He held out his arms. “Hold hands. All of us.”
“Really?” Pierce asked.
“Yes. They do, so we will.”
He knew one of them rolled their eyes, because he could feel it. Maybe some of Antonia’s empathic powers had stayed with him.
Philip blew out a breath and stared up at the darkening sky. The moon was starting to rise, and the familiar panic began to grow.
He pushed it aside and concentrated on what must be done.
“Goddess Gaia. I am not a witch, but the son of one who worships you. I give you this gift of grains and fruits and thank you for the bounty that you provide to our land and home.”
Now what?
“A foolish woman, one who holds my heart, has offered a sacrifice on my behalf. I wish for you to reject her. I will not have Lady Antonia punished or suffer for my foolishness. Please return to her whatever you may have taken, and if necessary, I am willing to sacrifice my human life and become a wolf. It is all I can offer to you because the only thing that matters is that Lady Antonia does not suffer because of me.”
He kept looking at the sky, but nothing happened though Philip wasn’t certain if anything would happen. He then glanced down to Amcaster and his family. They were staring at him.
Philip let go of their hands. “What?”
“You would give up everything for her?”
“Yes. It is only right.”
“You do realize that what you are feeling for her, this love and connection, is because of a spell. What if it isn’t even real. What if it ceases to exist at midnight? You may have sacrificed everything for nothing,” Damon said.
“You would have given everything for a woman who may not have been your mate,” Orion added.
Philip knew all this, and he had been cautioning himself since this all began that his love for Antonia might not be real, but that did not matter. “No woman should have to suffer because I went into a garden and did not alert her to my presence when I should have known better.”
Simon stood and stretched. “Shall we return inside?”
“No,” Philip said. “I would rather remain here, under the bright sky.”
“Then we should have brought brandy,” Damon grumbled.
“Nobody is stopping you from getting it,” Philip retorted.
His cousins shared a look and a moment later Damon was leaving, only to return with a full bottle and six glasses.
After he had poured and handed out the glasses, Philip raised his in a toast. “Thank you, my friend,” he nodded to Amcaster. “And family. This may be my last night as a human and I am glad that I am sharing it with you.”
Panic struck in his breast and his heart squeezed at those words, and Philip was truly frightened that he had made a bad situation much worse, but he had no other choice. He could not have allowed Antonia to give up her gifts, or very life, for him. He could not have lived with himself.
“Simon, do you remember the shackles in the cells?”
“Yes.”
“Get them. If I am to change tonight, and for good, I want to do it out here, under the full moon. It might be the last time I am able to be outside.”
When he returned, Simon brought their younger brothers, Lysander and Stefanos. It may take all of them to restrain him, but at least he had his family this last night under the stars.
Antonia paced in the parlor, unable to sit or relax.
None of the gentlemen were around and according to a footman, Lord Bentford had taken a bottle of brandy and several glasses and had gone off to either the orchard, garden or even the forest to await the moon.
Philip likely wished to spend this night with his family as he waited to find out his fate.
