Page 91 of Possess Me at Midnight

He scoffs. “Like hell. Until you speak vows with him, you’re mine. I won’t let you go without a fight. I love you. I believe you love me. That has to fucking mean something.”

My frustration coils up into a tangle of anger and tears I do my best to tamp down. “Ice, I’m not changing my mind. By tomorrow, I’ll be Lucan’s.”

“Don’t settle for a wizard who loves another when I would kill for you, die for you. Stay with me. Bind to me.” He tugs me against the solid heat of his body. “Let me spend our lives loving you.”

Ice said once that our love was futile, and at the moment, I completely agree. “We don’t have a lifetime.”

“What will it take to make you change your mind?” he demands.

“What I think doesn’t matter.”

“You’re wrong. I can’t stand you thinking the worst of me when it’s your love and respect I want most.”

Though my expression is collected if not calm, his words shatter me into a million cold, black pieces. How badly I want to believe that he loves me, to throw duty and caution to the wind, and Bind to him.

As I become a part of you, you become a part of me. I will be honest, good, and true…

I don’t dare. Ice himself gave me the tools with which to end this discussion. Now I have to be strong enough to use them.

“If my opinion matters so much, then release me to do what must be done. Let me go to Lucan. If you do, I’ll know your true feelings.” I try to hold myself together, but the possibility that I’m throwing away my only chance with the wizard I love tears me apart. Tears scald my eyes. “A-and I swear that, no matter how long I am mated to L-Lucan, I will love you.”

Chapter

Thirty-Two

Ice

* * *

Sabelle’s words and tears stab my heart until it bleeds. Let her go? Never hold or touch her again? Watch my princess mate with a wizard who neither loves nor appreciates her?

That will be the hardest fucking thing I’ve ever done.

I press my lips together. Her sense of fairness and purpose are some of what I love most about her, but this self-sacrifice for the greater good? I hate it, even as my admiration for her grows.

“Princess…”

“Don’t make this harder. Please.” More tears run down her cheeks. I’m humbled that she would bother crying for me, yet I hate to see her sob. Before I can brush the hot drops from her cheeks, she swipes an angry hand across her face.

Damn Bram for putting Sabelle in this position.

“Will you do that for me?” she whispers.

Honestly, I’m not certain I can. Having her believe the worst of me shreds my guts, yet the thought of never holding her again—and knowing that MacTavish will—is every bit as painful.

Either way, I lose her. I could continue to fight like hell…but that only serves to make me look either more bent on revenge or so self-centered that she’ll lose all respect for me. Bugger!

An ominous gonging interrupts me.

Shit. That’s Bram’s magical calling card. I don’t need the wanker here…

“How did my brother find us so quickly?”

Because he’s never forgotten where I live.

With a thick curse and dread multiplying, I flick my wrist and open the magical barriers around my place. Bram barrels inside moments later, fury wrapped around him like a force field. His signature is fractured, muddled with the remnants of Mathias’s spell. Something isn’t right with my former friend…

I’m beginning to wonder if he’s suffering from some form of demonic possession. At the moment, I hope so. That will give me a reason other than fury to separate Bram’s body from his head and end Sabelle’s responsibility to him.