiled brightly in return, and my chest tightened at the sight. That smile could unravel me so easily. I looked at our chests, half hoping something had changed while I wasn’t looking, that the bond had miraculously appeared, but it wasn’t there.
“What if the heavens give you another mate?” I whispered, the thought making my stomach drop.
I had a nightmare about it, and it was filling me with dread. Abram nodded softly, his expression unreadable.
“They will.”
Tears burned my eyes instantly. The calm way he said it made it hurt more. He frowned, his fingers pulling my face up so I was forced to meet his gaze. His eyes softened, but I could see the weight behind them.
“I saw your fate,” he confessed. “For the first time, I saw your future in detail.”
My chest ached at his tone. Was he sad? Afraid? Or was this just another secret the heavens had cursed us with?
“What did you see?” I asked, not knowing if I really wanted to know.
He glanced away from me, and my chest seized. Something in me panicked. I sat up and straddled his lap, wrapping my arms around him tightly, clinging to him like the world might fall apart if I let go.
“If it did not include you then I do not want it,” I told him fiercely. “If I have a different mate too, then I will get rid of him as well.”
Abram laughed softly, and I pulled back just enough to see his face. There was warmth in his eyes, but it was threaded with something darker, something like obsession.
“I saw you with your children.” He brushed the hair from my face tenderly. “Four beautiful daughters.”
A sob escaped me when he smiled at me softly. The image of it, him, me, children, hit something deep in me I didn’t know was still intact.
“So it was me in the vision?” I whispered.
“You saw yourself?” he asked.
“I could only see you standing with a woman with black hair. I didn’t think it was me.”
He nodded slowly before glancing around the bedroom, the faintest smile curling his lips.
“We will need a bigger home.” He laughed, and for a heartbeat, the world didn’t feel broken.
“When will our bond come?” I asked.
He tensed. I felt it immediately, the shift in him, and I held my breath as I waited for the bad news.
“The heavens spoke to me.” He looked at me then, eyes deep and solemn. “They will let us be mates, if we can snap the bond into place.”
I jerked back, disbelief cutting through my chest. “How the hell do we do that?”
He swallowed hard, hesitating like he already knew how I’d react. “I want you to cast a spell on me. The same one your mother used on your father.”
I shoved away from him instantly, the air between us crackling with tension.
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?” he asked as he stood, his voice sharp but pleading.
“Because then you’ll only love me because of a stupid spell. That spell destroyed my life until now.”
