Not theory.
Not hope.
Me.
Because I will not allow something like this to exist without my hand on it. Not when it could take him from me.
By the time I reach the central planning tables, my mind has settled back into structure. The emotional weight does not disappear, but it is contained, redirected into something functional.
Maps, notes, and Solan’s copied documentation.
I place my hands on the table and begin again. Because if I cannot sleep, I will work. And if there is a way to hold the world together, Iwillfind it.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
Being bonded isweird as hell. Seriously. I canfeelVarek. Not just in the vaguehe’s somewhere nearbyway I’ve gotten used to over the past couple of days, but properly—like a quiet pull in my chest that points in a direction and settles there. If I focus on it, I can almost track him. Not exactly. Not precisely. But enough.
Enough to know he slipped out of bed in the middle of the night without waking me.
Enough to know exactly where he is now.
He’s at the headquarters in the bowling alley that found its way into this dimension however many rifts ago.
I huff under my breath, arms folding loosely across my chest as I stand near the edge of the settlement, watching the steady movement of people coming and going. “Course you did,” I mutter. “Could’ve at least left a note.”
The bond hums faintly. It’s steady and calm. There’s no distressing pulse or urgency. All I sense is him—focused and working.
“Hey.”
I turn at the sound of a young voice—familiar in a way that hits something soft in my chest before I even register why—and blink.
Human.
Kid.
Aussie accent.
Right.
“—Oh, hey,” I say, straightening slightly. His name clicks into place a second later. “Jamie, right?”
“Yep. One and the same.”
The grin he gives me is bright and unapologetic, all curiosity and zero hesitation. He looks me up and down like he’s sizing me up, and I can’t help the small, approving nod I give him.
Sensible kid.
At his side is someone else. And yeah—thatgets my attention. I don’t even try to hide the curiosity this time. I just look.
The figure beside him is… not human. Not even close.
He presents as male, young at a glance—eighteen, maybe nineteen if I had to guess by human standards—but there’s something off about that assessment the longer I look at him. Not wrong. Just… incomplete.
His skin is almost translucent, catching the ambient glow of Dathanor in a way that makes him look faintly lit from within. Not glowing, exactly. Just… refracting. His eyes are a vivid, impossible blue, bright enough that they stand out even in a place like this.
He’s beautiful, unsettling so. He’s also currently looking at me as if I’m something he’s just pulled out of a box and isn’t entirely sure how it works.
