I nodded, studying her face. Something had shifted during her conversation with Kenya. There was a new determination in the set of her jaw, and a vulnerability in her eyes that hadn't been there before.
"I'd feel better if we stayed in The Quarter tonight," I told her. "Just in case."
"Sure," she told me. "Let me just swing by my place and get a few things."
"I can ask Killian to wait. We can catch a ride back with him."
But she shook her head. "I like to walk."
After confirming the time for the next night, we said our goodbyes and walked in silence through the Garden District. The space between us felt both vast and nonexistent, the mate bond pulling us together even as Talin tried to keep her distance.
"What did Kenya say to you?" I asked finally.
Talin glanced at me, then away. "She told me about her and Alex. How they fought the bond at first. How they both almost died because of it."
"And?"
"And she said I was being an idiot." A small smile touched her lips. "Her words, not mine."
I couldn't help the answering smile that spread across my face. "Kenya was always my favorite."
By the time we reached the house, it was well past midnight. I guided her through the courtyard and to the backdoor. Inside, Talin set her sketches on the kitchen counter and turned to face me, her arms wrapped around herself as if for protection.
"We need to practice," Talin said, her voice steady despite the way her hands trembled. "I need to go deeper into the threads if I'm going to find Alex tomorrow."
I wanted to refuse. Every instinct screamed at me to keep her the hell out of there. But Killian's words echoed in my mind. Kenya was dying. We were running out of time.
"Fine," I said through gritted teeth. "But we do this my way. The second I sense danger, I'm pulling you back."
For a moment, she looked like she was going to argue, but then she nodded. "Here?" She gestured toward the front sitting room.
"No, let's go upstairs to my room so we're not interrupted when everyone gets back."
We went up to my room and she sat cross-legged on the floor, her eyes downcast while she waited for me. I settled behind her with my back against the foot of the bed, then pulled her back to sit between my legs.
She raised an eyebrow as I did it, but didn't say anything about the new position. "Ready?" she asked.
No, I wasn't. Not at all. But I wrapped my arms around her waist, physically anchoring her to me as much as I could. "Go."
The shift was immediate this time. One moment we were in my ordinary room, the next I could see the threads stretching out in all directions. Our bond blazed white-hot at the center, but Talin's attention was already elsewhere, following the electric blue thread that led to Alex.
She moved faster than before, more confident in her abilities now. The thread realm responded to her will, paths opening that had been closed just yesterday. I held tight to our connection, feeling her consciousness stretch further and further from mine.
Deeper, she murmured through the bond. I need to go deeper.
The blue thread pulsed weakly, like a dying heartbeat. Through Talin's perception, This time I felt Alex's presence when she did. And she was right. He was exhausted, drained, and barely holding on. Marcus was killing him slowly, siphoning his power drop by drop.
There, Talin breathed. I can see him.
The pocket dimension materialized around us, Or rather, around Talin's consciousness. A vast cavern carved from shadow and malice, its walls writhing with dark magic. Alex hung suspended in the center, his skin glowing with sickly light.
But that wasn't what made my blood run cold.
Marcus stood before an enormous ritual circle carved into the stone at Alex's feet, one that perfectly mirrored the binding points Talin had drawn. He was building something, weaving power into symbols that hurt to look at even secondhand through Talin's vision.
What the fuck is that?
Talin paused, but only for a second before she pushed closer, her consciousness straining against the boundaries of this dimension. The ritual circle pulsed with gathered power.
