Claire’s POV
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I was still as a statue, entirely frozen in shock, gaping at Gideon like he was a stranger I had never seen before – or like he had grown a second head off of his shoulder.
He couldn’t be… proposing? I hadn’t even thought through whether I wanted to date or not! Or live together! And now he was jumping straight to the engagement.
Yet, even as my head was all tangled up in knots, my heart was soaring. The mating bond between us was thrumming, happy and fulfilled.
I’d never been so confused in my entire life.
“I love you, Claire,” he said. “There’s no one else in the entire world that I could ever see standing beside me. If it’s not you, it’s no one.”
“You don’t mean that…”
“I do,” he said. “I don’t mean to pressure you with this. I wouldn’t have brought it up at all if the King hadn’t. I’d never want to pressure you. If you aren’t ready now, I will wait. I’d wait forever for the chance to be with you again.”
I didn’t want to believe him, but he held my gaze, his eyes so earnest. His voice was steady, his posture perfect. There was nothing about this that would give away a lie. And I knew him. He was a terrible liar. I would have been able to see straight through him if he would even attempt to lie to me.
That could only meant that he wasn’t lying, but that meant…
Then he wasn’t…
This proposal was real.
And I wanted to say yes. My heart was urging me too, very nearly overwhelming my sense. Our mate bond was burning pleasantly, which didn’t help my mind’s argument.
My heart listed compelling things: Gideon was a good father to our children, and I very much wanted to kiss him again, longer this time.
But my head remembered the past, and the memory of that hurt splashed like cold water over me.
I was so afraid of being hurt and abandoned again. I wasn’t sure I could survive it a second time. What was the saying? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. If I loved him openly once more, and he hurt me again, who could 1 blame but myself?
And yet…
After all Gideon had done for me since I returned back into his life, did I really think he would betray me again?
If the proposal was real, maybe too, were his feelings? Maybe, this time, it could work.
I opened my mouth, ready to give a reply – which, I wasn’t certain.
Yet before I could say one word, one of the King’s servants rushed back into the room with us.
“Excuse the intrusion! The King is calling for you!”
We had no choice but to table this discussion and follow him.
10:12 Thu, Feb 19 M
Chapter 204
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As we entered George’s study, he was on the phone with the rogues. The phone was on speaker, so as soon as we walked through the door, the first thing that we heard was, “If you want to see your wife and daughter again, you will turn over
Claire.”
Gideon surged forward, his defiance clear all over his angry face and tense shoulders. “Absolutely not!”
George held up a hand in an effort to make him be silent.
Gideon wouldn’t be though, not with my life in the balance. “Claire is out of the question.”
“That is the only offer we will consider,” the rogue said on the phone. “Unless you don’t care about the Luna Queen and princess.”
“I” Gideon started, and I imagined he was about to tell them that he did not care even in the slightest.
But that would give the whole game away.
In a flash, I rushed forward. Placing my hand on Gideon’s chest, I eased him back. He wouldn’t stay silent for the King, but he would for me, if I urged him to.
“Please give us a chance to talk about this,” I said toward the phone.
“No negotiations,” the rogue said. “Tonight. The King has the location. 11 pm, we make the exchange. Be there or the Luna Queen and princess will die.”
The line went dead.
“To hell with all of them,” Gideon said. He gripped my shoulders. “I won’t lose you for this.”
“Gideon,” George said.
“No,” Gideon snarled. “Victoria and Susanne are the enemy. They arranged this. The rogues wouldn’t hurt them. They just want Claire.”
George nodded. “Yes, you’re right. But perhaps we should still go to the exchange. Even without Claire, we can learn something. I’m uncomfortable leaving that group unchallenged. We need to destroy them, and capture Daphne once and for all.”
“Then you have to let them take me,” I said, realizing now what I had to do.
Both George and Gideon looked at me with twin glances of shock.
“We need to find their location, right? So you can send in your armies and defeat them?” I said. “What better way than by giving them exactly what they want? Me.”
“No,” Gideon said, his expression of defiance unchanged.
“My dear, George said, softer, “They will be looking for a tracking device. If we send you to them, we will lose you. Cods know what they will do to you when they have you in their clutches.”
“They’ll kill you,” Gideon said. “I’m not going to allow that.”
“We don’t need a tracking device,” I said. I held Gideon’s gaze. “You’ll be able to find me, Gideon, through the mating bond
“No”
“You can.”
“It doesn’t matter if I can or not,” he said. “I am not risking your life for this. My carelessness nearly cost you your life once
10:13 Thu, Feb 19 M
Chapter 204
before. If I lost you now… if I couldn’t have you back…”
I placed my hand on his chest, right over his heart. Our mating bond burned brightly, binding us together.
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“I am not the fair maiden I once was,” I said. “I am a warrior, tried and true. I can fight for myself and I can live. I will hold on long enough for you to find and save me.”
“Claire… please don’t ask this of me.”
“I have to,” I said. “This is the only way. While that rogue group is out there, none of us will ever be safe. They’ll keep coming for you, for me, for our children. Gideon, I’m not just throwing my life away. I have no desire to be killed. I can do this. I know I can. I just need you to believe in me too.”
His face twisted in pain, and for a moment, he closed his eyes, shutting away the whole world.
He placed his hand over mine on his chest, keeping it prisoner.
“I would never win you by locking you in a cage,” he said. “You are a warrior. You are my Raven.”
He swallowed thickly and then opened his eyes. “You are my equal. You are capable. If this is what you want to do…”
“I do,” I told him.
“I have no choice, then. I won’t be the one to hold you back. You aren’t meant for a cage.” He inhaled, exhaled. It was shaky. “I hate this, but I will agree.”
AD
