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“That wasn’t love, it was mercy,” I argued.
His hand shot out and grabbed my neck, dragging me from the cliff and slamming me against his chest.
“Don’t you touch me,” I managed as his hand squeezed my throat, and I tried, in vain, to push him away. I stilled when I felt his blade at my bodice. The thin fabric was all that kept me from the unforgiving point.
“Listen to me, pet. I’m not here for revenge. Only James holds fast to such naïve notions. I’m here to arrange a deal. A new contract between you and me.”
“I’m not your property anymore. I’ll die before I let that happen again.”
“I can’t force you into anything. But once you see the changes I’m prepared to make, your pussy will be dripping with the thought of being mine.”
“I’m with James.” I tried to sound indignant, but the vision I’d just seen had cast a shadow of doubt over me. And the gleam in Edward’s eyes told me he saw it, too.
He chuckled. “You don’t think I know my wayward bo’sun? His heart only has room for vengeance. Aren't you tired of playing second fiddle to his vendetta?”
A lump formed in my throat. The truth of his words gutted me. “You’re one to talk. I was always second to your quest for the ruby.”
“I’m not denying that. But you’ve got the ruby now, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, lifting my chin in my best effort to convince him of my bluff.
“Don’t lie to me! I can feel the power radiating off you.”
I pulled the ruby from my pocket and thrust my hand out over the cliff. “I’ll drop it,” I challenged.
“You won’t drop it. You know how important it is. I know you’re searching for answers. For once in your life, you’re questioning your visions.”
“You can’t know that.”
“For a woman who can see the future, the only reason you’d choose to end this life is if you saw something you couldn’t live with. But there may be another way. Let me help you, and then you can decide which path to follow.”
“Where are you taking me?” I asked, failing miserably to keep the irritation out of my voice.
“To see an old friend,” Edward said. He’d been suspiciously quiet as he led me deeper inland. Luring me to follow him with promises that he could give me answers. And yet he remained annoyingly silent. I was beginning to wonder if I’d made a mistake. I hadn’t been in my right mind, and the initial shock of his resurrection from the dead compelled me to follow. But the longer I followed him, the more my rational brain questioned the choices I was making.
Edward was relentless, pushing on through the night, the two of us absconding in the darkness. The monotony of pace and Edward’s perpetual silence had my mind wandering to James. What would happen when he slept off the rum? What would he do when he realized I was gone? The vindictive side of me hoped my absence would crush him. Bring him to the realization that he’d truly fucked up. I wanted him to feel the same pain that had taken up permanent residence in my heart.
But the other half of me worried. Would he be in pain? Who would tend his bandages? Had he spiked a fever during the night? If my vision was to be believed, James still had a long life ahead of him, regardless of his injury. Which brought on a new layer of anxiety that pooled in my belly. What if that life no longer included me?
When the white tower of the Temple Mount rose from the canopy, it was clear what our destination was. Meadow had piqued my interest when she mentioned the place. Apparently, Edward was also aware of the great knowledge and power the temple possessed. The idea that someone here might be able to help me decipher my visions allowed a small kernel of hope to bloom in my chest. I was desperate to find a reason, any reason at all, that my vision had been wrong.
We passed through an arched entrance into the main courtyard. Though we were cloaked by a dense mist in the shadowed dawn, there was no need to hide. The Temple was open. No doors or guards were there to deter us. Ivory walls seemed to glow in the waning moonlight, and the grounds hummed with a primitive power. The very building funneled energy around it like a conduit.
“You have friends here?” I asked, remembering that this was a place of worship. A notion that was completely at odds with the man I knew.
“I have friends everywhere.”
“Why do I think you’re using the term ‘friend’ loosely?”
He turned to glare at me. “The man you see before you today is a product of circumstance. I wasn’t always this way.”
“Man? Don’t you mean fae?” Edward’s glare turned deadly, and I swallowed hard, knowing I was testing his patience. He turned his back on me, ending the conversation. It was an obvious dismissal and further indication that he wasn’t interested in discussion. The honesty of his statement began to sink in. I realized that I, too, was a different person now. Forever altered after all I’d been through. As we marched on, I mourned silently for the woman I once was because she was surely dead now.
He led me down a hallway of doors, stopping at the last one in the row. I jumped at the sound of his fist pounding on the heavy wooden slab, rattling it on its hinges. When no one answered, he knocked again, harder this time.
“Maybe your friend doesn’t live here anymore,” I suggested, but he ignored me.
“Come on, Amara. Open up. I know you’re in there!” he commanded and continued to pound on the door.
