The Almost One Night Stand

Chapter 68

Victor's POV (Calibas)

I heard the spell from the Aos Sí, his voice was familiar but also so foreign. The shell they called Victor began to crumble. My spirit soared as I tried to reach the Cauldron, but the elf sent me toward my own spell, trapping me within. I felt my body materialize and flexed my claws, sniffing the air.

Mo maité.

She was here, but she wasn't alone. I could smell the human's stench as it mingled with her dampened aura. Her own natural essence was tainted with human.

I let out a roar of challenge, addressing the male that so casually held mo maité. "You are not welcome here. You need to leave," I growled at the human as I forced his spirit back into his body. I turned to my maité. Her face was contorted with fear and disbelief.

"Victor," she whispered.

I hissed at the sound of that cursed name, "Ná labhair an t-ainm sin, a chara. Is mise Calibas, agus ní tusa é seo... (Do not speak that name, my mate. I am Calibas, and you are not this...) I motioned to the form before me. She took a few steps back, her heartbeat pumping wildly. I felt a mix of pride that I made it do that, but also disgust that it was even beating - it shouldn't be.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she shielded her stomach. "Please, don't do this," she begged, finally understanding, "anamchara, I don't want this."

I crossed the distance between us, my claws wrapping around her supple neck. I felt the air in her lungs slow as I gripped tighter. Despite her fear, I could smell her arousal as my tongue ran across her neck, my fangs grazing her skin. I chuckled softly as my other hand pressed against her dripping core, "Oh, maité, I think you do. Your very body and soul scream out to me. Do not fight this, love. We belong together. Come back to me, Moira." I saw a flash of recognition pass through her when I spoke her true name. Her body trembled underneath my touch and a high whine escaped her lips. "That's it, my precious maité, remember who you really are," I whispered as I sank my fangs into her neck. For a brief moment, her body fought back, then she pressed into my touch, her moans filling the space around us. I drank deep, feeling her soul brush against mine softly as her heartbeat began to slow.

"She will never forgive you, Ancient One," the Queen's son said, standing before the stone table he had been sleeping on. "You may reclaim her, but eventually she will remember the lives you stole, the children she is about to lose, and it will turn her against you."

I paused, running a hand along her stomach. I could feel the two creatures fighting against my magic. I could feel the shield that I had placed around them, but why - why would I do that?

"Because Victor loves her," the fairy answered. "In this life, he loves her and those children. He loves the others as well. You are denying the Wheel by doing this. She is not meant to stand in the Cauldron any longer. She is the Lady now, and you are still her lover." He stepped closer and I gave a warning growl, clutching her to me. "Look at her past lives, Ancient One. See what she has suffered, what she has lost." He pointed to her stomach, "Those are the first children she has carried this far. If you take those away from her, it will break her soul, and not even you with all your powers will ever bring her back from the madness that will follow. You claim to love her, but do you love her enough to let Moira go, so that Nimue can live?"

Nimue.

I felt as if my body had been ripped apart. What was I doing? I looked down at the woman before me and my vision swam with thousands of lives, faces, and names, but one suddenly formed clearly - she was Nimue, my Melody.

What have I done?

"Heal her," he said quietly. "She will forgive you, she loves you."

I felt hot tears stream down my face as his words sank into me. Pressing my forehead to hers, I filled her body and mind with my magic, repairing the damage within her. Her eyelids fluttered for a moment, then those icy blue eyes opened and focused on me. "My knight," she whispered, "my anamchara." I felt a strange sensation in my chest, and then my heart began to beat again. It was a slow pace, not human, but not Abhartach either - something new, something that was only hers.