Chapter 134
Sebastian
I felt her tense, her heartbeat accelerating through the bond.
"That's none of your business," she said coldly.
"Isn't it?" My knuckles whitened on the wheel. "You're still wearing the marks I left on your body. The bond between us hasn't faded. And yet you're planning a future with another man."
"You gave up any right to question my choices when you let me walk away."
"I kept my promise." Two months of restraint cracking. "I haven't contacted you, haven't followed you, haven't inserted myself into your life despite every instinct screaming at me to do exactly that. But apparently, my restraint was wasted."
I jabbed at the center console screen. The surveillance footage loaded—Gray Tower's executive terrace, three weeks after she'd left me. Damian draping his jacket over her shoulders, his hand lingering.
"This was three weeks after you walked out." I paused the image, zooming in on his hand against her shoulder. "Him touching you. Caring for you. Being everything I apparently failed to be."
I could feel her staring at me.
"He's touched you more than once, hasn't he? Held you. Comforted you."
I turned to look at her, knowing my eyes had gone gold. "Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me he hasn't thought about claiming what's mine."
---
Lirael
"I'm not yours!" The words burst out. "I haven't been yours for two months. You don't own me, Sebastian. You have no claim—"
The car swerved violently. I grabbed the door as Sebastian slammed the brakes, tires screeching as we skidded to a stop. Before I could process it, he'd unbuckled and turned to face me, one hand gripping my seat.
"No claim?" His voice was barely human, golden eyes boring into mine. "You're still bound to me. Your blood is mixed with mine. You saved my life, gave yourself to me in ways you'll never give to anyone else. And you dare say I have no claim?"
His hand moved to my neck, pushing aside my collar to expose the faint silver marks where his teeth had broken skin two months ago. Marks that should have faded but hadn't.
"These are mine," he said, thumb tracing the scars. "These marks that won't fade, this bond that won't break—they're mine. You're mine, whether you admit it or not."
I reached for my magic, but it felt sluggish, unresponsive. With growing horror, I noticed faint silver mist seeping from the air vents.
"What did you do?"
His expression shifted, almost regretful. "Insurance. I couldn't risk you running again."
The suppressant was making my limbs heavy, thoughts fuzzy. He'd been planning this from the moment I got in.
"You bastard," I whispered. "You planned all of it."
"From the moment I saw Damian's name on your phone." His hand found mine. "I told you I wouldn't come looking for you. I kept that promise. But I never said I'd let you run to someone else."
Through the windshield, I saw lights ahead—not the airport. An overlook. We'd left the highway.
"Where—"
"Somewhere we won't be interrupted." He started the engine again. "Don't fight it. The suppressant won't hurt you. Just sleep."
But I fought to stay conscious even as my body betrayed me. Through blurred vision, I saw him pull into an abandoned overlook, saw car doors opening, heard multiple voices before darkness claimed me.
---
Sebastian
She went limp, her breathing evening out. I sat watching her sleep, memorizing the curve of her cheek in the dashboard lights, the way silver hair framed her face.
You've crossed a line. There's no coming back.
I knew. But the alternative—watching her build a life without me—was worse.
I opened my door. Flashlight beams cut through the snow, illuminating figures emerging from the treeline. Twenty-three members of the Onyx Guard, all armed, all waiting.
Marcus reached me first, his expression neutral as he glanced at Lirael. "Sir, the perimeter is secure."
"Good." I accepted his tablet, showing live surveillance from the airport terminal. "Status on Gray?"
"His plane just touched down. Six minutes to the terminal." Marcus hesitated. "Sir, if Gray determines what's happened—"
"He will. That's the point."
I watched the private jet taxi toward the gate. "Maintain visual on Gray. I want to know when he realizes she's not there."
"Understood." Marcus glanced at Lirael again. "And her?"
"Stays with me." I closed the tablet. "Alert the airport team. When Gray arrives, be visible but not threatening. I want him to know they're mine, but I don't want him challenged. Not yet."
Marcus nodded and stepped away. I turned back to Lirael, brushing hair from her face.
"Three days," I murmured. "Just give me three days."
---
Lirael
Consciousness returned in fragments—voices outside, cold air, the bond telling me Sebastian was close. I kept my eyes closed, breathing even, while my mind fought through the fog.
The suppressant was wearing off. I could feel magic stirring sluggishly. Not enough to do anything, but enough to give me hope.
"—ready for the video call," Marcus's voice, muffled. "Should I connect him?"
"Not yet. Let him wait."
A video call. With Damian. My pulse spiked.
Sebastian's hand touched my wrist, finding my pulse. "I know you're awake. Your heartbeat just doubled."
I opened my eyes. Outside the windows, I saw flashlight beams, heard quiet movements. We were surrounded.
"What are you going to do?"
"That depends on you." He held up his phone, showing a video call request from Marcus. "Damian's at the airport. My people are with him—not threatening, just present. Enough to make consequences clear if he tries anything rash."
Horror flooded through me. "Sebastian, you can't—"
"I can. And I will, unless you give me what I want."
My hands shook. "Which is?"
"Seventy-two hours. Three days. Spend Christmas with me. Let me prove what we had was real. In exchange, Damian walks away unharmed."
"That's blackmail."
"That's negotiation." He touched my cheek, brushing away a tear. "I'm not asking for your love or forgiveness. Just three days to remind you why you saved my life. Why you came back for me."
"And if I refuse?"
His expression hardened. "Then I make one call, and Damian disappears for seventy-two hours. My people will keep him alive, comfortable, but he won't be going anywhere. And when we release him, he'll know exactly who took him and why."
He showed me a tactical map with red dots around the airport. "The Gray family will demand blood. The Triad will fracture. You'll have started a war that costs hundreds of lives. All because you couldn't give me three days."
"You're insane."
"Yes. But I'm also the only thing standing between Damian and a very unpleasant three days. So what's it going to be?"
I closed my eyes, fighting tears. He had me cornered. I couldn't let people die because of my choices.
"Three days," I whispered. "Then you let me go. Both of us. And you disappear from my life completely."
"Three days. And if you still want to leave, I'll let you. I'll even help you disappear. But until then—you're mine."
He accepted the call before I could respond.