Page 12 of Bonded Ever After

“We do.”

“Then what’s your solution?”

“I–I don’t know,” I say, “but I’m going to come up with one.”

“In three days?” she asks, sounding desperate.

“Three days?” I repeat.

“That’s when the physical is. Then they’ll know, and it’ll be too late to pin Ferone as the father… unless he and I work something out.”

I come closer and touch her arms. She steps away from my touch, and my hands fall. “I’m going to come up with a solution, okay? I swear it.”

“Are you willing to gamble with our child’s life on this?”

My hands clench. “Please, just give me until the physical. I’ll come up with a plan.”

She doesn’t look convinced. “I’ll give you two days. If you don’t have an idea before then, I’m going forward with my plan.”

I try to hug her, but she steps away.

Fuck.“I know I hurt you, but thank you for giving me this time.”

The sadness in her eyes tears at my heartstrings. “Two days, Callum. Then, no matter how hard it is, no matter how angry you get, I’m following through with my plan. This baby is too important to risk otherwise.”

I try to think of something to say. Something that will fix the hurt between us. Something that will make her realize just how much I love her. “I would do anything for you. Anything at all.”

“Except trust me, it seems,” she says quietly.

My heart aches. “Elora–”

There’s a sound in the house. We both turn and look into the shadows. I glance back at Elora and see her wide eyes. She rushes for the door and slips out. I want to go after her, but instead I tear through the house, looking for the source of the sound, and find no one and nothing.

Maybe it was just the house settling.It probably was, but I hate that it frightened her. There was so much left to say. So much left to do. But for now, I have to focus on the problem in front of me. I need to find a way to protect my baby and the woman I love, without losing them to another man.

And I need to be sober to do it.

SIX

Elora

Sprawled on my bed the next morning, I stare at another page in my mother’s journal. I’d read all of them, but many of the pages contained cryptic notes. One, she spoke incessantly about a well-pruned bird draped in gold that was cowardly and greedy, but that had a speck of gold in its heart. She said she wouldn’t trust the bird with much, but that she had one weakness. It didn’t make sense to me. I knew she wasn’t talking about a bird, but I couldn’t figure out who the hell shewastalking about.

She also wrote about my dad. To no one's surprise, she describes him as an amazing husband and father. There were plenty of entries about my daily life with the two of them, and it seemed most of our days were filled with laughter and fun. She describes me nicely, but the stories paint the picture of a passionate child with a bit of a temper.

All of it made me smile.

Then there was the blueprint of a building. I’d be comparing it to a map of Paradise Falls, but I couldn’t seem to figure out which of the science buildings the blueprint was modeled after. I sigh and set the journal and blueprint on top of the advertisement for the new science center building.

Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I try to figure out what to do from here. “You have to keep looking for clues,” I tell myself softly.

Turning back to the book and the blueprint, I pick them up, but glance at the advertisement as I do. I freeze, then pick up the advertisement and set it next to the blueprint.

“Holy shit.”

They’re a match.The new science center building has the same large opening as the blueprint and the same larger-than-average first floor. As I compare the windows, a sinking feeling grows inside of me. There’s no doubt that they’re a match, but why was my mom studying a blueprint of the new building? How is all of this connected? And why the hell would the Council remake the same exact building?

I need answers.

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