Page 127 of Enchanted

He was death incarnate.

A choked sob left me as I finally allowed myself to feel the fear I’d been fighting to keep at bay.

“It’s going to be okay, Eth,” he said softly, his eyes on my face. “Trust me.”

“Easy to be confident when you still think you’re in control,” Damien said. With a blink of my eye, he was behind me. I hissed as something cold and sharp pressed against my neck. “But it doesn’t matter how outnumbered I am when I have the one thing you’re not prepared to lose.”

Micah came to stand beside Rami, fury rolling off him in almost palpable waves. “Make no mistake, Damien, your existence ends today.”

Damien tutted. “Really, Micah, you’d think you’d know better. You’re supposed to tell me this after you’ve saved Ethan. Now, you’ve got nothing to barter with.”

Micah gave Damien a condescending smile. “Please. Let’s not pretend with each other. We all know how this will end.”

“With three of us dead? Because that’s how I see it. One wrong word, and I’ll end Ethan’s life, taking Rami’s with it.”

I sucked in a breath. No, that wouldn’t happen. It couldn’t.

I widened my eyes at Rami, silently begging him to deny it.

But he didn’t.

“Ah, I see that’s another thing you were keeping from poor Ethan here,” Damien mused. “So many lies, Ramiel. Hardly in keeping with your angelic nature.”

“You know nothing about me,” Rami ground out. “But the first thing you should know is that everything I’ve done since meeting Ethan has been to guarantee his safety and happiness. You can’t say the same.”

I knew he was speaking the truth. He might’ve kept me in the dark, but he’d had his reasons.

Whatever they’d been, my well-being had been at the core of them.

“Be that as it may, you marked him but didn’t bond him. All you’ve done, Rami, is ensured that your death will happen at the same time as his.”

Another sob tried to choke its way out of me, rasping oddly against the pressure on my throat.

Rami’s eyes turned to ice as he looked at Damien. “I’m going to take you apart bone by bone for scaring my mate.”

“All these threats.” Damien sighed, pressing the blade more firmly against my throat. Pain seared through me as blood dripped steadily down my neck. “It almost makes me want to take my time, but alas, you’re forcing my hand.”

I whimpered as more pain lashed through me. Rami took an aborted step forwards, more lightning cracking around his knuckles. His eyes were wide as his throat bobbed. “Please. I’ll do anything.”

Just then, something odd happened.

I could see Rami’s mouth moving. Could sense words travelling over my head, but I couldn’t hear anything. It was as though the sound had been turned off.

Then, there was a voice. It rang inside my mind, almost deafening me. “Say these words—I accept the bond.”

Quill?

He spoke again, and somehow, I knew I was the only one hearing him. “Say it now, Ethan. You’ve got this. I accept the bond.”

His voice faded away and the sounds of the warehouse came screaming back in. Damien was taunting Rami, lightning now cracking all around the warehouse. “Do you think you’ll get a shot off before his life leaves him? Let’s see, shall we?”

The blade shifted, and I knew this was it. The moment my life ended.

Gathering up all my courage, I blurted out the words Quill had given me. “I accept the bond.”

Pain seared the front of my throat, and this time, it was white light that greeted me.

White light and silence.