The sickened luna’s last chance

Chapter 87

Ella

The diamond necklace was admittedly beautiful. It hung delicately from Alexander’s hands, tiny stones catching the light and throwing rainbows across the vault walls.

But it could never replace Lilith’s locket. Nothing could.

Still, the gesture itself was touching. Alexander was trying to give me his great–grandmother’s necklace in an attempt to make up for what had happened to Lilith’s locket.

“You don’t have to,” I said quietly. “It’s a family heirloom-”

“I want to.” Alexander stepped closer and twirled one finger. “Turn around.”

I did as he asked, lifting my hair out of the way. His fingers were warm against the back of my neck as he clasped the necklace, and I shivered at the contact. The diamonds settled against my collarbone, heavier than Lilith’s delicate silver chain had been but just as warm.

“There.” Alexander’s hands rested on my shoulders for a moment, warm and broad, before he took a step back. “Perfect.”

I turned back to face him, one hand automatically going to the necklace. “It’s gorgeous. But Alexander, I can’t help but wonder… are there string attached?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, are you expecting me to wear this to the banquet? To show it off like some kind of token of your…” I bit my lower lip as i struggled to find the right words. “Your fake affection?”

“Ella, no.” Alexander stepped closer, close enough that I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze. “I’m not giving this to you for political reasons. I’m giving it to you because you lost something important today, and I wanted to give you something beautiful to take its place.”

The sincerity in his green eyes made my breath lodge in my throat. “You mean that?”

“I do.”

One thrum down the bond was all it took. One single pulse of promise, like a soft whisper caressing my mind, and I knew he was telling the truth.

My shoulders deflated with a soft sigh, and for a moment, neither of us spoke. I couldn’t seem to find the right words, not when we were surrounded by all of these artifacts and he was looking at me like I was the most valuable thing in the room.

“I’m sorry about the locket,” he said. “I know how much it meant to you.”

fault. Gabriel

was planning. If you’d known I wanted to surprise you with it, none of this would

so close I could feel the warmth from his body enveloping me like a cocoon. His eyes dropped to my lips, and mine dropped to his. The bond pulsed

cramp shot through my lower abdomen. I gasped and doubled over, both hands flying to

were around me instantly, although he hardly touched me, as if he were afraid I might shatter.

gritted teeth. “I think the stress

went pale. “We need to get you upstairs. You need to

1/3

Chapter 87

stairs, one arm wrapped securely around my waist. By the time we

he asked as

“I’m fine now. I think it was just the panic from being trapped in there.” I touched the diamond necklace again.

to sleep. And Alexander stayed with

crackers on the nightstand beside me. I sat up slowly, relieved when no

the diamond necklace again as I drank. It just… given it to me

me most about

but substantial, clearly worth a fortune. And

so sweet and tender at times, treating me like I was his true love. The way he’d looked at me in the vault, the way his hands had lingered on my skin when he’d put the necklace on me…

when I’d asked about children, when he’d immediately fallen back on the contract like it was the mos logical thing. Or

figure out how he really felt about me. Did he care about me as his mate, or was I still just a convenient arrangement to

I wished I could

that kind of guidance growing up, things would have turned out differently. Maybe I would have known how to recognize lo he saw it, or how to protect my heart from getting

I was an infant, and then my father and stepmother had treated me like an inconvenience at best, a burden at worst. They’d never cared enough about my happiness to give me advice about anything, let alone something as complicated as

I was just a

way, and I realized I was crying again. Not for the locket this time, but for everything I’d never had.

then I thought about Lilith, and the ache in

comfort me when

I was sitting here moping about my own feelings and touching Alexander’s expensive

to stop feeling sorry for myself

nine o’clock by that point–but I knew she would still be up. Lilith wasn’t there, but I could