Chapter 7 - Of Egos And Fears

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The book I held tumbled out of my grip to land on the wood floor with a loud thump

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The book I held tumbled out of my grip to land on the wood floor with a loud thump. I stumbled to the nearby desk, bracing myself against the sudden weakness in my legs. The room seemed to stretch out to five times its length. 

I blinked, then blinked again, before I could get my voice to work.

"What do you mean? You are going to go through with it?" It came out as a harsh rasp of sound against the buzzing in my ears. 

How could she cave to the Unseelie's demands? I'd been certain she would stand with me to fight those bastards.

With short quick movements, Shannon moved between closet, dresser, and bathroom, stuffing supplies into her backpack. 

"I have to. You know I do. In ten days, neither you, Frigga, nor I have discovered a single, viable strategy to block the Unseelie threat to Aidan. With only five days to Samhain, we need more time. This is the best plan to defuse the situation in the few days we have left. I'm sure Elatha and I can come to some agreement, and he'll help us save our son, Loki. There is no way I'm risking Aidan's life. Why are you fighting me on this?"

An image flashed in my mind of Shannon's fantasy, of Elatha and me taking her together, and a burning sensation grew in my chest. 

Because I'm fucking jealous. Because I'm an asshole and want you all to myself. Because I don't want you anywhere near that too-handsome fucking Atlantean. Because I don't want him having any claim whatsoever on your sexy body.

Because you are mine, damn it.

Muscles rigid, I ground my teeth. Of course, I couldn't say any of those things. It was selfish and illogical. I knew Shannon's plan of action made sense, but everything in me rebelled at the thought of her being married to bloody Prince Elatha.

What if she chooses to stay with him? Is she tired of dealing with me? Have I driven her away?

Desperately, I tried to come up with something, anything, that would change her mind. The idea of losing her again, after just getting her back... And losing her to him

My heartbeat thundered in my ears.

"Please, Shannon. Please, don't do this."

If pleading with her would stop her from leaving me, I'd get on my knees and beg. Anything to keep her from going to that fucker who could give her everything I could and the safe future that I couldn't. Unlike me, he probably hadn't made legions of enemies that kept endangering her over and over.

Yggdrasil's twisty limbs, this whole situation is my bloody fault in the first place.

Shannon paused in her packing, turning to meet my gaze with a scowl. "Ugh! Why are you being so stubborn about this? It's not like Elatha is going to force me to live in Hy-Brasil."

My heart gave a panicked beat, and I released my death's grip on the desk edge to walk over to her. "How do you know? Maybe it will be a stipulation of his agreement. You can't be sure he'll work with us to save Aidan."

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