“So this was about keeping me safe?” she asked. “That's the justification you’re going with?”
“Partially,” he said wearily, as if this was difficult for him too. She forged ahead anyway, the hurt and utter betrayal fueling her.
“You know what I think? I think you kept it secret because you wanted to.” Tears burned in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “When were you planning to tell me, Brandon? After we'd slept together? After I'd given you everything? When I was so far gone that I'd forgive you no matter what you'd done?”
“I was going to tell you!” His voice rose to match hers. “I wastryingto find the right words, the right time?—”
“There is no right time to tell someone you've stolen their choice!” Muriel's magic surged again, and this time she didn't try to hold it back. The lemon tree's branches began to crack under the weight of ice. The air itselfchilled and crackled with energy, and moisture began to form rolling storm clouds along the ceiling. “There's no good way to say 'I bound your soul to mine and decided you didn't need to know about it.'”
Brandon's magic rose to meet hers—instinctive, protective, trying to contain the wild surge. But when his power touched hers, Muriel felt the mate bond flare to life between them. Felt his emotions flooding through the connection.
Guilt. Regret. Fear of losing her.
And beneath it all, a possessive need so fierce it made her breath catch.
“Get your magic out of me,” she snarled, attempting to yank her own magic back. The bond stretched but didn't break, and that—the knowledge that she couldn't even control her own emotions anymore, couldn't separate what was hers from what bled through the connection—was the final straw.
“I can't,” Brandon said quietly. “Neither of us can. That's what a mate bond is. We're connected now. Forever.”
The wordforeverechoed through her mind like a death knell.
Muriel sank back onto the cushions, the fight draining out of her. “God, I'm such an idiot. You're all the same, aren't you? Smooth talking manipulators that make women believe…” She trailed off, unable to finish.
“Don’t presume to know me because of one badexperience. You don’t, and I'm not your father,” Brandon said fiercely, fire in his eyes once again.
“Aren't you?” She looked up at him, and hated that even now, she wanted to get closer. To touch him. To feel his magic wrap around her, promising safety and a soft place to land. “You made choicesforme instead ofwithme. How is that different?”
“I didn’t choose this!” he roared. “Be angry with me for not telling you sooner. I deserve that. Be pissed that I wanted you to be able to hold your own when you walked out that door. I deserve that, too. But do not, for one minute, think I intended for this to happen.”
She’d never seen Brandon angry before. Never seen him lose control. But now, his hand was shaking as he raked it through his hair. Sparks of light now lit up the rolling gray clouds.
Muriel stood, her legs feeling like gelatin. She needed to get away from him. Needed space to think without his emotions bleeding into hers through that cursed bond. “I can't do this right now. I need space.”
She turned and fled to the guest room, closing the door behind her. Wards flared to life under her hands—instinctive magic creating a barrier between her and the man downstairs.
Between her and hermate.
The word made her stomach and chest clench in equal measure.
Muriel collapsed on the bed, finally surrendering tothe tears. Great, gasping sobs racked her whole body. TheCodex, which she'd somehow brought upstairs with her, hummed gently beside her as if offering comfort.
Because theCodexhad known too.
That vision it had shown her—all those keeper women and their mate bonds—it hadn't been a warning. It had been an explanation. Athis is your legacy, this is your fatemessage.
But what about choice? What about free will? Didn’t she have the right to decide who she gave her heart to?
She could feel Brandon lashing out below her. Felt his anguish like it was her own. The urge to go to him and to make things right was almost overwhelming.
But she couldn't trust those impulses anymore. Couldn't trustanythingshe felt, especially when it came to him.
Would she ever know what was real?
Her phone vibrated on the nightstand with a text message from Brandon.
Brandon:I'll be downstairs if you need anything. I'm not going to force you to talk to me, but... I'm here. Whenever you're ready.
Muriel pulled a pillow over her face and let herself break completely. Let herself mourn the trust she'd been building, the hope she'd been nurturing, the future she'd started to imagine.
