The corners of Logan’s lips pull up at their banter. “Ava’s waiting for me in bed.”
“You’re staying here tonight?” I ask.
“Yeah. We’re heading back to the pack tomorrow.”
I wrap my fingers around his shoulder. “Don’t despair, okay? We’ll protect Ava at all costs.”
He nods, face stoic, and strides out.
The silence that follows is oppressive because it only serves asa reminder thatsheleft me. So, I spin on my heel and let my eyes sail over the charcoal drawing of the angel bowing on one knee, perched atop the fireplace—my only source of comfort in the eight years I have watched her from afar. Cursed to remain in the shadows while she moved on with her life. Drinking in her smiles while dying inside because I wasn’t the one who put them there. So close but always too far.
Iris’s talent never ceases to amaze me. Even though I’ve found myself in this exact spot countless times before. She knew how I felt about my scars. How every time I looked in a mirror, all I could see washim—his hatred not only carved into my mangled flesh, but into every fold of my brain…into my goddamn soul. So she drew it for me. Specifically for my back, which carried the worst of the abuse. Iris healed every part of me. With her glow. With her friendship. With her love. Accepting the guardian bond was the easiest decision I have ever made.
I shuffle down the stairs, avoiding the creaky step in the middle, and flatten myself against the hallway’s wall to listen. Iris’s parents have been fighting for the last twenty minutes in the living room. They probably think we’re both sleeping. And while Iris is curled up in my bed since she snuck into my room an hour ago—just like she always does when I visit—I couldn’t close my eyes. Even blinking is torture because, in the darkness, today’s events keep coming back in terrifying flashes. What sucks most, though, is the lingering dread. Because I couldn’t find her.
So much for my promise to always protect her. I thought I sounded so heroic, like in the movies. But at the end of the day, my actions only demonstrated I’m just a dumb fucking kid. Today was close—too close. And it’s all my fault. I swear I only turned my back on her for two minutes while buying her cotton candy, and she was gone. I should have never taken Iris to that fair. But she begged me with those iridescent sea-glass eyes.And I’m so weak for her. If the fact that I stole her away wasn’t enough, we also rode on my new bike. Stupid fucking decision because if her dad doesn’t bite my head off, Eliana sure will. I cringe just thinking about the three-hour lecture awaiting me tomorrow. Eliana is scary as hell when she’s mad.
“You can’t force a guardian bond on him. If Iris”—Eliana’s voice breaks—“d-dies, Kaiden will suffer the same fate. It’s not fair. Iris would never want that. He’s already sacrificed so much by joining the Conclave and doing Mammon’s bidding. Plus, we don’t even know if it’s going to work, since he’s a hybrid.”
“Then we’re not going to tell her,” Iris’s dad says.
She huffs. “I already agreed on that damn barrier you want to put in her head. And Kaiden’s just a kid. You can’t blame Iris for wanting to experience the real world for one day, and you can’t blame him for giving that to her. What happened today is our fault because we’ve transformed every house we ever lived in into her prison. A cage is still a cage, no matter how you paint its bars.”
Iris’s father swears sharply under his breath. “Do you think I don’t know that, El? Kaiden’s fifteen, and wise beyond his years. As much as it hurts to say this because I love him like a son, he was never a kid. Not when I broke him out of his cell at only nine years old, and not now. What that motherfucker Raphael did to him altered him forever. But with a guardian bond, he would be able to feel any time Iris is in danger and track her anywhere. We almost lost her today, and at the hands of scumbag humans of all creatures,” he spits out the last words as though they’re venomous.
He heaves out an exhale, then his tone softens. “We have to face the truth, my love. We will not be here forever. Not with all the lightborn we’ve killed so far. There will come a time when Kaiden might be everything she has left. I’ll explain whata guardian bond means, and he will be the one to make that decision.”
“I still think it’s a bad idea. Especially since we’re still not sure if they’re already empyreal soul-bonds. I mean, have you seen how they look at each other? Iris has been saying they’re soulmates since the first moment they met, and she was only five. I thought it was a childish crush or she was repeating our bedtime stories, but she stayed steadfast in her belief to this day. If we put a guardian bond on top of that, what will happen?” Eliana takes a deep breath in. Blows it out. “I’ve made my decision. The barrier is where I draw the line. We’re not getting Kaiden—”
“I’ll do it.”
I step into the room and meet both of their surprised gazes with a determination made of steel. Not only is tying my life to hers an honor, but a world where Iris is no more is a world I refuse to live in.
Eliana was right, after all. We are soul-bonds. Though I shouldn’t have been surprised when it snapped into place, because deep down I knew it from the second I saw Iris for the first time. I close my eyes and look inward to the two woven threads—one violet, one gold—residing beneath my solar plexus and connecting me to Iris. The gold one is new, still fragile in a way, but stronger than anything I have ever felt. While the guardian bond alerts me any time Iris is in danger and allows me to reach her anywhere, the soul-bond is different. It entwined our hearts and paths for all eternity. It’s the sole reason I haven’t fallen into a pit of despair at Iris’s cold shoulder; our destinies will never be far apart.
I follow the violet thread, teleporting into my kitchen to grab something from the cupboard before popping into Samantha’s spare bedroom. In stark contrast to the first time I teleported here, when the damn Sphynx jumped on my head in a viciousattack, she’s now stretching from her curled position at Iris’s legs and leaps onto the floor to receive her payment.
She regards me through slitted eyes as if saying, “I’m watching you. Dare to hurt her, and I’ll have your balls.” She resembles her petite but fierce owner on that front. I dread the moment I’ll come face to face with that five-foot-two spitfire. However, I’ll take anything she throws at me because she’s only having Iris’s back, and I respect the hell out of her for that.
Following our truce, I take out the tissue from my pants pocket and unfold it on the floor. The Sphynx starts nibbling at the salmon treats while I turn the chair in front of the vanity dressing table in the corner, then sit.
I forget how to breathe the moment my ravenous gaze finds Iris. The gold bond sings in her presence, and I revel in the peace flooding me. She is sleeping on her back, pouty lips—that I’m dying to taste—slightly parted. Never thought I would ever be jealous of moonlight. But I wish it were my fingers caressing the side of her face instead. Her beauty is as deadly and untamed as the sea. A contradiction. Tempestuous and serene. Sharpness and wit wrapped in soft curves and skin as pure as freshly fallen snow. A siren song luring me into the abyss. The thing is…I’ve never been more eager to drown.
Her fingers twitch slightly before a frown etches in between her eyebrows. Her breath comes out in a staccato rhythm. After years of watching her sleep, I recognize the early signs of an impending night terror. So, I try something new because, as much as I wish I could wrap Iris in my arms to chase it away, I can’t. Snapping my eyes shut, I tell her through our bond,“You’re safe, angel. I’m here.”Then I send her my memory of the day I picked her up for our first date in the meadow where fireflies danced all around us. How her perfect body pressed into my back while we rode on my Harley. How the fire-kissed sky reflected into her mesmerizing eyes. How my heart punched itsway out of my ribcage when I held her. How the desire to kiss her burned through me, obliterating every thought. Her breathing slows down. It worked.
Oh, this could be fun.
18
Iris
“What are you planning to wear?” Sam asks as we pass storage box after storage box.
I pop a shoulder. “I haven’t decided yet.”
“Well, you need a nice dress. This restaurant is going to be the hottest place in all of Ashville. I don’t know who Noah had to sell his soul to in order to snag a reservation on opening night, but I went there yesterday to discuss the final details for the flower arrangements, and I’m telling you, my jaw was on the floor. I don’t want to spoil it cause you need to see it for yourself. But it’s swanky as fuck.”
“You do remember Noah’s parents were loaded, right? Heprobably pulled some strings. Now I’m panicking because I don’t have anythingthatfancy.” My mind immediately goes to the custom dress Kaiden gifted me before the succubus party. It’s still the most ethereal piece of clothing I own, though I don’t think I can wear it ever again. Even if I fixed the straps Kaiden ripped in the car when he—Nope. Not going there.
