“I do not know. But I am glad that it is not only me.”
“The spell, perhaps?”
“I am not certain, but it wasn’t this strong until in the garden last night.”
There had been something, an underlying connection since London. She had experienced a calmness near him, and he had been drawn to her without reason. But once they were in the circle, and held hands, they became attached. One instead of two.
“Magical bind?”
“Possibly, but I do not know why.” She looked up into his eyes. “Do you wish me to find a way to break it?”
“Perhaps after we’ve reversed the other spell. The one that makes me hairy.”
Her chuckle was light. “But if it is not broken, it will be impossible to rest without you near.”
“Then we shall rest together as it is the same for me.”
Her blue eyes widened. “We cannot. It is unseemly. What will…”
Philip placed a finger against her lips. “We will explain if anyone learns.”
She blinked at him.
“Just for now. We are both exhausted and perhaps when we are reading the journals later, we will come across something for this, whatever it is, but we will both be useless in our pursuit of a proper spell if we do not sleep.”
Antonia blew out a sigh then stepped back into her chamber, not letting go of his hand. And he followed.
She only let go long enough to crawl into her bed and pulled the cover up to her chin.
Philip was not a stranger to being in the bedchamber of a woman, yet this was the first time that desire wasn’t the reason. Though, if he hadn’t been so exhausted, Philip had no doubt that desire would be the reigning need within him. Instead, it was to be whole and with that, he crawled onto the bed, above the covers then rolled, putting his back to hers, though they still touched.
It helped some, but not enough.
Antonia withdrew her arm from beneath the coverlet and rested it along her side.
Philip reached for her hand and twined his fingers with hers and in that moment, his mind calmed, his emptiness filled, and he recalled nothing else until someone gently shook his shoulder. He opened his eyes to find his mother hovering.
It took him a moment to realize where he was. Antonia was still at his back, and they were still holding hands.
His fate and future had just been sealed.
Antonia woke suddenly, an emptiness filled her, and she could not understand why.
Yet, she felt rested. More so than ever before.
Sunlight streamed through the window, and she jumped from the bed, alarmed that she had slept so late.
It had been morning when she finally found her slumber, but now she feared that it was afternoon.
After quickly changing into a dress and fixing her hair, Antonia left her chamber, anxious to return to the vault.
There were now three spells, or at least answers that she was looking for: first, the original to mask the emotions of others. Not totally, but enough so that she was not so overwhelmed; the second, and most important, to find a way to reverse the wolf spell; and third, to determine why she and Chedworth suffered from the need to be near the other—touching.
When he had joined her in bed last night, an ease and comfort settled within her. Then, when he took her hand, peace filled her soul and that is the last Antonia remembered before waking. She had not even dreamed. She nearly always dreamed.
When Antonia entered the breakfast room, her friends were seated, which meant that she was not the only one who had slept late. And Chedworth was filling his plate from the sideboard. The food was a mixture of breakfast items and luncheon. It was likely Cook wasn’t certain what to prepare given the odd hours that they’d all slept.
If anyone knew that he had slumbered in her chamber, she would be ruined beyond repair even though it had been quite innocent.
