Chapter 49

Evie

Garden District, New Orleans, Louisiana

C ole’s gaze was steady, his body absolutely still against hers, but she could feel his magic practically vibrating under his skin.

“I, it was—” Evie stopped. There was no way to tell this to Cole without him absolutely losing his mind so might as well do it quickly. “I had to undergo a procedure when I was 18.”

“A procedure.” Cole was quiet for a second then his voice pitched into a soothing lilt. “And what type of procedure was that?”

“They, uh, it was meant to make me infertile.”

When he cut her off, he was still using that detached, melodic voice. “You said you had to do it. Did you choose to do it?”

“No. But—”

“Were you forced to do it?” Cole appeared calm, but his eyes were lit neon blue in fury. In the back of her mind, she imagined that, if they took away the magic, this was his demeanor in a courtroom when he tore somebody apart on the witness stand.

The intensity of that stare, burning into her, was too much as she laid bare her biggest secret. Almost involuntarily, her eyes slid shut. “Yes.” Even closing her own eyes didn't fully obscure the magical light of his own.

“Who forced you to do it?” A soft breeze of air passed her cheek just before he cupped her face. “Please open your eyes. Angel, I need you to look at me, or I’m going to lose my mind.” When she raised her eyes back to him, he asked, this time in a normal voice, “Who forced you to do it? I need you to tell me everything.”

“The coven elders. Well, the coven elders at the requirement of the Witches Council. They said that the only reason I was allowed to join the coven was on the condition that I undergo a surgical procedure that made me infertile. The Witches Council knows of doctors who will practice medicine on witches in exchange for magical favors. They brought me somewhere, and, when I woke up, I had a new scar, and they told me I couldn’t have children. I never asked why—” Her voice broke. “But now that I know how they found me… The Witches Council was well within their right to mandate that.”

A look of uncontrolled fury crossed Cole’s face.

“Cole, I’m sorry—”

“Sweetheart, why the fuck are you sorry?” He kissed her deeply, brutally, before continuing. “You have nothing to apologize for. The Witches Council forced a teenager to go through a medically invasive, completely unnecessary procedure to sterilize her with fuck-only-knows what lunatic of a surgeon operating on her in a potentially unsanitary environment just so they could keep her from potentially birthing little murder babies to an unknown man in a coven full of women. All while forcing you to undergo annual memory regressions in case they ever needed to use you as their little enforcer. The coven elders that raised you may have done the best they could by you. But them. The Witches Council.” The deep blue crown of fire— the one she had only seen twice before in moments of intense emotion—blazed to life around his head. His voice deepened, his eyes darkened. “Them, I will rip to shreds for laying a hand on my goddamn queen.”

He lifted her into his arms, carrying her from the room, past the new flora and fauna lining the walls of Cole’s office, thanks to her spontaneous sexual magical bursts, and back to their bed. Lowering her gently to the mattress, he pushed her hair back from her face. “Go to sleep, Angel. I’ll pack a bag for you, and you can add whatever you need in the morning.”

She nodded sleepily. “But don’t you have to make arrangements for Budapest?” At his nod, she asked, “Do you need help?”

“Nah, witchling. I need you to get some sleep, so you’re rested before we take off. I’ll get everything taken care of.” He crawled into bed beside her, resting his back against the headboard. “I’ll be right here, though, assuming you can fall asleep while I talk on the phone.”

Nodding again, she tucked herself up against his side, draping her arm across his waist and resting her head against his hip. His fingers sifted through her hair, a long, slow, loving slide, while his voice rumbled above her in a call.

Before long, she fell into sleep’s warm embrace.