Page 16 of Abel

She dismissed him with a wave of her hand.“My body is my own and I will do with it as I please.You don’t get a say in it until my body is yours.”

Remus wrangled in his anger, masking it was a nonchalant shrug.As he left the room, he cuttingly bit out, “Fair enough.Have your fun.”

Nyc laughed and gave a slow clap to his sister, who promptly flipped him off before she moved back to her father’s throne.“Glad you enjoyed the show.”

Esme’s secret still ate at Abel’s nerves.He had to find out what Remus was holding over her.He moved back to his place at the table, looking over a pile of papers with Nyc.

He tapped the tabletop and cocked his head.“Is there a contract?”

Esme scrunched up her nose.“Pardon?”

“Does Remus have a contract that your father signed?He’s a businessman, I can’t imagine him entering into this arrangement without a contract.”

Esme shrugged, but Nyc started digging through the papers in front of him.He pulled up a yellowed piece of paper and held it up while still going over the land records he had been working on.“Here you go.”

Abel snatched the contract out of Nyc’s hand and stood up.“Thank you.”

He headed for the door, but Esme called out.“Hey, where are you going?”

“I handle the business side for the Chalice and my father.”

“And?”She asked.

“I’m going to go over this contract until I figure out a way out of this.”

* * *

Abel sat in his office,swiveling his leather chair to look out the massive windows overlooking the underworld.It hadn’t taken him long to figure out a crucial part of the contract that no one had mentioned, but it didn’t hold much bearing on the current predicament.He leaned his head back, letting out a heavy groan.“What aren’t you telling me, Esme?”

A light knock on the door drew him out of his thoughts.“Come in.”

The door opened slowly and a familiar streak of bright pink hair rushed in, followed by Mika.“Good evening, Mr.Primis.”

He laughed and shook his head.“I thought we were on a first-name basis.”He motioned between the two females and added, “Since when do you two travel in a pack?”

Zap flopped down in a nearby chair and twirled her hair.“We ended up liking each other’s company instead of the crop of males at the speed dating.”

Mika gave a sly grin.“Or any other type of dating.”

Zap nodded in agreement and Abel nodded slowly, taking in the subtle admission.“Well, ladies, why are you here?”

Mika sat on the edge of his desk, gracefully crossing her legs like she was a movie dame in an old Hollywood private dick mystery.She pointed down at the contract.Abel instantly sat up.

“You know something?”

Mika smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes, which made Abel’s stomach drop.“Of course, but I’m not here to tell you what it is.”

“What?Why?”

“It’s not my place.”Mika ran her hand over the rough paper, and he could see the deep sorrow she held.“I’m here to tell you to go talk to her.”

“I don’t even know what to talk to her about.”He growled.

“Sure you do.Deep down, you knew the moment you read the contract.”Mika glanced over at Zap, who sat uncharacteristically quiet and somber, before looking back at him.“Talk to her.Don’t accuse, don’t get mad.She needs you to be gentle, and she needs someone to give her the love that she believes she doesn’t deserve.”

A knot of dread grew inside of him, as if his very soul knew his world was about to end, and he would lose Esme forever.Standing up, he swallowed hard before squaring his shoulders.

“Thank you, Mika.”He glanced at the fairy still sitting in the chair.“Thanks, Zap.”

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