“No one else . . . survived those ‘experiments?’” I shook my head even before she’d finished speaking.
“No, not to my knowledge. There could be a place he’s hidden them, but I doubt it.”
Faylinn frowned slightly at my words. “So what’s the connection to the Life Bonds? Is it just another one of his twisted experiments?”
I shrugged. “Your guess is as good, if not better, than mine.”
Faylinn sighed, closing her eyes and leaning her head back before rubbing the heels of her hands over her eyes. The runes on her fingers winked at me as her hands moved.
“It’s not even like all the Life Bonds are the same,” she said, her words muffled by her palms. “The only ones that have atrueLife Bond are Asha and Ben. Everyone else has stinted effects—some can regenerate power quicker, others have the ability to heal each other. There’s only one pairing aside from Ben and Asha that can speak to each other telepathically. And each Mage and Vessel pairing only ended up with a singular power. Ben and Asha have them all—it’s what I imagine being a god would be like.” She huffed a laugh, and I froze.
“What did you just say?” A prickling sensation started at the base of my neck before cascading down to encompass each of my limbs. The rightness of my conjecture settled over me as my heart pounded faster. I leaned eagerly toward Faylinn, my eyes sparking with what I knew to be the truth.
“That Ben and Asha’s Bond is what I imagine a god to be like,” she said haltingly, hazel eyes searching my face before they widened in understanding. I vigorously nodded my head as I saw understanding dawn.
“Holy fucking shit,” she breathed, and I practically launched out of my chair to sweep her into a tight, bone-crushing hug. “HOLY SHIT!” she screamed as I twirled her around.
“That’s it, isn’t it?! That’s it!” she screamed into my ear as I set her down, keeping my arms wrapped around her back, pulling her body close to mine. It felt nice to have her close again, it was as if my blood still knew hers; like we were always tied together as one.
“He’s building a god-army,” I said lowly. Fay’s hands framed her face as I watched her eyes bounce around, clearly cataloging something in her head.
“It all makes sense now,” she admitted. “The Life Bonds, the experiments decades ago, marrying Ellowyn.”
I cocked my head slightly at that last statement. “What does Ellowyn have to do with it?”
“Oh, she’s an actual godling.” Fay waved one tattooed hand in the air like her admission wasn’t life-shattering.
I choked on my spit. “Excuse me? Godling?”
“Yeah. I’d reckon he was trying to build her an army . . .” She trailed off, eyebrows furrowed in thought. “Butwhy?”
The walls of the Academy shook suddenly, the desks in my classroom rattling as papers fell to the floor and dust cascaded from the ceiling to rest on every surface. It got caught in Fay’s curls, the black dust making her hair sparkle, but she stood frozen to the spot, eyes wide with fear, uncaring of the mess in her hair. My arms tightened around her instinctively, trying to protect her.
“What was that?” she whispered as the walls shook again, a deepboomrattling through the hallways. I heard the thundering of steps and muffled shouts of Academy professors and cadets as they scuttled past my closed door.
“Fuck,” I swore as a thirdboom, this one louder than the last two, shook the Academy so hard I thought the walls would crumble around us. Faylinn screamed when the door suddenly burst open. I tossed her behind me, shielding her with my body as I prepared to face whatever threat came through. Her thin yet strong arms wound around my waist and squeezed. I glanced down to see a knife in one of her hands, a slash already open on the other arm, her finger dipped in blood, preparing to draw a rune if necessary.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I roared as Sasori strode through the door like she belonged here. Instead of the Academy-issued tunic I was so used to seeing, she was encased in leather armor that bespoke of Samyr. Her long raven-black hair was pulled away from her face and came together into a simple plait down her back. Her face was hard, disgust curling her lip as she saw Faylinn cowering behind my body.
“I see you’ve replaced me already. With the General’s whore, no less. Do you share now, since you’re so loyal to him?” she hissed.
My expression hardened and my blood boiled at the sight of my estranged Bonded.
“What do you want, Sasori?” I bit out as Faylinn’s arm relaxed from my waist. She took a step to her right so our bodies were even, her shoulder bumping mine in comfort and solidarity. A quick glance showed that her face was devoid of any emotion, her lips set in a hard line as her blood softly dripped onto the floor, her fingers working to inscribe new runes along her forearms.
The Academy shook again—a deep rumble—and I almost lost my footing.
“We’re under attack,” she said as more cadets flew past my open door in varying states of undress.
“Under attack?” Faylinn asked what I was thinking. “By whom?”
Sasori said nothing, just stared at Faylinn with unbridled hatred and disgust.
“Get dressed, Lex, and find Ilyas, then report to the mess hall for your orders.”
Plans and contingencies immediately ran through my mind, best defense locations, and which task forces would be deployed and where.
A headcount. We need a headcount.
