The Bond and Other Curses || Book Two

CHAPTER 12 - TRITTEON

What was I doing? How could I have allowed that to happen? This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't mine. She couldn't be mine.

But I wanted her, more than I'd ever wanted anything.

I'd been stupid to lie to her about the bond not being in control. I didn't know any such thing. It was nothing but wishful thinking on my part. I wanted it to be true. I needed it to be true. The idea that this thing could have more control over me than Rilyin or Pharro's will was terrifying. That couldn't happen.

Just a few more days. She could wait a few more days. She had to. I needed a plan. I needed more information.

I paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, wringing my fingers together behind my head. What I'd heard in Cozmin's mind had been just as bad as Pharro had implied that night at the Rest House before we'd left. And now Orion knew that I knew. Keeping her focus on the compulsion side of this nightmare was no longer an option. But without a plan, I would never see her again. She deserved to know! She had just as much right to know as I did. But...I would lose her. ConCiagon would lose her.

A plan.

I shook my head hard. The taste of her was so distracting.

Where would I even start?

Cozmin.

The firelight turned shades of violet. There was no better time. And I really needed to figure out fast if she was going to be trustworthy enough to send back to Lord Atrius...preferably before he looked into her absence.

I settled myself as best I could and exited my suite. Rilyin's was still empty. The man was at the other end of the Palace conversing with Elizabeth Ophann, Pharro, and Ezlinn. It still startled me how easily I could hear them now, after Orion had broken down whatever block or wall I had unwittingly built up around my Vek over the years.

Orion was inside her suite though. I didn't just feel her. I could hear her. She was screaming profanities, having an angry conversation with her Lexicon, her voice choking on tears.

I paused in front of her door, resting my hand on the handle. How could I put her through this? She had every right to know.

But if she left...I wasn't the only one who would be affected.

I let go of the handle. I just needed a fighting chance...if not for myself, then for all of ConCiagon.

I managed to keep myself off Rilyin's radar all the way down to the holding cells. The entry guards had been replaced by Kovei who opened the huge, white doors the moment they saw me coming.

The overwhelming Oria Magic pulsed through the air as I stepped inside the expansive room, filled with the same white spherical cells the Rest House kept.

The guard, Warren Callos, standing to the left of the door, saluted. "Cell thirty-one," he said before I had to ask.

I nodded to him. "Thank you. Please wait outside until I have finished."

Only Warren's thoughts gave away his puzzlement and unease at my command. He had seen Cozmin's appearance when they brought her down here. But outwardly, he remained emotionless and saluted again. "Yes, sir."

The white doors closed behind me, and I made my way down the steps toward the fourth row. But I paused as the cell to my left, glowing brighter than the ones around it, caught my eye.

Angquin.

With the way I was feeling, if I spoke to Cozmin right now, there was a very good chance her generally insolent attitude would set me off. I needed a moment or two to square myself, to be able to think clearly, and I hadn't spoken with Quin since the Rest House, after I had seen the mark Daniel had placed on her. And Ezlinn Vasprey hadn't allowed me to see her earlier after we'd managed to get her into the cell without incident.