Page 76

He pulled a hand down his face with a heavy sigh. “Probably, to a degree. But we only have one heartstring each. You have all five.”

My stomach clenched at that, but no matter how much pain the charm caused, the alternative was much worse. I could bear anything if it meant keeping my guys safe. Blowing out a heavy breath, I raised the necklace to loop it over my head.

“Kulta, ei.” Rami stopped me with a big hand wrapped around my wrist.

“Rami.” I twisted in his lap and rested my forehead against his. “I have to. We need to know.”

Alaric’s phone pinged, and he pulled it out of his pocket.

Rami shook his head, rubbing his nose against mine. “Not until it’s necessary.”

“Fuck.” Ric’s curse landed like a grenade on the table. “It’s necessary. They’re at the gate, and it’s not the acolytes.”

Six different shades of panic burst in my chest.

“What?”

“Who is it?”

Alaric slammed his fist on the table with another curse, making the dishes rattle. “The Alphas.”

The Alphas. The heads of each Legacy bloodline, who, along with the Oracle, determined every aspect of gryphon lives and the academy that trained them. The guys had been bringing me up to speed in bits and pieces to avoid overwhelming me, but I knew some of the foundations. Like, while gryphons were claimed by a Legacy and therefore an Alpha, Hearts were considered the blessed children of Harmonia, goddess of balance and unity, and fell under the jurisdiction of the Oracle. That’s why we expected acolytes.

A knot of anxiety tangled with all the other trespassing emotions in my chest, and I rubbed at the ache. “I don’t understand. Why would the Alphas come?”

“A show of force,” Ric spat out. “Dominance games. My father⁠—”

I gasped, the realization like a suckerpunch to the gut. “Wait, Rami told me your dad is a politician. And a dick.” He hadn’t used that word exactly, but the sentiment had been obvious.

Ric huffed a humorless laugh. “That’s one way of putting it.” Then he fixed me with a look that was gravely serious. “It’s not enough to just hide the bonds. We have to act like they don’t exist.” His eyes moved around the table before circling back to me. “Do not let my father provoke you.”

Any argument I wanted to make died on my lips when I sensed his desperation. My chest tightened, and I closed my eyes. Part of me wanted to flee, to run back to my apartment and dive under the covers like none of this was happening. But the five heartstrings pulsing inside me had me straightening up and setting my jaw. These men were mine. Someday, everyone would know that.

But not today.

And before anyone could stop me again, I slipped the necklace over my head.

49

CORDELIA

The effect was immediate and breathtaking, like slamming a door on a cat’s tail. I doubled over in pain, nearly toppling from Rami’s lap. I couldn’t sense the guys anymore, not even a whisper, but their own grunts and gasps told me their experience wasn’t pleasant either.

I whimpered a curse, tears gathering in the corners of my eyes. My magic writhed in my chest, just as unhappy as I was. After a moment of trying to catch my breath, I realized there were hands on me, rubbing, soothing. It did little until Alaric cupped my face between his palms, and something about that skin-on-skin contact loosened the vise around my lungs. It didn’t erase the pain, but it made it easier to bear.

Lifting my eyes to his, I could see his torment, but the emotional resonance from our bonds had been cut off. I hadn’t really even realized how present their emotions had been until they were gone. It felt deeply wrong.

“Are you alright?” Ric was asking, thumbs stroking over my tear-dampened cheeks. The others were crowded around me, looking just as anxious.

“I’m okay.” Quinn tsked at my answer and pulled away. I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’ll be okay.” Then I put a hand over Ric’s. “This helps.” Too bad we had to hide that from the Alphas too. “What about you?”

“Don’t worry about us,” he said before anyone else could. “We’ll survive.” He pressed a fleeting kiss to my lips. “Stay here while Rami and I let them in.”

After one more squeeze around my ribs, Rami passed me to Bellamy, who boxed me in against Lucian. There was a slice of pain until Luce’s hands slipped under my shirt to rest on my waist.

“It’ll be alright, Blue,” Bel murmured as Ric and Rami left, Quinn trailing behind them. He peppered my face with soft kisses. “We’ll get through this, and then you can take that fucking thing off.”

He sounded so sure, I couldn’t bring myself to correct him yet. Because we didn’t just have to hide the heartstrings from the Alphas right now. We had to hide them from an academy full of potential threats. I really hoped we didn’t have to do it for long.