Page 40 of A Cruel Kindness

“Excuse me?” I snapped, not at all pleased with his tone.

Soren blinked, his face clearing of anger. He dragged his hands down his face, and when he dropped them, he looked considerably more pleasant. Good. “I had this thought when Peter first told me about you—before I knew it was you—that I would try to kill a branch if you ever tripped over it.”

Oh.

Well.

You should let him light it on fire. That sounds warm, the Bond decided to jump in. The first time it decided to speak to me on this side of the Bridge and it sounds like a pyromaniac. Cute.

More than the shock at what Soren said, I was taken aback by his brutal honesty. “Th-thank you. For explaining,” I stuttered out.

Soren just dipped his chin once, then extended his hand to me.

I hesitated, which made him say, “Don’t be dramatic. Hold my hand so you can look at everything.”

The problem was, I felt slightly too raw to touch him right now. But my desire to absorb my surroundings as quickly as possible, desperately trying to regain some footing, outweighed the fear.

Slowly, I stepped forward and slipped my hand in his. The second his fingers slipped through mine and curled up to rest on the back of my palm, my hand started pulsing.

Heat started slipping up my arm, growing further with each pulse, like waves climbing up the sand as the tide rose.

Oh, God help me. Well, I guess now that I was on Muli, I should really be praying to the Goddess for help.

Soren turned slowly, his hand squeezing mine. I didn’t know if he was even aware he’d done it. I forced myself not to focus on him, to try to go back to taking in Muli.

My gaze was slightly blurrier than it was before, but it was clear enough that I could pay attention. People were slowly trickling out of tents and cabins, called out by our arrival. As far as I could tell, they all looked to be from Vir.

Not that I’d ever met someone from Muli.

There was no real difference between our two planets. We spoke the same language, with only a slight accent to set us apart. Vir ended their words a bit harsher, making sure to enunciate, whereas Muli spoke with a more flowery tone that sometimes drowned out the pronunciation of certain letters.

The only thing that was different physically was that people from Muli were generally a bit taller, a bit bigger. It was a wildly unreliable way to judge between planets, especially when there was a hulking man holding my hand who was likely taller than most—regardless of which planet you called home.

Those who hadn’t Crossed were slowly trickling towards the main building in front of us, whereas those who had were approaching in pairs.

I looked behind me to see the two women who’d Crossed after me and Soren smiling widely, arms linked as they joked about something between themselves. Looking over Soren’s shoulder, I saw Ford and Esme walking next to each other, though there was a good three feet separating them.

I really needed to ask Esme how she quieted the Bond, because I’d go fucking crazy if I had it shrieking in my head all the time, with no relief to be found.

It took us another handful of minutes to climb to the softly slopping hill, during which I did my best to acclimate myself to my new reality and ignore the fact that there was still a base of terror threading through my body. There was a slight possibility that Soren’s touch was chasing away that fear, but that would be unwise to entertain.

After a set of steps that took so long to climb my legs started to burn, we’d made it to the main building. It looked more like a cozy inn tucked into the mountainside than the headquarters of a military operation.

It was more cared for than the base back on Vir. Simple, yes, but with a greater respect for aesthetics than the stripped down, functional design I was used to.

As Soren and I stepped through the doors, that difference only became more clear. The ceilings were high, supported by wooden beams and wrapped in soft lights that cast the room in a pleasant glow.

There was the same general layout as the base, with long dining tables and a malleable space that could fit every purpose, but all of the furniture was warm and wooden rather than the frosty metal I’d learned to deal with.

Still holding my hand, Soren pulled me toward the front of the room. I damn near tripped over myself when I passed by the kitchen, my nose filled with something that was rich and spiced.

Everything was so much … brighter here.

A distant pulse of envy and disappointment clenched my stomach tight. Things could have gone so differently. Our two worlds could have used the Bridge for trade, for swapping our planet’s individual wonders, rather than War.

Due to our harsher climate, Vir was blessed with rarer gemstones and stronger metals that made near-indestructible alloys. We had flora and fauna that were unique in their beauty and ability to thrive in environments that didn’t foster growth.

In just a few short minutes, I could tell that Muli was home to a cohesive, easy ecosystem that could have provided us with a share of food and other goods unique to their planet.