enjoyebooks CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 48
POV: Evangeline
Alexandro is dying again.
In my dream, it happens exactly the way it did that day—only slower, stretched into something so cruelly vivid that every detail becomes a blade. I see the flash of black magic. I see the way Alexandro pushed Sebastian aside. I see the light leave his eyes.
“No,” I whisper in the dream, reaching for him. “Alexandro, please—don’t.”
His body collapses onto the cold stone floor. I fall with him, screaming, though the sound is muffled as if the world has already forgotten how to hear my voice. My hands shake as I cradle his head, tears dripping onto his skin.
Then the dream shifts.
I’m no longer holding Alexandro.
I’m standing alone in darkness.
A single shape emerges—Lord Henry. His silhouette is calm, composed, as if he’s been waiting for me.
“Such a tragedy,” he says softly. “Your brother loved you more than his own life. It’s a shame Sebastian did not value it the same.”
“Stop,” I whisper, backing away. “Don’t you dare speak his name.”
Henry steps closer. “Why not? He is the reason Alexandro is dead.”
“No,” I breathe, shaking my head. “You killed him.”
Henry tilts his head. “Did I? Or did your husband simply provide the perfect opportunity? He brought the danger into your home. He hid secrets from you. He failed to protect the man you loved so deeply.”
My chest tightens painfully. “He tried to save him…”
“Try?” Henry laughs quietly. “Let me tell you who will die next if you choose to stay with him.”
My blood turns to ice. “Don’t.”
He circles me slowly, like a predator tasting the fear in the air. “Your sons fight every day. They are wounded already, fragile. It would not take much to break them further.”
“Stop it,” I plead.
“Marc is trusting. Adrian is jealous. A perfect combination for manipulation. A perfect recipe for loss.”
My breathing becomes uneven. “Don’t talk about my children.”
“I talk about reality,” Henry says. “These are the consequences of staying by Sebastian’s side.”
I close my eyes tightly. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?” he whispers near my ear. “Alexandro died. That is a fact. And you know very well that tragedy never strikes just once.”
I gasp, choking on panic.
His voice lowers, gaining a razor’s edge. “Maximilian. Georgina. Their daughters.” He pauses. “How many people are you willing to lose before you admit the truth?”
I fall to my knees in the dream, shaking, tears trailing down my face. “Please… please don’t touch my family.”
Henry kneels in front of me. His expression is almost pitying. “Then distance yourself from the man who curses everything he touches. Save yourself before you lose everything else.”
Darkness swallows the edges of the dream. Henry’s face fades. His last words echo like a prophecy:
“Choose wisely, Evangeline. Love or survival.”
I wake with a scream.
My body jerks forward, drenched in sweat, heart racing so violently it hurts. The room is dark except for the dying fire. My hands clutch the sheets, desperate to feel something real.
“Evangeline?” Sebastian’s voice is groggy, shocked awake. He sits up quickly, reaching for me. “What—what’s wrong? Was it a nightmare?”
I try to breathe, but the air feels too thin, too heavy. “Don’t—don’t touch me.”
He freezes, hand inches from mine. “You’re trembling.”
“Get out,” I whisper.
Sebastian blinks, stunned. “What?”
“Get out,” I repeat, louder now, my voice breaking with fear. “Please leave.”
He looks utterly wounded. “Why? What happened? Tell me.”
I shake my head, tears flowing again. “I can’t… Sebastian, please, don’t make this harder. Just go.”
He shifts closer despite my plea. “No. Not when you’re like this. Not when you're afraid. Talk to me. Let me help.”
“You can’t help,” I choke out. “You never could.”
He flinches as if I struck him. “Evangeline…”
“I can’t lose my sons,” I whisper. “I can’t lose Georgina or Maximilian or anyone else. I can’t watch another person die because of something connected to you.”
He stares at me, devastated. “Is that what you think? That I destroy the people around me?”
“I dreamed of Henry,” I say, voice trembling. “He said… he said the closer I stay to you, the more death will follow.” My breath hitches. “And Alexandro—he was just the beginning.”
Sebastian’s voice breaks. “No. No, Evangeline, don’t listen to him. He’s twisting everything. He’s using your grief against you.”
“He said the children are next…” I press a hand to my mouth, trying to quiet the sob threatening to tear free.
Sebastian immediately reaches for me. “Evangeline, stop. Stop listening to that monster. Our sons are safe with us. With you. I would never let anything harm them.”
I pull away from his touch. “You can’t promise that!”
He stares at me, eyes wet, breathing unsteady. “Then let me try!” he pleads. “Let me protect you. Let me protect our family. Let me protect you, Evangeline. Please.”
“I’m terrified,” I whisper.
His voice softens to a raw ache. “So am I… without you.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. “Sebastian, get out.”
He shakes his head. “I won’t leave you like this.”
“You have to.”
“Evangeline—”
“GET OUT!” My voice breaks fully now, cracking under the weight of every fear inside me.
He goes utterly still.
For a moment, neither of us breathes.
Then, voice barely audible, he whispers, “I love you. Nothing will change that. Not nightmares. Not fear. Not Henry.”
Tears burn my eyes.
“Please,” he says again, broken, “let me stay.”
I can’t do it. I can’t let him near me. Not when love feels like a curse waiting to strike again.
“Leave,” I whisper.
He inhales shakily, nods once, and rises from the bed as though it pains him to move. He looks back at me from the doorway—eyes full of love, fear, and devastation.
Then he leaves. The door closes softly behind him.
I curl into myself beneath the blankets, shaking uncontrollably, torn apart by the knowledge that I love him more than anything—and terrified that loving him might destroy everything I still have left.