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“Prophêtis,” the more confident one began. “Do you have a moment to talk to Evanthia about her daimon soul bond? She has a lot of questions about bonding and could use your guidance.” And here was me thinking agathos were total prudes. Wasn’t bonding a sex thing? “I have explained what it is like for me, maybe it would be helpful to hear your experiences.”
“Oh, of course,” Grace replied, giving Evanthia a soft smile. “Are you okay to translate, Xenia?”
She nodded curtly and Grace stood, looking between Riot and Bullet. “Maybe one of you should talk to Ovie? Daimon-to-daimon? I know patience isn’t generally in a daimon’s nature…”
“I’ll go,” Riot volunteered, taking me by surprise. “We all know Bullet is a hermit.”
Bullet looked as surprised as I felt, watching Riot’s back as he and Grace headed toward the enormous table that ran the length of the covered porch.
“Iama hermit, but I would have thought that would make Riot want me to go talk to Ovie more. Maybe he’s forgiven me a little bit,” Bullet said with a wry smile, pulling out his tarot cards and shuffling them aimlessly. The gold figures glinted in the sunshine against the inky black card, and I watched them, slightly mesmerized at the familiar sight of them. I’d spent a lot of time staring at those images, inking many of them onto Bullet’s skin.
“He’s mad at you?” I asked eventually. The spot that Riot and Grace had vacated remained empty, leaving an awkward-sized gap between Bullet and I that neither of us shifted to fill. I wanted to be fine with him, to get back to the easy if inconsistent friendship we’d shared for the past few years since he moved away. I wasn’t sure we could, but I wanted to.
“Riot wanted me to do more to get you here. To tell you sooner, and he’s not wrong to feel that way, to be pissed at me. I had my reasons, but some of them were selfish too.”
There was a long pause, the quiet filled by the incessant sound of the cards shifting together. It was a heavy conversation for early on a beautiful morning—the blue water beyond the cliff glinted in the sunlight, the grape vines above where we sat providing a reprieve from the heat. Even the grunts and hits from the sparring Spartoi couldn’t detract from the peacefulness of this place.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Bullet continued eventually, his voice pitched low enough not to carry. “I knew if you just got here, my Amazing Grace would fall head over heels in love with you.”
I balked, twisting slightly to look at him. “Uh, I don’t think we’re quite there yet, man. We only met yesterday.”
Wehadkissed, but then I promptly ruined that whole experience by nearly fainting all over her.
Bullet’s lips twitched, his gaze fixed out on the makeshift training field. “But you’ll get there. She’ll get there. You’re going to make her smile so hard.” He shot me a sidelong glance, not quite able to hide the torture in his eyes. “Promise me you will.”
Everything about this conversation was making me nervous.
“What is this about, Bullet?”
“You know what this is about, Dare,” he singsonged, infuriatingly blasé. “My life is an hourglass, and the grains of sand are running thin,” he added in a deliberately dramatic, ominous voice.
“No, that’s bullshit. That’s… That’s something other Oneiroi have to deal with. You’re bonded to an agathos, your souls were destined for one another, there’s no way the gods would cut your life short.”
They wouldn’t be that cruel. I had to believe that, or what were we even fighting for?
“The length of our thread is determined when we come into this world. There’s no altering it.” He paused, giving me a sidelong look, and I got the feeling we weren’t talking abouthislife expectancy anymore. “I would have told you if there was. If there’d been another way.”
I nodded silently, my throat tight. “Grace said she got to meet… her. I’m grateful for that.”
“A generous gift from the gods of the underworld,” Bullet agreed quietly. “It’s not so bad down there. The views are great,” he joked weakly.
“Cool. I look forward to usallseeing them one day, after we’ve lived long, wonderful lives,” I replied firmly, giving him a hard look. Yes, he did appear slightly worse for wear, but I was refusing to believe that this was the end for him. Bullet was strong. Fierce.Constant. I couldn’t imagine a world without him in it.
“That’s the dream. Still, there’s no harm in you making a promise to make Grace smile every day. Wild is too serious and Riot is too moody, it’s gotta be you.”
“It’sgoingto beus, but I’ll do you one better. I’ll strike a deal with you.”
Bullet’s eyebrows shot up. “You’d risk Nyx’s wrath on the off-chance you can’t make Grace smile? You must be really confident in your sense of humor.”
I shrugged easily, sticking out my hand for him to take.
“I swear to make Grace smile every day or risk the goddess’ wrath,” I said solemnly. Bullet gave me a wary look, clapping his hand against mine.
“Deal—”
“And if you die before you’re old and gray, I’ll come to the underworld and fetch you myself,” I added quickly, not entirely sure if Nyx would hold me to it or not since Bullet had already said the magic word, but I hoped she did. I meant it.
Nyx’s magic rang out between our clasped hands while Bullet stared at me in wide-eyed horror, snatching his hand back. “Have you lost your fuckingmind?!”
