Page 150 of A Courage of the Chosen

Lorna is next to me instantly, her hands hovering over me as the warmth of her healing powers pours through my body.

“What happened?” she asks.

“Tavish tried to force the Anamara bond on her.”

Lorna pauses. “I didn’t think that was even possible.”

“I’m assuming it didn’t work?” Reyne joins in, as she kneels with the rest of us.

“No,” Lorna confirms. “Her Majesty’s soul is intact.”

No one asks how he was stopped, and we don’t tell them either, but Dhia’s words hang in the air.

Callahan stands with me in his arms, and carries me into the bedroom once Lorna is satisfied it’s okay to move me. While I might have objected, my legs don’t quite function as they should right now, either from the aftermath of what Tavish just tried to do, or the shock of having Dhia appear to us and prevent it.

The healer checks me over again, Callahan hovering over her shoulder. She assures us before she leaves that there’s nothing wrong with me, and I’ll be fine once I’ve had some rest. She recommended a hot bath, to which Reyne scoffed, “I doubt Her Majesty has a problem with that.”

I flipped her off, and Callahan scowled at her in his usual fashion.

“Are you okay? And don’t give me the bullshit answer, Elsie. I want the truth,” Reyne says after Lorna has gone.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I reply quickly.

She purses her lips.

“Seriously, I’m okay, I’m not just saying that,” I add.

Reyne considers me, then perches on the foot of mine and Cal’s bed. “What happened?”

“I don’t know, I was looking out the window and it crept up on me. Then it felt like I couldn’t breathe or think around the pain of it. He was breaking me apart.”

Callahan turns his back to us, his shoulders bunching beneath his cream shirt.

“Fuck, lass. That’s . . .”

“Messed up?” I laugh. “I know.”

“I’m glad you’re okay. Do you need anything?” She rises from the bed and I tell her I’m all set.

Reyne gives me a tight hug before she makes me promise to call for her if that changes, and disappears out the door, leaving Callahan and I alone with endless questions spiraling.

The kiss he places on my lips is gentle, unlike the hard set of his jaw, and the fury he’s desperately trying to make sure I can’t sense.

I lean back into the pillows, almost pulling him with me. “Are we going to talk about it?”

“No. We’ll find another way to prevent him from doing that again. I won’t have this choice taken from you.” He fiddles with a strand of my hair and refuses to look at me fully.

The Anamara are uncommon amongst Seelie. That kind of connection is a great strength, and allows the bonded to draw on each other’s magic, but it’s also a great weakness when something happens to either one of the pair. I’ve seen the evidence of it firsthand, in the aftermath of Granny’s murder.

I catch Callahan’s wrist as he retreats, turning his head so he’s forced to meet my gaze. “Cal, he won’t stop. He’s going to keep coming for me. And there was nothing I could do to prevent that.”

“Elsie, there’s no undoing it. We’re talking about a piece of your soul, living in someone else.”

I sit taller in the bed, cupping his face in my hands. “I know, but I’d rather have a say in who that goes to. I cannot let him have any part of me.”

Remarkably, I’m at peace with all of it. If it’s a decision between allowing Tavish to forge a permanent soul bond with him, or giving a piece of me to someone else, the answer is obvious. At least to me.

His brows pitched low, eyes a hurricane as he reads all of that in my expression. “You’re okay with this, aren’t you?” Callahan slips out of my grip and heads into the bathroom. Of course he’s already filling the tub, as per the healer’s instructions.