“The bond. It hurts when you are apart.” His expression is knowing. “The old ones used to speak of such things.”
“It’s not. We’re not—” I stop. Because what’s the point of denying it? “Yeah. I feel it.”
“Good.”
“How is this good?”
“Because it means he feels it too.” Andrei returns his attention to the facility. “He knows you are near.”
The thought should be comforting.
Instead, it makes everything worse.
Because if K can feel this pull, this ache, then he’s down there hurting too.
“I’m coming,” I whisper to the empty space between us. “I swear to God, K, I’m coming.”
The words feel inadequate. Too small for what I’m trying to say.
But they’re all I have.
I resign myself to waiting.
The hours crawl.
The sun tracks across the sky—too slow, always too slow. Every minute that passes is another minute K is in there. Another minute the Syndicate has to hurt him, break him.
My mind won’t stop spinning worst-case scenarios.
What if they’re experimenting on him? The Syndicate has a track record of trying to exploit supernatural abilities. They did it to Elena’s mom, Lila, for twenty freaking years. What if they’re using that suppression tech to control him? What if they’re—?
“Stop,” Nicolae says gently. “You torture yourself with thoughts like these.”
“I can’t help it,” I say, not asking how he knows what I’m thinking. It must be written all over my face.
“Then think of better things. Think of when you see him again.”
When. Not if.
The certainty in his voice steadies me slightly.
I close my eyes and try to imagine it. Viktor’s team storming the facility. Finding K. Getting him out.
The moment when I see him again—alive, safe, free.
The way he’ll look at me.
The way his arms will feel when they close around me, solid and real and warm.
The way his fire will wrap around us both, finally,finallycompleting whatever circuit got interrupted when they tore him away.
My chest aches with wanting it.
Not just his presence. Not just his safety.
Him.
“Mara.” Andrei’s voice cuts through my thoughts. “Look.”
