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“Ye need ta go ’ome, Ottavia,” I said, watching as she paused in the middle of grabbing her book.
“What did you say?” She stood up, brows dipped as her golden eyes flicked over me. “I swear you just said I needed to go home.”
I stood from the couch, my feet stopping in front of her. My thumb rubbed along the bottom of her lip, tugging it down with the weight of it. “Yer goin’ home, love.”
I felt it through our bond—a bright flash of surprise with a burst of happiness, followed by a hint of something dark and aching, akin to grief. It stung more than it should have, knowing that the dread of leaving wasn’t at the forefront of her thoughts but her last.
The scowl on her face remained, despite me knowing she wasn’t wholly displeased. “Why? Why are you sending me home?” I felt that anger rising, nearly tasted it as she smacked my hand away. “You keep me here for who knows how long, create a bond with me, and then just ship me off home like—like some kind of used doll?”
“Do ye ever listen?” I stepped closer to her, my breath ruffling the air around her face. “Someone is killin’ yer family, lass. Ye need ta figure out who befer it's too late.”
She sneered up at me, the warm scent of her skin mixed with mine, wafting up toward my nose.I’d miss that when she was gone.The thought crept into my mind unbidden, making my fists clench at my sides.The next time I smelled her, she’d wreak of dog.
“Why do you care? You hate my father and the werewolves. Wouldn’t youwantthem dead?” she questioned, her chest rising and falling in rapid breaths spurred by the turmoil warring in her chest.
My palms clasped her biceps, lightly shaking her. “Feck it all, woman, are ye really too damn stubborn ta take freedom when ’tis offered?”
Indecision warred in her gaze. I could tell she was wary of me and my motives, but the urge to be free tugged at her desire to no longer be a prisoner.
If only it worked that way.
Truthfully I wasn’t offering her freedom, it was servitude masqueraded as free will. She was leaving one gilded cage for another, one that was far more dangerous than she could ever imagine. At her silence, one of my hands slid to her wrist, tugging her with me. She protested, but I Ignored her, pulling her along behind me as I made my way to the front of the house. My chest grew heavy with each step that brought us closer to the door, my beast waking up.
I shoved it back down.
The front door flew open in a banging crash, smashing into the wall, the snake doorstop swaying. Jerking Ottavia forward, I pushed her to stand in front of me, her back pressed to my chest as I hovered near her ear. “Freedom is one step away, love. Ye goin’ ta take it?”
She shuddered, her profile tilted my way as she gazed up at my face. “We’re bonded,” she stated matter-of-factly, her throat bobbing with her hard swallow. “What will happen if I don’t return?”
She will be returning.
She didn’t have an option.
A low, humorless chuckle vibrated from my chest. “Go, Ottavia.” I gave her a light push and her feet shuffled over the door’s threshold. I forced myself to take a step backward, hands fisted at my sides. “There is a car waitin’ fer ye already. It’ll get ye home.”
Her honey gaze flickered between me and the car, her heart running in her rib cage as she scrambled to make a decision. “I don’t trust you,” she finally said, chest rising and falling rapidly. “But I have to save my father, so I’m leaving.”
My teeth clenched. It was what I wanted, but it didn’tfeelright. I didn’t let her feel that, though. Instead, I replied, “Good. Try na ta die, princess. I’d be included ta rip them all apart wit’ me bare hands if ye did.”
An amused snort worked through her nose. “Now how am I supposed to leave when you say such romantic things?”
“Go, Ottavia.” Her smile faded at my command. I didn’t compel her, but she did as I instructed, wordlessly spinning to trot down the stone steps toward the car that waited for her.
I shut the door before she got inside and left, barely securing my mental wall as the beast came bursting through the forefront of my mind. I spun away from the door to prevent myself from breaking it down, my hand lashing out at a decorative vase instead. The pieces scattered and crashed along the floor as I roared, my fangs bared, the beast demanding we stopped Ottavia.
The sound of steps drew my attention, Declan’s face coming into view as he entered the room. His lips pursed at the sight of me, jaw ticked. “’Tis was yer brilliant idea, remember?”
Before I realized what I was doing, my hand was grabbing the collar of his shirt, hoisting him up to my face as I hissed at him, my fangs dripping with spittle like a ghoul’s. He hissed back, but not in challenge, just enough of a warning that I was able to gain a little control over myself. With a hard jerk, I threw him to the side, his back smashing into the wall and knocking down some paintings as he fell.I’d apologize later,I thought, my hand gripping tightly around the stair banister as I made my way to my room.
Declan was right, though.This was my idea.
And it was a good one.
I just needed a day or two to convince the beast that.
Ottavia
Chapter Twenty-Eight
