SPELLBOUND

"Fine, I'll tell you what's troubling me right now. And no, I had no chance to talk to him about this matter as of yet." Evie told him. "Also, because I knew you're the one who can answer my questions regarding this." Her voice weakened a little at the end of her last sentence.

She was not sure if it was the right thing for her to ask. But she really needed to deal with this matter too. It really was driving her nuts! She would not be able to hide this any longer from Gavriel, knowing how perceptive he was. He would definitely notice her troubled condition sooner or later and begin to probe about it. Moreover, she knew that this talk should be done with Gavrael as he is the one who has the dark fae side.

"Uhm… Gideon… your brother, had recently completed forming the mating bond with his mate, Vera." she told him, and Gav's brows creased, confused at the mention of Gideon. "I am just curious Gav…" she paused. And there was hesitance in her voice now. "When… when we were together in the past… did anything got triggered between us? What I meant to say was… back then, did our… mating bond… got triggered at any point when I was with you? And that… was I your… mate then?" her question came out so broken and with intermittent stops that she was afraid Gav would not be able to catch her meaning.

Evie did not even realize that she was holding her breath as she waited for his response eagerly, but at the same time, with trepidation as well. He looked surprised at her question, much more shocked than expected. And she could not help but bite down on her lips and fake a smile.

"Looks like you've never once thought of our mating bond before." She said quietly, voice full of dejection as she let herself fall on top of him and rested her face on his shoulder. "Don't worry about the question, I was just being curious. I just can't help but wonder… what if… one day you end up meeting your destined mate and… and it wasn't me?" Her heart trembled violently within the confines of her chest as she said that. Gav then wrapped his arms around her so tight.

"Do not worry about that, Evie." He said firmly, as though he was sure of the matter. "Yes, I'm a dark fae but I think that because of my vampire half, I won't be like all the other dark faes who have their destined mates."

"But that's not something you should be so sure about, Gav." She murmured weakly and Gavrael rose, making her look at him.

"I don't care about mating bonds. You're the only woman for me. No one else, mate or not, can compare to your value in my life… never doubt that." He said firmly, like there was nothing in this world that he was more certain about but that.

Evie smiled at him, and she exhaled as she rested her face on his shoulder. "Thank you." she uttered before she allowed her eyes to flutter close. "But I still can't sleep Gav, could you use your magic to put me to sleep? Since you have been insisting for me to rest, you might as well help me in this." She requested and Gavrael stilled. But eventually, he casted the spell and Evie slowly dozed off in his embrace.

He held her like that for a long while before laying her down on the bed and watched her angelic sleeping face. He would never get tired of watching her beautiful face be it when she was awake or in sleep. Staring at her beautifully curved cheeks that were so fair curved down to that slender neck only made him want to nip and lick along that line.

After watching her for hours, Gavrael hugged her tight and he descended deep within himself. He wanted to speak with his other idiot self. Since Gavriel had caged him that day, he had never reached out and spoken to him again. That moment was the first and last time they had faced each other.

The moment Gavriel saw him, he lifted his brow in question. This idiot would willingly return to this place? Something must have happened.

"Something's troubling her." Gavrael immediately shot out. But Gavriel remained calm, not looking surprised at all.

"Well… she'll continue feeling a bit troubled so long as the two of us are going about exchanging places like this. Our situation is very weird no matter how much we all try to understand the circumstances. And the only thing we can do right now is accept it – no matter how hard it seems to be. I thought something will change once I accepted you. But it turns out that I'm wrong." Gavriel said, sighing.

"It's too late for you to regret not letting me disappear –"

"I need you." Gavriel cut him off. "You and I both know that. And don't behave as though you really wanted to go. You and I both know you were dying to stay. This war is also another huge trouble that is brewing, and I am more than certain you have a huge role to play in this." he paused, and his calm grey eyes gleamed as he looked at Gavrael.

The calmness in his eyes then suddenly wavered and Gavrael saw a hint of fear in them. He thought at first Gavriel would talk about the mating bond. But by the look of him right now, he felt like he's being troubled by something much more serious than that, even more serious than the war.

"About Evie's pregnancy…" he started and Gavrael slightly frowned, never expecting that topic at all. "I heard that a woman who died before was not supposed to… ever get pregnant… So, tell me… Evie's circumstance is completely different from… from King Sarion's wife, right? Evie… indeed died once. But what you did was to turn back time instead of reviving her. That's why it's going to be a totally different situation, right? Gavrael?" and his slate grey eyes lifted to look into Gavrael's electric blue ones, full of worry and fear.

Thank you for the birthday wishes spellbounders! And for those who came and supported my comic on tapas, i can't thank you guys enough.. Again, thank you. You guys are the best! ♡♡♡