Chapter 176 – Bedroom
–WARNER’S POV–
It smelled like the same damn tea.
10 min left
The floor beneath me was hardwood. Smooth. The walls were a dark wine red. Drapes hung low from the ceiling. The only light came from candles that weren’t there a second ago. There were no windows. No doors.
My breath caught in my throat, heart starting to race. I tried to stand up, and I couldn’t. It was like I was glued to the mattress.
“Sapphire,” I said carefully. “What is this?”
Footsteps. Soft, slow, deliberate. Like she wanted me to hear every step. She appeared from behind one of the drapes, calm as ever, like she’d just woken up from a dream and decided to drag me into it.
She was barefoot now. Her hair looked longer somehow, darker, like shadows were clinging to it. That stupid black top was the same, but now it looked silkier, more expensive. Or maybe the room just warped everything.
She didn’t say a word. Just walked to the edge of the bed and stared down at me.
“You’re not fighting it,” she murmured.
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Chapter 176 Bedroom
–
I swallowed. “Not fighting what?”
She reached out, fingers trailing lightly down my cheek.
I tensed. “Where am I?”
She leaned closer, sinking to the floor in front of me, her movements slow and seductive.
“This isn’t real,” I stated.
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She didn’t stop tracing her hand over my face. “It feels real, does it not?”
Her fingertip reached my jaw, slow and teasing. Her touch wast cool, but the heat it sent through me was anything but. I wanted to lean away. Or forward. I didn’t know. My brain was a mess.
“You’ve always been like this,” she whispered. “So sure you can resist anything. Pain. Magic. Me.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’re in my head. This whole room—it’s not real.”
She smirked. “Real is overrated. You think you can’t be influenced? Everyone can be influenced, Warner. Even you. Especially you.”
I gritted my teeth. “You done psychoanalyzing me yet?”
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Chapter 176 – Bedroom
“Not even close,” she whispered, inching closer. Her knee brushed mine.
My pulse jumped.
10 min left
She leaned in again, lips near my car. “I could give you everything you want. Even the things you won’t admit out loud.”
I turned my face sharply, and she paused.
“You’re not special,” I said. “You’re just lonely. You use magic to make people feel things that aren’t real. It’s pathetic.”
She pulled back slowly, eyes fixed on mine. “You think I do this with everyone? I don’t. Do you have any idea what it’s like to feel everything? I walk through the world and everyone’s emotions cling to me. Their desires, their regrets, their secrets—they’re like static. I can read them without trying.”
Her voice was shaking a little now, softer. “But not you. Never you. Your aura’s always shut. Blank. Like a locked door I can’t open. And for years, it drove me insane.”
I didn’t respond. My throat felt tight.
“Do you know what that does to someone like me?” she asked, stepping closer again. “To not be able to feel what you’re thinking? To not know if you even cared where I was? That I changed? Got stronger?”
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Chapter 176 Bedroom
10 min left
I stared at her, my eyebrows furrowing. She didn’t look like a witch or some untouchable mystery. She looked… sad. Tired.
She reached out again, this time slower, her fingers brushing the edge of my jaw. “I don’t want to control you. I just wanted to understand you. I wanted to know if there was ever something real between us. Or if I imagined the whole thing.”
I exhaled sharply. “Sapphire–”
“Don’t,” she said, dropping her hand. “Don’t say anything just to make it easier. I already know the answer.”
The silence stretched. My heart thudded in my chest. I hated how much I didn’t hate hearing all of that. I hated that part of me almost reached for her hand.
“We met once, Sapphire. One time. I didn’t save you because I loved you. I just did. Without any reason. I saw you in trouble and I helped. Even if you could read every thought I ever had, you would still get the same answer.”
Sapphire leaned in again, her lips brushing against my car, making me shiver.
And then there were sparks. Tingles erupting through me.
My jaw clenched.
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Chapter 176 – Bedroom
“Liar,” she whispered.
A growl left my lips, eyes turning black.
10 min left
Sapphire sucked in a breath, backing away from me, her eyest
wide.
“How dare you?” I asked, standing up from the bed.
She stood straight, stepping away.
“What did you just do?” I said, storming up to her.
Her back hit the wall, and she froze, looking around like she was stuck in her own dream.
“Did you just make me feel that?” I asked through a clenched jaw. “Are you trying to fool me into thinking you’re my mate? You think I’m an idiot?” I slammed my hand against the wall, making her let out a small yelp.
She placed both her hands on my chest and pushed, hard enough to make me step back.
Her eyes glistened with tears, and she clapped her hands once.
The candles blew out.
The bed vanished. The room rippled and tore like paper, folding in on itself.
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And I fell.
Hard.
10 min left
I hit dirt and rolled, groaning. Everything was spinning.
The scent of tea still clung to my skin. My heart was racing.
Zane was nearby, groaning too. “What the hell just happened–?”
I sat up. We were back in the clearing.
But the cottage was gone. Completely.
Just an empty patch of forest.
