Ashlin pov

The night air was refreshing against the heated tears that streamed down my face. I retreated to the tree line, finding a tree and a branch to sit upon. Godric followed behind me, floating up to the branch that I was on and sat down with me, facing me. The position that I took made it hard for Godric to pull me into his arm, so instead he took to running his hands over my thighs or face. I didn't know what to say, so we just sat for a while as I exhausted myself.

I brought my hands up to wipe at my tears, but Godric caught them before I could. He leaned forward, releasing them and cupping my face, kissing away my tears with light touches of his lips. I sighed, my breath coming out jagged.

He stayed silent, choosing to caress the bond we shared with reassurance. I could barely feel it, but it was still there. I didn't trust my voice at the moment, but I still spoke softly, knowing he would still be able to hear me.

"Why would he do that? I understand he needs to feed, but he doesn't need to…" Another sob forced its way through my lips, tears threatening to spill over yet again.

"I know. I will speak with him later. I suggest you speak to him tomorrow, so you can calm down some and speak with a clear mind. Would you like to go home now?" Godric's voice was gentle and soothing.

"Which one?" I had a home with Eric and Godric, but we had never talked about me staying with them permanently.

"Either. Though if you want to return to our house, you do not need to sleep in the room we share with Eric." There were plenty of spare rooms.

"I want to go home with you."

Godric nodded, scooping me up in his arms, and brought up back to the ground, carefully avoiding any branches on the way down. "I can feel your fatigue. Would you be alright if we left now?"

I nodded, right now I was tired, exhausted from emotions. "Please."

Godric and I left without saying another word to anyone. Godric continued to follow me when we arrived at the house. I gathered some of my things from the room we shared, grabbing one of Eric's shirts as well out of habit. We retreated to one of the spare rooms, and once I had finished in the bathroom and changed, Godric pulled me into another hug.

"I will figure this out. Try to get some sleep, I will rest with you later, but for now, do you want me to stay until you fall asleep."

"Please." Godric pulled back, kissing my head.

We settled down in the bed together, Godric holding me, as I fell into an uneasy darkness.

Eric pov

I paced the living room, waiting for Godric to come to speak with me. I had pulled the fake woman off my lap as soon as I heard my mate at the door of my office. The woman's facade dropped as soon as she hit the floor, and the image of my mate dropped from her face. The bond I shared with Ashlin had been flooded with crippling emotions, where Godric simply shut out beon, something that I had hoped to never feel again. I had chained the woman in the basement, gagging her to prevent her from speaking. I was almost certain that she was a witch or working with one, otherwise she would not have been able to look like my mate. I was angered that I had let such a thing slip past me, it had clearly begun to cause serious damage to our relationship.

I left shortly after Godric and Ashlin when Pam had notified me that they had left.

Godric came into the living room with a blank expression on his face. When Godric was truly upset, he drew a blank face, one that I have only seen a few times before directed at me, and each as equally terrifying. I bowed my head, kneeling before him as he stood in front of me. I knew I had hurt my mate, I had hurt Godric, the only thing I was receiving from him was the steady thrum of his life source. I didn't say a word, waiting for Godric to speak first or decide upon a punishment.

"Explain yourself, Eric." His voice was calm and eerie.

"I was an idiot in a situation where I should have been paying attention. I acted stupidly and blindly, and for that I have no excuse. I ignored the bonds I shared with you and our mate in favor of focusing on my work. I should have had a small part of my attention on them, if I had, I would have recognized that the woman in front of me was not my mate as she appeared to be."

"Wait, you were unaware that the woman on your lap was not our mate?"

"Yes. I believe her to be a witch, and she is currently chained in the basement of Fangtasia."

"We shall deal with the offending woman tomorrow, and while I recognize that the situation we have been placed in is not entirely your doing, there has still been harm caused that you need to rectify. I will speak to Ashlin tomorrow about it, and I suggest you do the same. But an apology needs to come first." Godric placed a hand on my shoulder, a signal for me to stand. "I will be resting with Ashlin today. Good day, Eric."

I stood with a sigh, it was still a few hours until sunrise, so I busied myself with work in my office. Though, it was hard to concentrate after causing such harm to my mate, even in her sleep she was pained. I could only hope that I would be able to fix the harm I have caused.

Ashlin pov

Godric was curled around me when I was startled out of my sleep by my own poor dreams. I relaxed in his embrace, trying to fall back asleep, still so tired from the emotional upheaval of last night. All I wanted to do was fall back into sleep, but all my attempts failed.

I reluctantly crawled out from under the soft covers, and out of Godric's arms, and prepared for the night ahead.

I landed in the library sometime later, buried in a book to escape the current reality. A silent knock on the door brought my attention away from my reading. Eric walked in, closing the door gently behind him as not to disturb the serene atmosphere. His usual stature was gone, his head hung low and his back was slouched as if all of the world's burdens rested on his shoulders. And when he looked at me, there was blood pooling at the corners of his eyes. He knelt before me, startling me. It was not in his nature to show submission.

"Eric?"

"I deeply regret my actions the previous night, and beg for your forgiveness. My actions were inexcusable. I should have known it was not you, and paid better attention to my surroundings. I have made a mistake, and I hope to earn back the trust I once had, but I will understand if you are willing."

My brows furrowed at Eric's words. "What do you mean by you 'should have known it was not me'?"

His icy ocean blue eyes met with mine. "I truly believed that you were the one in my lap. Based on what happened when you were in the doorway, I believe it was a magical illusion and the woman was a witch."

I moved into Eric's lap, tucking my head comfortably under his chin. Eric wasn't completely at fault, but it still hurt. He buried his nose into my hair and wrapped his arms tightly around me.

"Under the circumstances, I forgive you. It will take a little while before I can trust you completely again, but I will try."

"Thank you, min Valkyrie." He whispered against my head.

Godric pov

I stepped out of the shower with contentment and gratitude thrumming through both of my bonds. I was glad they talked, or so it seemed like it.

I found them in the library, holding each other in front of one of the cushioned chairs. I sat beside them on the floor, making them aware of my presence. Ashlin lifted her head, bringing Eric's gaze up to me as well.

My angel spoke first. "We need to talk."

"I know."

She began to try to move from her spot on Eric's lap, but he held her in place, and she relaxed back into his hold. "I missed holding you today, I want to hold you for a while longer."

"I have some idea of what happened, and I plan for us to go to Fangtasia to find out where the witch came from."

She closed her eyes, nodding against Eric's chest. "Do you need me to come with you? I could try to get into her head."

"Maybe, we don't quite know how powerful the one who tricked Eric is, so I took the liberty of calling in another witch to help."

"Alright." She patted Eric's chest, getting his attention. "Eric, let me up, we need to go."

Eric would not let her go, taking full advantage of his strength as a vampire. I watched their small dispute, chuckling at my angel's annoyance. My amusement only grew when she turned her head and bit Eric's arm, though not hard enough to draw blood. It did not pain him, but it was enough of a shock to him that she was able to wiggle out of his arms.

"Are you sure you're not a vampire?" He asked, mockingly rubbing his arm.

"Positive."

Eric shook his head with a laugh, and he stood with the rest of us. "Even if you are not a vampire, I still adore you."

I moved to kiss the top of her head. "As do I, min lilla sol (my little sun). We are ready to go when you are."