Chapter 160

Agnes

“Because I love you.”

The words hung in the air between us, simple and profound all at once. I stared up at Elijah, my mind struggling to process what I’d just heard.

He… loves me?

My heart seemed to expand in my chest, swelling with an unexpected emotion that I could barely contain. The fog from whatever Mason had drugged me with was still clearing, but Elijah’s words cut through it like sunlight through mist.

“You… love me?” I whispered, hardly daring to believe it. It had to have been a hallucination, a machination of the drug. I had to be dreaming.

But when I flexed my fingers into his biceps, I met nothing but solid muscle and fabric. When I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again, he was still there, gazing down at me, although his face swam slightly above mine as the drug took hold of me.

“Yes,” Elijah said, his eyes locked onto mine. “I love you, Agnes. I love you.” He pressed his lips to my forehead, my cheeks, the corner of my mouth, punctuating each kiss with another declaration. “I love you. I have for so long. I love you.”

Each repetition made the words more real, more solid. My throat tightened, tears blurring my vision. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t find the right words to express the hurricane of feelings inside of me. He loved me.

“But Olivia…” I finally managed, the name tasting bitter on my tongue.

Elijah’s expression hardened, although his hands remained gentle as they cradled my face. “Olivia is going to get exactly what she deserves,” he said softly. “I’m done tiptoeing around, always hiding how I feel about you for fear of what she might do.”

As he spoke, he helped me to my feet, steadying me when I swayed slightly, the room still spinning at the edges of my vision. Whatever Mason had given me was still working its way through my system. An aphrodisiac, I realized. One that was pooling warm honey in my low belly, intensifying whenever I looked at Elijah. Right now, I was caught between passing out and climbing on top of him. Maybe both at the same time.

“I’d hoped to unmark her before tonight,” Elijah went on, guiding me to sit on the edge of the bed. The rose petals were crushed now, scattered across the rumpled bedspread. “I tried to find a safe way to do it. But then the witch died, and someone stole the spellbook…”

“So tonight was…” I trailed off, the pieces beginning to fall into place in my sluggish mind.

“I couldn’t wait any longer,” Elijah said, kneeling in front of me and taking my hands in his. “I love you, Agnes. I want to marry you—not just on paper, not just for Thea’s sake, but for real. In all the ways that matter.”

I stared down at him, stunned. The elaborate party. The gown that had taken me weeks to perfect. The matching dress for Thea. Elijah’s custom suit that I’d labored over in secret.

All of the strange looks from the other guests. The cryptic comments. The knowing smiles. Everyone congratulating me on my ‘special day.’

The bedroom we were sitting in now, with its heart-shaped bed, the flower petals and candles—ruined from the fight, but unmistakably romantic.

It hadn’t been a gala at all.

It had been our wedding.

“This whole time,” I breathed, looking around the room with new eyes. “You were planning our wedding?”

Elijah nodded, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. “I wanted it to be a surprise. I wanted to see your face when you realized what was happening.”

“But Olivia showed up…”

“That wasn’t part of the plan,” he said grimly. “She must have found out somehow. Or guessed. But she won’t interfere again. I promise you that.”

I believed him. The determination in his eyes, the set of his jaw—Elijah wasn’t going to let Olivia come between us anymore. Whatever power she’d held over him through the mate bond, he was breaking free of it.

For me.

For us.

“Open your locket,” he said softly, reaching out to touch the gold pendant resting against my skin in the window of my bodice.

With trembling fingers—shaking partly from the aphrodisiac still coursing through my veins and partly from nerves—I fumbled with the clasp. It took three tries before the little door swung open.

A delicate silver ring tumbled out, landing in my palm. It caught the light from the few remaining candles, the small diamonds surrounding a milky moonstone glittering like stars.

“I had it made months ago,” Elijah said, gently taking the ring from my palm. “I’ve been planning this ever since…” He hesitated, a shadow crossing his face. “Ever since I realized I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you. Not to Mason, not to Olivia’s manipulations, not to anything.”

My eyes filled with tears again as I stared at the ring. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered.

“I wanted to do this properly,” Elijah continued. “We’re married on paper, I know. But that was just a contract at first, an arrangement for Thea’s benefit. Somewhere along the way, it became real for me. I realized I need you too, Agnes. Just as much as Thea does.”

He took my left hand, his thumb brushing across my knuckles. “We’re a family now. A real family, in all the ways that matter. And I wanted you to be certain that I love you. Truly love you. And I never intend to leave you.”

The tears spilled over, running hot down my cheeks as Elijah slid the ring onto my finger. It fit perfectly, as if it had always been meant to be there.

“I don’t have a ring for you,” I said, my voice catching on a half-laugh-half-sob.

Elijah smiled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a simple silver band. “I thought of everything,” he said, placing it in my palm. “Including this.”

I took the ring with still-trembling fingers, overwhelmed but elated. As I slipped the band onto Elijah’s finger, I felt a sense of rightness settle over me. This was where I belonged. With him. With our family.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, looking around at the destruction. The overturned tables, the scattered candles, the petals crushed into the carpet. “I ruined everything. The wedding, the party—”

“No,” Elijah cut me off, his hands coming up to cup my face. “You didn’t ruin anything. This wasn’t your fault. Mason drugged you, manipulated you.”

“But the wedding—”

“Isn’t ruined,” he insisted. “So long as you’re happy, so long as you know how much I love you, that’s all that matters. The rest is just… details.”

I looked into his eyes, saw the sincerity there, the depth of feeling that couldn’t be faked. He truly meant it. The ceremony, the party, the elaborate decorations—none of it mattered to him as much as the simple fact that we were together. That we loved each other.

“I… I love you too,” I whispered, the words coming easily now, naturally. “I have for so long, I just… I was afraid to admit it. Afraid you’d never feel the same way.”

“I do,” Elijah murmured, leaning closer until his forehead rested against mine. “More than I ever thought possible.”

Joy bubbled up inside of me then, rising like the tiny bubbles in the champagne, mixing with the aphrodisiac still swimming in my blood. I felt lighter than air, dizzy with happiness and desire. Elijah loved me. He’d planned a wedding for us. He’d chosen me, over Olivia, over the mate bond, over everything.

Tears of joy streamed down my face, and I couldn’t hold back anymore. The combination of overwhelming emotion and the aphrodisiac Mason had given me coursed through my system, breaking down the last of my inhibitions.

I threw my arms around Elijah’s neck, claiming his mouth with mine in a kiss that was all fire and need and love. He responded instantly, his arms wrapping around my waist, holding me against him like he’d never let go.

But the force of my embrace caught him off guard, and we tumbled backwards onto the bed in a tangle of champagne silk skirts.