His expression flickered with confusion.
“What the fuck is a Nyxthra?”
I froze, realizing I’d said too much. My pulse quickened.
“She is the wraith that is connected to my magic.”
Abram stood up sharply, the couch scraping against the floor. His eyes widened, the flicker of firelight catching on his irises as if searching for a lie. He moved closer and sat down beside me, his warmth brushing my arm as he grabbed my hands in his.
“Why the hell do you have a wraith attached to you? They are dangerous.”
I swallowed, feeling the tremor in my chest. “Because I am dangerous,” I admitted softly. The truth stung even now. “Sheused to feed into my strong emotions. If I were angry, she’d want me to destroy anyone or anything that hurt us. If I were happy, she wanted me to siphon the source of happiness for ourselves. And when she gets attached to someone, she wants me to take them for myself, even if they are not mine to keep.”
The fire crackled, filling the silence that stretched between us. I searched his face, waiting, hoping for understanding, and not disgust.
“Has she been attached to someone before?”
My breath hitched. “Yes.” I nodded.
He swallowed hard, his throat moving as a range of emotions crossed through his eyes—fear, curiosity, something else I couldn’t name.
“A man?”
“Yes,” I whispered, barely trusting my voice.
His thumbs rubbed the back of my hands, a grounding motion that somehow made my pulse race. His gaze lingered, unspoken questions hovering in the air between us. I knew he wanted to ask who the man was.
And I didn’t want to tell him it was him.
My wraith had been attached to Abram in such a way that she wanted me to take the threads of his soul and make them ours. So, I had no choice but to lock her away. Especially because Abram had said I was not anything he wanted, and she didn’t like that answer.
Even now, I could feel her deep in my mind, whispering that we should find Abram’s mate and kill her.
My magic was evil.
I flinched as her purr echoed through my thoughts. I pulled my hands free from Abram’s. The sudden cold where his skin had touched mine made me ache. She never fully went away, but I could control her better if I didn’t give in.
Abram hesitated, then reached out again, slower this time, cautious, as though afraid I might vanish. His fingers curled around mine once more.
“I don’t need to touch someone to see their fate,” he whispered. His voice trembled with something almost vulnerable. “But there are a few people whose fate I have never been able to see. You are one of them.” His gaze lifted from our hands to meet my eyes. “Are you blocking me?”
I shook my head, unable to look away.
“Have you ever tried to see my fate?” he asked.
I licked my lips nervously, the memory rising like a tide I couldn’t stop. I nodded.
“Once,” I confessed. “Your soul threads wouldn’t stop coming toward me, and I touched the pretty green ones.”
He tilted his head to the side, his expression unreadable.
“You touched my soul?”
I nodded again, unable to breathe.
“Did it show you anything?”
Tears burned behind my eyes. “Yes.”
