Morgan’s eyebrows shot halfway up her forehead, and she raised her hand to her mouth. “That’s disgusting.”
“But true.” He nodded, grimly. “One offspring is all he needs. And if you are a Huntress born with the bride gene that Lazarus so covets, you will be able to give him one.” He watched as her anger seemed to slip away and her arms fell to her sides. He reached out again and captured her hand, pulling her down to sit next to him. “If you succumb to his seduction, you will do whatever he wants you to do. You will willingly, gladly, mate with him and bear his child. It has been foretold that a child from such a union would be the perfect weapon against all of Lazarus’s enemies, including humans. We can’t let that happen, Morgan.”
“So you’d have to kill me.” Her tone was deflated, all of her anger seemingly gone.
He clenched her hand tighter, not liking actually having to admit it aloud to her. “If he succeeds and you fall victim, then yes, I have taken a vow to never let that happen.”
She turned to him, her eyes swimming with fresh tears. “Isn’t there a way to prevent this from happening?”
He nodded as he brushed away a stray hair from her face. “Yes, you can defeat him. You can make sure to plant that dagger in his heart.”
She smiled sadly. “But Andrew doesn’t think I’ll succeed, right? That’s why he’s coming, because he knows that you’ll hesitate when I fail, that you won’t be able to kill me.”
Cal wrapped his hand around the nape of her neck and brought her to rest against his chest. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Morgan. I wasn’t expecting to. In fact, Andrew ordered me not to, but I did anyway. How could I not? You’re my Huntress, you’re my perfect match. I love everything about you, and I can’t live without you. To kill you would be like killing a part of myself. I don’t think I can willingly do that. But I can’t bear the thought of him touching you either. My loyalty to the Order screams for me to prevent that from happening at all costs. Because of our bond, I don’t know what will happen if you fail to kill Lazarus.”
“Is that why you tried to break the bond?”
He sucked in a deep breath and then released it in a powerful sigh. “Yeah, that’s why.” He didn’t want to tell her about his father and mother’s tragedy, didn’t want to undermine the small bit of confidence that she had left. And he certainly did not want to tell her about Kelly’s prophecy.
She will betray the Order.
He shook his head as he stroked his fingers through her hair, easing away the tie that bound it together so that it cascaded down around her face. “But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t break the bond.” He pulled her up to face him, and his heart broke to see how shattered she looked. He used his thumb to wipe away a tear as it slid down her cheek. “I believe that what you said the other night is true, Morgan.”
She frowned at him, her lips opening to speak, but he stopped her with a finger laid gently on her bottom lip.
“You said that being with you, loving you, making love to you, would give you strength against Lazarus, would help you beat his thrall. And I believe that to be true. The more I love you, the more strength you will have against him.”
Morgan’s eyes swam with tears again, but he could see she wanted to believe his words.
“I love you, Morgan,” Cal whispered as he moved his finger and replaced it with a kiss.
There was a moment of hesitation when she didn’t respond to his touch, and his heart twisted with the thought that he might have lost her. But then she kissed him back, slowly at first, building in intensity until her hands were wrapped in his hair and her breath came out in heavy pants.
They made love quickly, passionately, their hands stroking, their lips tasting, their bodies melding until they both shattered with orgasms.
When they were done and he moved to cradle Morgan in his arms as he liked, she pulled away, rose from the bed and wrapped a blanket around her body. Staring down at him, her eyes were filled with pain and hurt.
“I do love you, Cal, but until this is over, I don’t want you touching me again. It hurts too much to know that your loyalty to the Order is stronger than your loyalty to me.” She raised her hand for him to stay quiet. “It is, don’t try to argue. You said you would kill me, and I believe that if I betray the Order, you will. I don’t blame you for that. I wouldn’t want to live with myself if I birthed a monster because my mind was taken over by Lazarus. What I do blame you for is putting the Order first. If you really loved me, you wouldn’t do that. You wouldn’t dare.”
“Morgan,” he pleaded as he pushed himself up, determined to get her into his arms again.