Page 47 of Unseen

I wanted to turn to him and beg him not to do it.

I wanted to slap him, or smash a vase over his head.

I wanted to scream or cry or run from the house, so humiliated was I that my husband was sitting beside me and honestly considering whether or not to trade me for my younger cousin.

My fertile cousin. The cousin that had good teeth and a fruitful womb which would deliver him a child by next Christmas.

But I sat stock still, accepting my fate. Just as I had always done.

I had no power here. Whatever Azriel decided, I would accept it. Even though I could feel my heart breaking. Perhaps I did truly love him. Only now I had realised it too late.

“And of course, in return for your lovely daughter, I would continue the upkeep of your estates, is that right?” Azriel asked.

Adelaide dipped her head. “If you would see fit to continue your connection to our family, we would of course be most grateful for your generosity.”

“I am sure you would.”

I turned away from him and clenched my eyes shut. He was going to accept.

At that moment, Adelaide shrieked, and something smashed loudly. I tore my eyes open, looking back to see Adelaide sprawled on the floor, her chair tipped over and caught beneath her skirts, her legs flailing in the air as she squawked and gulped.

Azriel stood beside me, eyes wide with rage and fists balled at his sides, the vase he had hurled across the room lying in a thousand pieces on the floor.

“You vile, hateful, conniving, greedy bitch!” His lips were pulled back, baring his teeth, and his shoulders quivered with rage. “How dare you! How dare you come into my house and insult my wife! My family! My blood!”

“You bastard!” Adelaide shrieked, trying to right herself, scrambling along the floor in a flurry of petticoats. “You uncouth bastard! You have no idea what you have done!”

“You privileged old cow!” Azriel’s blue eyes promised violence as he pointed his finger at Adelaide’s prone form.

“You dare come here, and make obscene proposals to me, speaking of being my better, then begging for my money? The money that feeds and houses your useless family while you all clamour to protect your name?”

“I-I only meant, oh goodness, I only meant…” Adelaide scrambled and struggled to sit, pulling herself up on the sofa. “You must see that this union is doomed! She is spoiled goods! She is-” Adelaide broke off with a yelp as Azriel took a step towards her.

My arm shot out, and without even thinking, I took hold of him, getting to my feet as I pulled him back to me. “Azriel, stop. It is enough.”

“If she insults you one more time, I will not be held responsible for my actions,” Azriel growled, his eyes still fixed on the wide-eyed woman before him. “She has precisely two minutes to leave this house.”

I straightened my back, linking my arm through Azriel’s, and looked down my nose at my aunt, who appeared to me now so simpering and pathetic. “My husband has requested that you leave us.”

“B-but Evangeline!” She staggered to her feet, her bonnet askew. “This cannot continue! It simply cannot be!”

“If you and your family wish to have a roof over your heads this Christmastide, I would advise you to shut your damned mouth, woman.” Azriel exhaled through gritted teeth.

“I am not above tossing you all out onto the street and setting fire to that disintegrating chateau while the old man fucking watches.”

Adelaide gasped, her face blanching as she stumbled across the room. “You are the devil, Azriel Caine!”

“Aye, I am the devil, and come here again, I will set hellfire on all of you!” He shouted after her retreating figure, his shoulders heaving with rage. The door slammed shut behind Aunt Adelaide, her wails and protests fading as she fled Linmere for the safety of her carriage.

“That was rather something, wasn’t it?” I breathed, before my legs gave out underneath me and the room began to spin.

“Evie? Oh my god, Evie?” Azriel scooped me up in his arms, depositing me gently on the sofa, his face the picture of concern as I gazed at him through the black spots that danced in my vision. “Beloved, are you well?”

I sucked in three shaky breaths, and nodded. “I am, I just… I was… I was sure…” I clasped his hand to my chest as tears bit at my eyes. “For one awful moment there, I was sure you were going to cast me off.”

Azriel’s jaw ticked, and he shook his head. “You are a little fool, Evie.”

“I just… I suppose…. I could almost understand it.” I gulped back a sob. “I could see why you would prefer a wife like Marguerite. It…. It made sense to me, just for a moment.”

“There is no universe where such a decision would make any sense to me,” Azriel said with such assuredness that my heart stopped aching, just a little. “I thought I had made that rather clear.”

“You have, I just…” I trailed off, trying desperately to find the words to describe exactly what I had been feeling. “This morning, when I began to bleed, I was so… frightened. In a way I never had been before.”

“Yes, I know.” Azriel crooked an eyebrow. “But I told you then, that I care not if you bear me a child. One child, ten children, no children, it makes no difference to me.”

“But Azriel, what if-”

“Evie, you have no duty to me to fulfil.” He frowned, taking my hand in both of his. “Do you hear me? No duty. Nothing. You owe me nothing. Not after the way I have treated you. After the things I did, because heaven help me I was a wretched beast, I expect nothing from you. Do you understand me?”

“But I want to give things to you.”

“And you do. You will.” He kissed my forehead, and I sighed. “You give me everything I could have dreamed of, and more besides. And unlike your awful family, I do not see you in terms of what you may give me, but rather what I can spend a lifetime giving you.”

My vision cleared, and I smiled at him, my handsome husband. “And what do you intend on giving me?”

“Pleasure,” he said with a grin. “The world. I shall take you to every country you desire, beloved.”

“Really?”

He nodded, and stroked my cheek. “Whatever your heart longs for, I shall give it to you.”

“And my family?”

His gaze darkened again. “Only for the love I bear you, shall I show them mercy. But my patience has its limits. If they try something of the sort again, there shall be trouble.”

“I do not think Adelaide shall test you again after you hurled the crystal at her.”

Azriel laughed. “The old bag certainly was a mess on the floor.”

I laughed too, and took his face in my hands. “You are the only person who has ever fought for me, do you know that?”

“And I am honoured to do so.” He turned his head to clutch my hand to his mouth, and kissed my palm. “I would kill for you, Evie. Again and again, if I needed to.”

I could not have known then what weight those words would carry.