“Teddy, are you okay?”
My neck snaps as my gaze turns to the bed to find Ivy with her eyelids at half-mast and concern crinkling the corners of her eyes.
“Fuck him, we're here for you,” Baron snaps as Ivy tries to slip from the bed, but Archer crowds her, placing his hands on either side of her body as he tries to pin the sheets around her. I take the hint and hurry toward her the best I can, and as soon as I'm within arm’s reach, she brushes a hand across my cheek.
“Your face. She hit you again.” Her palm against my skin is hotter than any slap, punch, or shoulder barge at this stage, and I bask in it, even when I know I shouldn’t.
“Don't worry about it, Princess. What happened to you? I'm so sorry.”
Her hand moves to my lips. “This isn't your fault,” she interjects, and I shake my head.
“Yes, it is,” Baron interjects, and Ivy glares over my shoulder at him.
“He made whatever decision was necessary to keep me safe, even if it meant hurting himself in the process,” she snaps, her touch against my cheek growing warmer.
“I’m sorry, Ivy, I?—”
“I forgive you. Whatever you think this is, I forgive you. Will that make you extinguish your guilt?” she presses, and I can't help but smile at her as I shake my head in disbelief, still confused over what is actually happening right now. “What did she want?” she asks, and I exhale.
“Can we discuss what you did instead?”
Even in her exhausted state, she cocks her brow at me.
I'm reduced to nothing under her expectant stare.
I sigh. “The same thing she wanted the last time she paid me a visit. I refused then, and I have every intention to do so again.”
“But…” she breathes, and I both love and hate how she can see the truth in me.
My heart races as I lift my gaze from my mate to lock eyes with Archer. We keep talking about how things need to change if we want to convince her that this can work. Maybe this is it. Maybe it could start now.
Clearing my throat, I stuff my hands in my pockets and address him. “She wants me to use my abilities to get you to put them in the same room,” I state, watching him stiffen as his eyes narrow.
“Who?” he grunts, and I shake my head.
“My mother. Your father,” I clarify, and he rears back in surprise.
“Why?”
I shrug, defeated, yet desperate to do whatever it takes to protect my mate. Swallowing my pride, I offer him the truth. “Power, status, wealth; everything my father can no longer give her now that he's dead.”
25
IVY
Ibask in a field of wildflowers, the air calm and breezy, tranquil as I lie among nature, staring up at the sun, bathed in light from every angle as soft petals brush against my skin. If this is what Heaven feels like, I'm not sure I'll ever want to leave.
I could lie here for eternity, like the madness I call life doesn’t exist.
In what lifetime could this have been mine?
I choose this one.
Sighing, I'm filled with contentment, the scent of pretty flowers floating around me, when a shadow blocks the sun from view. I shield my eyes to see who's there, only for my entire surroundings to shift as I wake from my dream and blink up at the presence before me.
My sheets replace the petals, my bed the grass, but at least the natural sunlight that comes through the window is the same as it was in my dream. Only now, one of my mates hovers above me.
Sax.
