Nature is not a place to visit 40

Chapter 40
*“Wrath is the desire to repay what you’ve suffered.”*
*Kaveh Akbar*
I braced my body for impact, but it never came.
The force of Ambrose’s magic might’ve thrown me back, but it didn’t let me crash into any of the bookshelves or the
stone wall.
When I opened my eyes again, I’d been lowered to the stone floor and injury-free.
Unfortunately, the rest of the study hadn’t fared as well.
Several of the bookshelves had toppled over in the blast of magic, ancient books splayed out and probably ruined.
Not that I had much time to really examine any of the mess. Just as I’d started to gain my bearings, there was a *crack!*
of thunder so loud I felt it in my bones.
“Ambrose!” I called, but the words were lost in the giant gust of wind that blew through the room. One of the only
standing bookshelves crashed to the floor and broke into pieces.
Ambrose didn’t seem to notice any of the damage he was doing.
Although he stood in the same spot with his back to me, I didn’t need to look at him to know he was staring at Nasaah’s
skeleton or that his eyes were consumed by the blue light.
There was another crack of thunder and more wind – so much that I struggled to even get on my feet. Books, broken
shelves, and other debris flew across the room, some narrowly missing me by inches.
I had to actually dodge to avoid a flying book thicker than my head.
*He doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he’s going to blow this whole place down if he’s not careful.*
As if the universe could hear my inner monologue, another gust of wind rocked through the study. A large cracking,
grinding noise followed, but this one didn’t sound like thunder.
I looked up and stared in horror.
That deep fissure on the ceiling hadn’t been there a moment ago.
My heart pounded fiercely in my chest. I needed to do something – and quick – or the ceiling was going to topple down
onto both of us.
“Ambrose!” I yelled, my voice muffled by the wind.
He didn’t seem to hear me. Whatever was happening to him right now, he wasn’t in control. I needed to get closer – or
as close as I could without getting knocked unconscious by flying debris.
This was the strongest wind I’d ever experienced, and I had to ground my shoes into the stone floor just to keep my
footing.
Fortunately, the spreading crevice in the ceiling of the study served as enough motivation to keep moving.
“Ambrose!” I tried again.
Still no response.
Hey there! Just a friendly reminder that if you’re not reading this book on n𝘰𝚟el5s.com, you might be missing out on the
complete story. Head over there to dive into the next chapter—it’s all free!
I took a deep breath, pushing myself forward until I was able to latch my fingers onto Ambrose’s bare shoulder. It
could’ve been my imagination, but as soon as I touched him, I could’ve sworn the wind lost some of its ferocity.
“Ambrose,” I said, still shouting over the wind. “I know you’re upset, but you’ve got to calm down! You’re going to blow
the ceiling off if you don’t.”
Ambrose turned to face me, and for a moment, I thought I’d gotten through to him. But then I saw how his face was
contorted in rage, his eyes still swallowed by the blue light.
My survival instincts screamed at me to get out of the study before it was too late, to run from his explosive magic.
But I didn’t listen.
I wasn’t going to leave my mate.
“They killed him,” he growled, and there was something more sinister, more menacing in his tone. It made the hair on the
back of my neck stand up. “This was a message for me. That symbol carved into his bones? That is *my* symbol.”
Ambrose’s skin was now tinged blue as if his magic was consuming him.
The wind picked up even stronger, whipping my hair around and nearly causing me to slip.
“I’m sorry,” I said. It didn’t feel like an adequate response to what was currently happening, but it was all I could think to
say.
“He didn’t deserve this. Those witches took everything from me – my home, my friends, the last thousand years of my
life,” he hissed. Rage bled into every single word. “And while they got to roam freely in *my* world, I was put down like a
feral dog for a millennium.” The blue tinge got brighter.
As panicked as I was to stop the magical tornado Ambrose’s magic was causing, his anger felt familiar at that moment.
It was the same anger, the same thirst for revenge, that I’d seen from Rae after the Blood Moon attack.
And somehow that realization was the only push I needed to find the right words to say.
I swallowed down my lingering fear and dug my heels into the stone floor.
“Ambrose,” I said, “I know you’re angry. I know you want revenge, and you have every right to want that.”
He was still looking at me, although I wasn’t sure how much he really saw me.
“But revenge isn’t going to reverse the last thousand years,” I continued, “The only way you’re going to get back what
they took from you is by moving forward. You can rebuild what they tried to keep from you.”
All I could hear was the wind rushing through my ears and the pounding of my own heart.
“And I know it won’t bring Nasaah back,” I shouted, “But you’re not alone in this new world. You don’t have to move
forward on your own.”
I grabbed his hand.
“I am your mate, and you are mine,” I said firmly, “And I’m not leaving. Even if you bring the ceiling down on us or blow
this study off the mountain, I’m sticking around.”
And I meant it.
Whatever survival instinct I had was nothing compared to the primal desire to comfort my mate.
Ambrose didn’t say anything for several seconds after I’d finished speaking, and I began to wonder if he’d even heard
me at all.
Then, just as quickly as it started, the wind in the room died down.
Debris stopped flying around the room. The blue light disappeared from his eyes, and I’d never been so relieved to see
the brown and blue of his irises as he pulled me into an embrace.
I didn’t hesitate to sink into his arms