Chapter 23

~James POV~ I stared down at her. She seemed so broken. All I wanted was to hold her and tell her that everything would be okay, that her family never deserved her. But I didn't want to touch her. I wanted her emotions and words to be her own. She was so fragile and I knew I could make it all go away by simply holding her hand or leaning my forehead against hers, which was why I pulled back earlier. I didn't want to manipulate her answers, her emotions or her feelings. She was just a young girl going through something that no one should ever have to go through. The things her mother said to her made me want to run to their home and rip their throats out. I couldn't imagine what Avery was going through. I wish I could tell her we didn't have to get married. That it would be her choice. But it wasn't. It was nearly the truth when I had told her that the arrangement was written in stone. The witch that had stripped Avery of her powers, Natasha, also put a locking spell on Avery and me. We