Nyra paused mid-stride, the room falling into a tense silence as everyone turned toward her. Her blue eyes, usually as calm and clear as a winter sky, were now sharp and glinting with an edge of coldresolve. She met Loren’s gaze, holding it. “Jaxon has to find her body.”
Loren’s world tilted, narrowing to a pinpoint as the bond howled in his chest, every instinct demanding that Loren tear Nyra apart for what she’d dared suggest. “She is innocent?—”
“She’s not innocent, Loren,” Nyra argued. “Shaw changed all the rules for her. What other fae female is working at the Arcanum, wearing an Eye around her neck, and apparently visiting high-profile prisoners alone? I’m grateful for whatever role she played getting you out, but she doesn’twantto be here. You need to think. If we let her live she’s going to run right back to him and tell him everything.”
"You’re talking about murder," Loren hissed.
"I’m talking about survival," Nyra snapped, her voice rising with frustration. “Do you think I want to be the one who has to make this choice? If Shaw finds her, he finds us. I know it sounds cruel, but she won’t suffer. She’ll just never wake up?—”
Loren’s vision blurred, his thoughts spiraling. “You want me to stand by and let you murder her while she’s defenseless?” He took another step forward, the room tensing as the shadows rippled outward from him. “While she sleeps?”
Nyra’s composure wavered, her shoulders tensing as Loren’s shadows surrounded her. “I don’twantto,” she said. “But I will if it means saving hundreds, maybe thousands, of lives. She wouldn’t suffer, Loren. It would be quick—merciful.”
Merciful?
Loren barked a harsh, bitter laugh, the sound too loud in the dense silence. The shadows lashed outward, crawling up the walls and creeping across the floor in trembling, twisting veins of darkness. Nyra stiffened, taking a half-step back as one snaked toward her boot.
“Is that what you tell yourself to sleep at night?" Loren demanded. "That you’re being merciful?"
"Loren—" Finn took a cautious step forward, his voice carefullymeasured and his eyes on the shadows. “Let’s all calm down and talk about this?—”
“She’s not just Jaxon Shaw’s bond.” Loren’s voice cracked, his fury barely masking the raw terror tearing through him. The thought of losing her—whether to Nyra’s cold logic or Jaxon Shaw’s cruelty—he couldn’t accept it.
“She’s mine,” he snarled.
His confession cracked through the room like a thunderclap. The shadows burst outward, pulsing in rhythm with the bond pulsing between them. He’d spent so long arguing that she’d be better off without him, that he had no right to claim her—but he had.
And now…Goddess help him. He would kill anyone who tried to take her from him.
Across from him, Nyra stumbled back a step, her eyes wide as she stared at the shadows. “Loren, I didn’t know?—”
"Would it have changed anything if you had?" Loren snarled. “Shaw will be looking for me too. Should I be worried about you slitting my throat when I fall asleep?”
Nyra shook her head, tears shining in her eyes as the shadows crept toward her. They spilled across the floor, brushing against her boots and twisting into long tendrils that reared like snakes, poised to strike.
And then?—
Araya stirred. Her breath hitched, so quietly it was barely even a sound—but Loren’s gaze snapped down to her, his world narrowing to the unconscious female he’d bound his soul to. The shadows recoiled, their focus snapping back to him as he dropped to his knees beside her to run his hand over her back in long, soothing strokes.
I’m here,he whispered into her mind, a promise only their bond could hear.I won’t let them hurt you.
“We need to move them both tonight,” Finn said, his voice firm but quiet. “Before the Arcanum starts looking for them. Make it happen, Nyra.”
Nyra choked on a sound that wasn’t quite a sob, her hand stillpressed hard to her mouth. But she nodded sharply before she turned and fled—like she could outrun the weight of what she’d nearly done.
Loren watched her go, unable to summon even a flicker of the rage he’d felt just moments ago. He sank onto the bench beside Araya, wanting nothing more than to lay his head down on his arms and fall asleep on the table beside her.
“Nyra manifested as a weather worker,” Finn said after a beat, watching Loren carefully—a leader assessing a threat. “One of the best we’ve ever seen. She’s personally saved hundreds of fae from the New Dominion.”
Loren’s lip curled, but he was too wrung out to do more than show his teeth in something too exhausted to be called a snarl. Not even saving hundreds excused the slaughter of innocents.
“She has no idea, does she?” Thorne asked quietly.
Loren shook his head, unable to bring himself to look at his oldest friend.
“That’s not uncommon for young females who grew up in the New Dominion.” Thorne sighed, rubbing his jaw. “The Arcanum has suppressed knowledge about the mate bond, perverting it with their so-calledbondagreements. But it’s not hopeless, Loren—you can still tell her.”
“No—” Loren stared down at her, giving in to the temptation to brush a loose piece of hair back behind her mangled ear. “I just want her to be safe. Help me get her somewhere safe—please.”
