AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Gaining this bond was your objective for weeks,” I said, my voice wavering right along with my sanity because this made no sense. “You’ve tried to force it on me several times, and now that I come to you, you… reject it? Why?”
Another page flip.
Then, unconcerned silence.
Humiliation washed over me, hot and sticky. “For hours, I sat out there, thinking, pondering, working up the courage to come here and accept my fate, and for what? Malyr, you’re making me feel like a fool all over again!”
Another page flip.
Gods, this infuriating man!
“What of the shadows?” I took a strong step toward him. “Valtaris? Vhaerya?”
“It will remain lost to us as it has for a decade,” he said, his tone flat. “The premise of lifting the shadows distracted me, that much I will confess. A temporary lapse of judgment. My attention once again rests on my priorities, the promises I have given to myself, the vows I have given to others.”
“To kill Lord Brisden and King Barat?” I asked. “To conquer Dranada and take the throne at Ammarett?”
His jaws shifted.
Heat tingled my fingers, itching under my nails. “I lost my father. My nursemaid. Both of my mothers. They sacrificed themselves because they loved me. If I don’t lift these shadows and return the Ravens their home, then they died for nothing. For that, I need this bond!”
A page flip.
And then another one.
My anger coalesced, a terrible heat building inside me. And the fact that he said nothing? Didn’t even look up? Gods fetch that bastard, had he just flipped to the next page in his stupid book?
I stormed toward him, the layers of my dress whipping around me, knocked the book from his clasp, and sent it flying across the room before it thudded to the ground. “Whatever happened toyou will get this bond one way or another?”
Malyr shifted in a burst of shadows and feathers, only to reshape right in front of me, his sudden nearness sending me stumbling a step back until he snatched my arm, steadying me. “Whatever happened toyou would rather jump off a cliff before bonding yourself to me?”
His sudden proximity hit me like a wave, causing an alarming shudder to ripple through my frame. The warmth radiating from him seeped through my skin, winding its way into the deepest corners of my being. I could hardly breathe with the intensity of our closeness, with the blistering undercurrent of desire that suddenly charged the air around us. Gods, this couldn’t get any worse…
Then, it did.
Sebian stepped into the room, his eyes going back and forth between Malyr and me. “Did I miss something?”
Only the potential wreckage of his heart, apparently. “Nothing.”
Malyr looked at Sebian and released my wrist. “Your sweetheart asked me to bond with her.”
My heart plummeted to my stomach, all warmth draining from my limbs. I lowered my gaze to the ground, eyes trailing the gaps between Malyr’s naked feet, the grain of the floorboards around them, the specks of dust here and there… Anything that would keep me from seeing the disappointment in Sebian’s eyes, the pain, maybe even the betrayal.
Gods help me, I should have told him.
Footsteps resonated as Sebian walked over to us, his hand settling warm on my chin, giving a tug that brought my gaze to meet his. There was no pain in it, no anger, no betrayal. Instead, I saw… guilt?
I gulped. “I’m so sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” he said. “It’s not your fault I can’t properly take care of you and your void.”
“What? But… no.” I shook my head. “You always give me your shadows.”
“And we both know it’s not enough, not nearly. I know because I haven’t shaped an arrow in weeks. You know because your void is constantly hurting.”
My shoulders turned heavy because it was true. “That’s not why I decided to bond.”
Two frown lines appeared between his brows. “Then why?”
