Chapter 90

Chapter 90

“You should be very afraid of the woman who has nothing left to lose.”

Jeri Hogarth

If it hadn’t been for Rae’s arm around my shoulder, I’m not sure I would’ve been able to keep myself from lunging across the throne room and clawing out Amara’s eyes.

Or attempting to.

I didn’t stand a chance against the witch anyway, and now that she was surrounded by the rest of her army, I definitely didn’t stand a chance.

It had taken her only minutes to collect the army who’d stormed the castle, and they’d brought Rae, Akeem, and Joseph into the throne room like prisoners.

Which, given recent events, we probably were.

At least everyone else in the castle was able to evacuate, and hopefully, Amara will be too busy to go after them.

Ambrose stood, completely rigid, at Amara’s side with that unreadable expression on his face.

“Why doesn’t he kill her right now?” Rae growled low enough that only I could hear it. I hadn’t had time to give her the complete run-down when she was led in by the witches, but she’d been able to pick up enough context clues on her own.

“This deal,” I breathed back, “It’s some kind of magical oath she made him take. He can’t go back on it.”

There was a pause and then, “So, we’re fucked then.”

I should never have split up from Ambrose. This is my fault. I made myself vulnerable, an easy target for Amara.

I opened my mouth to agree with Rae’s sentiment because yes, we were fucked – but was cut off by Amara rising from the throne and addressing the room. “My brothers and sisters,” she said, “Everything changes tonight, but first, I must call on your joint power one last time.” Murmurs rippled through the room. “Tonight…we put the Moon God to sleep one last time.”

It felt like someone was slicing through my chest and trying to pull out my heart. I pictured him stuck in that tomb, the same tomb I’d found him in. Was that his future now? Spending not just the next several decades – but the remainer of his life – there?

Ambrose met my eyes across the room as Amara began chanting, her arms spread wide to receive the power from the other witches standing in the throne room.

“No!” I screamed, flailing in Rae’s grip.

It was not supposed to end like this.

We weren’t supposed to lose, and I certainly wasn’t supposed to lose Ambrose.

He deserved better than…this.

Rae’s grip tightened but she couldn’t keep up with my thrashing, and a moment later, I broke free.

The world was moving in slow motion. The shocked expression on Amara’s face as I stumbled free of Rae’s arms, the witches reaching to stop me –

But none of it mattered.

Only Ambrose mattered.

In a flash, his arms were around me, my head buried in the soft cocoon of his chest.

“I won’t let you,” I growled, my voice choking on emotion. “I won’t let them do this to you. I’d rather die.” Witches surrounded us on all sides, and there was a good chance that none of us would make it out alive, but…

Thirty more seconds with Ambrose seemed a lot more appealing than thirty years without him.

One of his large hands cupped the back of my head as he murmured, “And that is precisely why I must do this.”

Inside, my wolf whined and clawed, begging to be let out – begging to protect our mate from what was about to happen.

I pulled back just enough to look at him. I needed him to know that, though I couldn’t protect him in this moment, I wasn’t done trying. I’d spend the rest of my life looking for a solution, a way to break the curse.

I wasn’t giving up.

“I will fix this. I will not let it end this way. I will –”

“I think that’s enough of a goodbye, don’t you?” Amara’s voice cut through our intimate moment.

“Hardly,” I ground out, and turned my head to glare at her but Ambrose’s hand stopped me.

“Don’t look away from me,” he said, his eyes swimming with emotion. “I need you to live, little wolf, even if it’s a life that I can’t be a part of. You must know, you are my heart. My entire heart. The moment I met you, it beat for you and you alone.”

“Ambrose –”

“I’m sorry,” he continued and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “I am sorry that my past has ruined our future. I love you.”

He pulled away from me and I reached for him again, but Rae’s familiar arms encircled me – and she was more than ready for my flailing this time.

“No,” I repeated, “Ambrose, no.”

“Are you ready?” Amara asked.

“Almost,” he said, “One more goodbye.”

To my surprise, it wasn’t another moment with me that he wanted because Ambrose walked straight past me, Rae, and Akeem to hug…Joseph?

Even the former witch looked confused when Ambrose wrenched him into a hug but the gesture only lasted a few seconds before it was over.

Joseph let out one long, stuttering breath with wide eyes, his mouth gaping open like a fish.

Ambrose pulled away and turned to Amara. “One more thing.”

“You seem to have a lot of one more things,” she retorted with narrowed eyes.

“You will make an oath,” Ambrose said. “That my mate will never be your prisoner as long as she lives. She will be free to live her life as she pleases, and you will never attempt to infringe upon her freedom or try to take her life.”

My breath caught. Ambrose was bargaining for my freedom?

Amara paused, considering his offer before she replied with, “Fine. But if she attempts to work against me, to do anything at all to harm my rule, my promise is null.”

“Alright.”

“Now,” Amara said, “May we begin?”

Ambrose nodded sharply.

And the chanting began.