Guilt hung heavy in her heart. The last thing she'd wanted to do was make him hurt. "I love someone else."
Coyote shot to his feet to confront her. "No. It's not possible."
Of course it was possible. It'd already happened. She started crying. "I'm so sorry, Cy. I never meant for this to happen. I did want to marry you, but then we met and ... and ... I haven't been the same. Please be happy for us." Her smile turned dreamy through her tears. "He understands me in a way no one ever has. I feel so alive, and all I have to do is think of him."
Coyote's face turned beet red from his fury, and for a second, she thought he might actually strike her.
Girl, get out of there. This was the part where Freddy Krueger or some other ghoul jumped out and killed the hapless victim.
Why wasn't Butterfly standing up for herself?
Coyote sneered in her face. "Never meant for this to happen?" He mocked her tone of voice. "Is that the lie you tell, you whore? Where did you meet him? Was it before or after I was tortured for over a year for protecting you?"
Guilt gnawed her into pieces. He was right. He had suffered so much for her.
But it was wrong to throw that in her face, and she knew it. "I'm sorry. I am. I didn't mean to hurt you. Please understand. I know in time you will."
She turned and walked across the floor, toward the door.
"I'll win you back, Butterfly!" he shouted after her. "Watch me. You'll see. You're mine. Now and always."
What a jerk ...
"Shhh," Coyote whispered to her as he rubbed her forehead and her dreams of the past dissipated. He traced the line of her brow. Something that made her skin crawl.
"What do you want with me?" she asked him.
"For you to fulfill your promise."
Abigail widened her eyes. "I didn't promise anything."
He gave her an evil smirk. "You always had trouble remembering your promises. Keeping your word. But not this time. You owe me. And I intend to collect it."
Yeah, she had something she was going to pay him with. But she could pretty much bet he wouldn't like it.
He definitely wouldn't enjoy it.
Pulling away from her, he cocked his head as if he heard something. He shoved her back into the darkness and withdrew, then shut the door.
That's right. Run, Coyote, run. No matter what Choo Co La Tah or Coyote thought, she wasn't Butterfly. She was Abigail Yager. And she didn't give up or give in.
Yes, she'd spent her childhood in fearful submission to her Apollite parents. But that had ended when they died. From that day forward, she'd been reborn as an assertive woman who refused to cower to anyone.
"Abby?"
She stopped her tirade as she heard the most wonderful voice in the world in her head.
"Sundown?"
"Yeah. Are you okay, baby?"
She definitely was now. "Didn't I tell you to stay out of my thoughts?"
"You can beat me later. Just do it naked."
In spite of the danger and her being tied up, she laughed at his humor.
Until she remembered Ren might be with him. "Jess, listen. We have a spy in our midst."