glowed with magic as it expanded. Narrowing my eyes on the masculine scrawled words covering the thin piece of vellum, I recognized the handwriting.
In a world filled with darkness, you are the light that I seek. There is no sun without your smile, nor night without you in it, Magdalena. I know you won’t understand why I must do this, but I cannot fathom the thought of a world in which you are harmed because of me. I’d rather set you free than live knowing you’re no longer alive. Forgive me. I never expected a creature like you, and now that I have you, I cannot bear the knowledge that I have to take away everything you love. You will hate me for this. But once the pieces were set into motion, they could not be undone. Please know that with the darkness, you were the most beautiful light that shone from within. ~LB
I wrinkled my forehead, exhaling slowly as my chest puffed out. What the fuck? How had I not remembered to read his note, one I’d known he had placed into Luna’s collar? Luna chased a feather in front of me, and her collar jangled as she rushed by, pursuing it blindly.
I kneeled on the floor before Luna, where she had caught and was playing with her prey, and I stared at her diamond-studded collar. The asshole really was spoiling my cat. I undid the clasp, watching as she gave chase to the next feather in line. Opening the charm that dangled from the collar, another note appeared. It, too, had been spelled and was glowing as it enlarged to its normal size. I slid my gaze over the writing, swallowing past tears that ran from my eyes.
You are my home in which I wish to plant roots and grow. You were a surprise that somehow snuck up on me. You sunk your talons into my heart, melting the ice that encased it, protecting it from those who had hurt me. You are my warmth. You are a storm that threatens to upturn my world and leave me in tattered ashes. When you’re with me, I am grounded, and that terrifies me the most. When you’re in my arms, my world is right. No one has ever made me feel the things I do with you. One day, you will see beyond the walls of your mortal limitations that still hold you captive, realizing that words are nothing. Sentiments and promises can easily be whispered, but what I feel for you isn’t something that can be said out loud. It’s wordless, selfless, and so much deeper than words could ever reach. You are my world and my everything. ~LB
I read the messages together and then read them several more times. Tears blinded my sight, blurring the words while I fought the sobs threatening to escape.
He loved me. Lucian Blackstone loved me and had felt that way before I’d ever whispered those words to him inside that bedroom, which seemed like centuries ago.
That sadistic prick loved me, and he’d forced me to realize it on my own! He’d expected me to take the subtle hints and see beyond the mortal way I’d been raised. The idiot had left me flopping on the ground, trying to grasp on to a lifeline when he’d loved me the whole time!
I’d been forced to watch memories of Lucian telling Katarina that he loved her, and that had told my subconscious that he was capable of saying it.
In those dreams, though, he whispered those words while murdering her. There’d always been a catch in his voice past the first initial time he’d killed her. In that one lifetime, he’d loved her. He had been returning to tell her how he felt, and she’d been running away because she’d betrayed him to the coven.
The sound of the doorknob turning captured my attention, ripping me from my mind. I stood, staring at the doorway as Lucian stepped through it, silently peering around at my wreckage. The temperature inside the room dropped noticeably, and Luna bounced into the closet, drawing his attention to his wardrobe, which lay shredded in a pile.
“Woman,” he snarled.
“You’re an asshole!” I shouted, grabbing the nearest object to throw at his head. He moved, ducking seconds before it would have hit him. He stepped closer, his face not giving away the anger he felt. The tic in his jaw hammered, alerting me to his fury even though nothing else screamed danger. I grabbed