Page 75 of Elysian

He went rigid. I could not read his expression. Meanwhile, my heart thrummed with the speed of Abrax’s gallop. My hand holding the effigy trembled.

A thundercloud worked over his brow. He burst forward with movements so quick that my heart dropped, stopping my capability to breathe. I flinched back until my bottom hit the edge of the desk. I squinted to find him staring, stunned.

The hard line of his shoulders softened.

“You need not fear me.” His voice was a whispered plea that forced my toes into a curl. Tension drew his words tight.

“I-I know.” I dropped my gaze. Heat crept up my neck and warmed my cheeks. I still held the leathery effigy. Using it as a threat felt profoundly wrong.

I caught my lower lip between my teeth. Threatening someone’s vulnerability was beneath me. I lifted the effigy toward him.

“You should find a way to destroy this.”

I still avoided looking him in the face. Shame bent my shoulders. Hatred was not in my nature. I understood what Cassiel had done for me. He had not deserved my threat.

Cassiel clasped my chin and tugged up until I was staring at his face. There was no anger or reproach. “You are free to threaten me with it as you please.” His thumb rubbed my cheek. “I will win your favor. You will not be able to escape me, my Amara,” he murmured, and his tone was nearly tender.

It was a truth I had already accepted. He was my wraithling, there was no getting rid of him. Even so, I did not believe he would leave.

If only Piper were here to calm me down. She always had the best advice, managing to see events from other perspectives.

“If we manage to end this madness caused by the council . . . we can have an arrangement of sorts.”

He scowled.

“One of convenience,” I added. “A marriage of convenience. We will reside in the same home, but with separate lives. The grimoire states that redblood urges rouse once in an annum, which make it wholly possible⁠—”

His thumb pressed against my lips. “No.”

My look sharpened.

“I must fetch you food from the nearby village. I may be gone until nightfall.”

“I should go, you are much too recognizable,” I said stiffly. Though there was no use continuing the argument. There was no point. He would barrel his way through any of my reasons in typical Lord Cassiel Draven manner.

“You will not be placed in danger. I will be sure to remain out of sight. Do not leave the estate,” he warned.

He strode away before I could utter another word.

Oaf.

I scowled at his retreating form, his loud steps echoing.

A bath sounded rather perfect whilst he was absent . . . and perhaps a nap.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Abrax Lesson

“There is no need for this,” I huffed. Still, Cassiel did not release my arm as he toted me through the foyer and out of the front entrance.

“Eat your fruit,” he said instead.

He returned the dawnlight after he left, and he had come straight to wake me from a deep sleep.

I begrudgingly finished the final bites of the banana he had provided. Cassiel had a pointedly slower pace. It was nice not to have to struggle to follow him. Especially with my uneven gait.

We rounded to the left of the estate, Cassiel cutting a swathe through the wheat overgrown near the home until we reached a spot cleared of debris and wheat. Flattened stones spread across the expanse, and near the side was a well. Abrax stood loosely tied to the side of it.