Page 174 of Ashborne Forged

“We have to find a way to turn this against them. To free me from it. What if we tell them I’m already pregnant by you? Then they’ll think—”

He shook his head, hands flying up as if he’d surrender, stepping back. “No, no, Grace. My mother already half-believes that. If she has it confirmed, she will hunt you to the ends of the earth. She believes my children will be the most powerful the world has ever seen. She would bring every resource at her disposal—Burk isn’t the only king she dangles in her web!”

I turned away, head whirling, swallowing hard. The world spun. So much to understand. So many answers—yet they raised so many more questions.

“Grace, listen to me!”

“I’m trying to see the whole picture,” I breathed. “They believe if I have a baby that it will be powerful—I understand that. But why is your child a greater risk? And two different men? Why marry me off if they both want to do this?”

He stiffened again, and the expression on his face chilled my blood. He looked horrified and terrified, and as if everything within him raged.

And suddenly, the bond shut down. That cord that tied our hearts, went silent. The channel between us hollowed, darkened. It didn’t leave my heart, but the sense of him, the unity—

‘Your mate hides himself,’ Koa interjected. I blinked in shock. I still forgot she could see and hear most of what I did, if she was paying attention. I’d grown so used to the sense of her close, I forgot she lived at my side.

‘What do you mean? What’s he hiding? Is he dark, Koa? Is he lying about—’

‘No. No, no. The mate… he is…’ I felt her frustration and tried not to push. Knew she would find the words. ‘Kham says it is blocking. He blocks himself from you.’

‘He’s blocking the bond?’ My eyes went wide, and Voski pleaded with me silently, but Koa chittered again.

‘His heart does not leave yours. Your souls braid, still. He is…’

“What are you trying not to tell me? After all this, Voski. What would you possibly want to hide from me?”

His face crumpled and he shook his head. ‘I don’t want to scare you.’

‘I am more frightened by the unknown, than the villain I can see clearly. Especially in the dark. Tell me.’

He raked a hand through his hair. ‘They believe if you speak vows to Breckon, it will ignite the fire of your power. A spark. Wake something dormant. They need you committed. That is what ignites the Cruor blood. You are innocent. Ignorant of the old ways. The most precious kind of pure.’

I flinched. ‘Not anymore—but you’re worth more than my virginity—’

‘That’s not the purity I meant. The… the vows. You are… untethered. And that means the one you vow to will make your blood come alive. And if they can make you offer that vow without awareness that’s what you’re doing, if they can trick you into it, the power is even greater. At least, that’s what they believe.’

I swallowed. ‘Do you think it’s real?’

His face grew haggard. ‘I have wished to believe that the things my Mother does aren’t real since I was a child. But I cannot deny, her spells move the course of people’s lives. Change their minds. Her power… there is something in it. All of it. That is why kings have her in their quarters, and powerful, wealthy nobles listen to her advice. Because they’ve seen the proof of it, too.’

I dropped my face into my hands, shaking my head.

Dear God. Rituals… old blood… Cruormancers… ignorant vows, sparking magic—

I blinked, and snapped my head up to look at him. Voski was miserable, but poised. Ready for action. “Then we have to do it!” I hissed.

He frowned. “What?”

“The vows, these vows you’re talking about—you have to ignite the spark in me—”

‘Abso-fucking-lutely not!’ He tore toward me, crossing the space between us in a blink, his eyes alight with rage. ‘You never speak a Cruor’s vow, Grace. Never! Do not dirty your soul with that putrid shit and tie yourself to one of them—’

I put my hands up to soothe him. ‘I didn’t mean—’

But he kept coming, descending on me, fear and anger boiling his blood. ‘You give me your word, you will never even consider it!’

‘Of course not—not in truth! I only meant—’

‘This isn’t a game, Grace! It’s not an adventure. These people rule. They take lives. And they’ll take yours—and I don’t mean in death. I mean they will take you. You never breathe a word any of them tells you to speak!’ He loomed over me, my upper arms in his grip, his eyes somehow showing whites while he snarled. ‘Promise me!’