“I waited lifetimes to be with you again, my fire,” Darcraxis said softly. “This is nothing. I will remain yours until you remember that you're mine.”
Verin let out a shaky breath. He met my worried stare and nodded. The first step is the hardest.
“Thank you,” I said to the other men. “I know it's a lot to ask and as much as I must seem cruel to you, I'm trying not to be. I haven't forgotten loving you—this isn't a case of remembering. I simply don't feel the same anymore. Maybe it's the spell that took away that love or maybe I just changed. I don't know. A lot has happened in a short period and I feel as if I've only had time to react, not process. I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you.”
“We understand, little bird,” Torin said gently. “All of us are familiar with magic; we know what a spell can do. Even the stoutest of hearts can be affected.”
I let out a weary sigh. “I know what a spell can do too. I know that it influenced both Verin and me and may have even suppressed what I feel for all of you. Iknowthat. But I've lived with its influence for three months now. I know what the spell feels like. Yes, it pushed Verin and me together and compelled us to act in ways we normally wouldn't have, but something real grew within that illusion. We truly connected and I'm absolutely certain that what I feel for him now is real.”
“I feel the same,” Verin declared. “I admit that I didn't want this but my heart was becoming hers before the spell was cast. All it did was clear the way for us to fall in love. This isn't magic anymore.”
“Then it won't matter if we break the spell,” Declan said firmly.
“No, it won't,” Verin vowed, his voice strong, deep, and unyielding. “If it will assuage your anger, we will consent to any effort you make toward breaking the spell.” Verin looked at me for confirmation.
I nodded. “We will.”
The other men stared at Verin, then at each other. Among themselves, the look they shared was slightly irritated but deeply satisfied. It was obvious that they thought that once the love spell was broken, everything would return to the way it was before.
“You are confident that I will love you again when the spell is broken and that could happen,” I said to them. “But what if we're right too? What if we break the spell and I still love Verin?”
“What do you mean?” Torin narrowed his eyes at me.
“Verin and I are willing to help you find a way to break the love spell. We're willing to submit to anything necessary to accomplish it. In return, will you promise us that if we're right and what we feel is real, you'll accept our relationship? That you'll accepthim? And that if I don't love you, you won't demand any intimacies from me until my love returns?”
Gage started to growl but Banning put a hand on Gage's thick bicep and shook his head in warning. Gage's expression twitched but he settled.
“It's merely what I was promised in the beginning,” Verin reminded them. “Elaria swore to me that if the spell wore off and we were still in love, I'd be accepted into your family.”
Torin sighed before speaking. “That was Elaria's promise, not ours, but we did agree to it after the fact. I think it's only fair to expect us to honor it.”
Verin grunted in approval.
“But we didn't say that you could have her all to yourself,” Torin added.
Verin's eye twitched. “I understand that I must share Elaria—if not with you, then with others—but I won't stand by and watch any of you force yourselves on her if she doesn't want to be with you.”
“Watch yourself, Dragon,” Slate snarled. “We've loved her for far longer than you have and none of us would ever hurt her, especially not like that.”
“Then prove it,” Verin snarled back. “Agree to her bargain. We help you and willingly do whatever needs to be done to break this spell. If you're right and the spell is all we have, I walk away and you get her back. But if we're right and she loves only me, you honor your bond to keep her alive but you don't touch her until she loves you again.”
Gage started forward, but Banning caught him before he reached Verin.
“What's the problem?” Verin asked scathingly. “I only ask that you wait until she wants you. Surely you don't wish to be with her otherwise? That would be rape.”
Gage roared furiously.
“You said that we couldn'ttouch heruntil she loved us again. That's vague and limiting,” Torin spoke calmly over Gage's outburst. “You don't have to love someone to make love to them. We would never force Elaria to do anything, but we do want the right to seduce her. It could be integral to regaining her love.”
“You think that if you pleasure her, she'll love you again?” Verin asked derisively.
“I'm going to tear his—” Gage started to threaten, but Banning grabbed his arm again and shook him violently.
It was a testament to Banning's strength that he did so easily and a testament to their friendship that Gage allowed it.
“We're not simpletons,” Darcraxis said in a matching tone. “We know that sex isn't love, but this is an unusual situation. Sex might indeed break through the walls erected around Elaria's emotions and you want us to promise not to use that tool. We cannot do that.”
Verin's jaw clenched and he looked at me. I stroked his cheek before I turned back to the other men.
