THE UNBREAKABLE TRUST

Elaris’s POV

Averic pushed into the room and closed the thick door behind him.

It locked from within.

Neither of us moved for several seconds.

Moonlight filtered through the curtains, illuminating the silver edges of his shoulders and making the exhaustion in his face hard to ignore.

He looked tired enough that he hadn’t slept in several days.

But he was here anyway.

By himself.

We were very close to each other.

We were just a few steps apart, but after being accused in front of everyone in Maevra’s chamber, it seemed like a lifetime separated us.

I couldn’t stop thinking about how he’d commanded the guards to imprison me.

I couldn’t shake off the look of suspicion on his face.

And I couldn’t overlook the small vial that he had found under my bed.

Averic was the first one to break the silence.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

His voice was hoarse with exhaustion.

“What should I have told you?”

"That you were researching my mother’s medicine."

I couldn’t look at him anymore.

"I did."

"You brought a poisoned bottle to me."

"You brought a poisoned bottle to Doctor Harwin."

His eyes narrowed.

"And the letter?"

I swallowed hard.

"Someone ripped the letter apart before you got a chance to read it."

"I know."

I wasn't expecting that reaction from him.

Averic moved even closer.

"I've been spending the past few hours trying to understand how many of these actions were accidental and how many were premeditated."

"And?"

The expression on his face grew grim.

"Luckily for me, very few things were accidental."

I took a deep breath.

"That is because you were trying to protect a woman who claimed to be carrying your baby."

Averic froze.

"You would have never taken me at my word without some kind of proof."

"You could have just told me."

"I was mourning the loss of your mother."

I spoke softly.

"She was dying, Virelle was next to you, weeping, and telling you everything that she thought that you needed to hear. If I had come to you without any proof, you would have thought that I am trying to ruin the woman who is carrying your baby."

Averic's expression grew stern.

"Would you really think that little of me?"

"No."

I met his gaze.

"I feared what you might think when your grief took hold."

He drew close until there were mere inches between us.

I could feel his body heat.

"You should have trusted me to make my own decisions."

"I wanted to."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I wouldn't survive another rejection."

The admission tumbled out of my mouth before I could keep it in.

Something shifted in Averic's expression.

I lowered my eyes.

"Someone already accused me of looking at all I gave up and declaring it murder. I couldn't stand to see you judge me, too."

My breath caught in my chest.

"I am not Caedmon."

"No."

I mouthed the word.

"You are not."

Averic took my burned hand.

I reflexively pulled away.

His hands stilled in mid-air.

"May I?"

I nodded, and he slowly picked up my bandaged hand with both of his.

His touch was incredibly soft.

My burn wounds still ached beneath the gauze, but the pain faded under the warmth of his hands.

His thumb traced the edge of the bandage.

"You were hurt trying to protect the evidence."

"I was trying to protect your mother."

His eyes traveled back to mine.

"I know."

Something about those words made my throat constrict.

"Are you really that sure you would believe any other word over mine?"

His voice was barely more than a whisper.

I couldn't answer right away.

Averic waited.

Not demanding.

Not commanding.

Just waiting.

Finally, I answered, "I don't know anymore."

His expression twisted into pain.

"That answer hurts."

"It should."

I glanced down at our linked hands.

"I trusted once because he was my mate. He drained every last drop out of me."

Averic’s thumb stilled.

"I won't punish you for being afraid," he whispered. "But don't confuse my mistakes with my intentions."

I looked up.

"And what are your intentions?"

He didn't break eye contact.

"To find out who did this."

A shiver ran down my spine when his thumb traced across my fingers.

The heat from our bond flared again.

Not the desperate urge of an already completed mate bond.

It was different.

Dangerous, for reasons I hadn’t even begun to realize when I chose it willingly.

I quickly pulled my hand back.

Averic caught my gesture.

He did not demand that I give it back.

He only said, "There is something you must know."

I paused.

"I have been watching Virelle since the very first day she arrived."

My breath caught in my throat.

"You have?"

He nodded.

"Two shadow guards have been shadowing her ever since."

"Why?"

"Because she came with Caedmon."

His tone darkened.

"She knew too much about my residence. Too much about my mother's illness. And she arrived at the exact time that everything in my life went to pieces."

I looked at him.

"And yet you allowed her to stay?"

"Because suspicion is not enough to prove anything."

His expression grew cold.

"If I had asked her about her motives, she would have lied and left before I discovered the truth."

"You allowed her to think that she was winning."

"Yes."

Averic cast a glance toward the locked door.

"And now she has become careless."

A wave of relief washed through me so swiftly that I lost my balance.

Averic supported my waist as I staggered.

Neither one of us made a sound for a second.

His arms stayed wrapped around me.

My hands were on his chest.

I heard the steady beat of his heart.

Steady.

Strong.

Firm.

He lowered his head so that his forehead came to rest upon mine.

“I should have told you before,” he whispered.

“You should have.”

“I was only trying to protect you.”

“You nearly broke me apart.”

He closed his eyes.

“I know.”

There was no explanation for the confession.

Only remorse.

I took one deep breath.

For the first time since Maevra’s collapse, I wasn’t alone.

Averic released me from his embrace.

“Stay in here a little while longer.”

I frowned.

“Why?”

“Because Virelle thinks that you’re scared and alone.”

“She does.”

“Good.”

He looked at me with new intensity.

“And let her think it.”

I understood.

“You want her to be careless.”

“I want her to be confident enough to make a mistake that she can’t cover up.”

“What about the bottle under my bed?”

“We’re researching that.”

“But not confronting her?”

“Not yet.”

He headed towards the door.

“She will think that you’re powerless and she’ll come searching for more ways to hurt you.”

My stomach clenched.

“And if she does?”

Averic turned to me.

“Then my guards will see exactly what she does.”

His hand had not even touched the lock when a pair of frenzied footsteps rushed through the hallway.

The door exploded inward.

A maid from Maevra’s private retinue ran by the guards, pale as death.

“Alpha!”

Averic whirled on his heel.

“What is it?”

The maid could not catch her breath.

“I— I couldn’t reach you in time…”

“Speak.”

She placed both hands over her mouth as she struggled against an urge to cry out.

“Luna Maevra…”

My blood froze in my veins.

“What about her?”

The maid stared at Averic.

“She stopped breathing.”

Averic’s body stiffened.

Then the woman let out a scream:

“She’s dead!”

I felt the world dissolve from underneath me.

Averic started running toward the door.

I followed him.

Before I made it to the door, however, the maid seized my arm.

Her terrified eyes met mine.

“She wasn’t alone.”

My breath caught in my throat.

“Who else was there?”

The maid’s voice shook.

“Virelle.”