“I have never experienced such in my life. Even now, the further away from her I get, an ache is growing stronger, as if a part of me was left behind.”
“Do you think it will remain after the full moon?”
“I do not know.” Philip paused on the landing. “I think I want the reversal spell so that I will know what is true and what is not, more than to fix this wolf thing inside.”
“Do you love her?” Simon asked quietly.
“Yes. I may have begun to fall in love with her last spring, but how can I trust what is true when under a spell?”
“Then I hope for both of your sakes, that the answer is found.”
Antonia woke, as she always did since Philip started sleeping with her, alone and empty. To relieve the ache, she quickly dressed and made her way to the breakfast room where everyone else had gathered.
She no longer suffered exhaustion from emotions, but simply from reading texts until her eyes blurred too much to see.
And, while she should feel guilty, she also enjoyed the moments that she and Philip stole away from the others and walked about the grounds of Nightshade Manor.
She had shared much of herself with him, and he in turn did the same. They had laughed, worried and had serious discussions.
What she didn’t know was what was real.
She was falling in love with Philip Cardwell, Viscount Chedworth, just as she had started to do in London, but could not trust that the depth of those emotions were real. The spell bonded him, and she needed him near, but was that the only reason for the connection? When the spell was finally reversed, would this need and love disappear?
That was the reason she tried to hide her emotions and thoughts from him. When feelings of love rose within, Antonia pushed them away and concentrated on something more serious, such as the spells, so that he didn’t pick up on her emotional state.
It would not do for him to know if nothing were to come from it, though she suspected he experienced the same. She had felt it in him, but Philip also pushed it aside.
They were both being equally cautious since they had both admitted that they did not understand why or what was happening, nor had she come across an explanation or a cure.
She blew out her breath and stepped into the breakfast room. His family was gathered as they had been for the past six mornings, and when everyone was finished eating, the witches and Philip would go to the vault and the others would wait for an answer or prepare for the worst.
Last night was the first time that Philip had fully changed. He feared it was happening and had gone to the dungeon with Simon. There he stripped out of his clothing so that they weren’t ruined, gave them to his brother and then stepped into the cell, pulling the door shut behind him. Once he was back to normal, Lord Simon unlocked the cell and returned his clothing.
Antonia had seen Lord Simon after. His face had been pale and his hands shook and then he went straight above stairs. Philip followed and this prompted her to do so as well. Both brothers had gone straight to the sideboard and poured themselves a glass of brandy.
“I will find a reversal. I promise,” she had said after both had taken a sip.
“Antonia, you cannot promise something when you do not know,” Philip said.
“I will continue to try the best that I know how. I will read until the full moon if I must,” she insisted. “Sleep isn’t even that important.”
“You will rest because when you find the right spell, you will need your strength.”
That was the argument he always made, and Philip was right. But she had gotten them into this mess, and she was the one who would have to end it.
Chapter Twenty
Two days. That is all that remained. Forty-eight hours from now Philip would either change or he wouldn’t. If he changed, then he would be doing so for the rest of his life.
He sat on the bench and rested, allowing his body to recover.
Simon no longer grew pale and concerned but sat in a chair across the room from him, and watched, or sometimes read while he waited with Philip’s neatly folded clothing and boots beside him.
Was this his future?
Eventually a footman would probably take over the duty of locking him up each night, Philip supposed, but for now, it was his brother.
Then it occurred to him that the same would need to be built at his family home because he couldn’t remain at Nightshade Manor. And, what about travel? Would he be able to travel to London and would another cage need to be built in their London home, as well as one that would be pulled behind a carriage when he needed to travel overnight? His family would help him see that it was accomplished, but it would be an inconvenience.
