“No.” I lift a finger, pressing it against his lips. “It’s mine to give, and yours to take. Every one of you.” My gaze shifts, moving up to Julien, to Ezekial, then Kane. “I forgive all of you.”
Sai’s hand cups my face, drawing me back to him. “I can’t lose you, Red,” he murmurs, eyes dancing over my face. “Ican’t…”
“You can’t, Sai,” I whisper, smiling softly as my hand curves over his. “We’rebonded, remember?”
His markings flare to life in blinding violet and crackling blue, then I press my lips to his.
He thaws beneath the kiss, one hand sinking into my hair, his arm hooked tightly around my waist.
When I pull away, needing to keep the kiss chaste before I change my mind about being alone, he murmurs, “How much alone time do you need?”
“A few hours?” I offer, leaning back just enough to meet his eyes and see his brows pinched with displeasure. I smile. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“But I’ll miss you.” His voice is soft, aching, but there’s the faintest flicker of his lips, just enough to tell me he knows he’s being a little dramatic.
Behind us, Ezekial clears his throat. “We can handle that.”
Sai looks over his shoulder at him with a frown, his grip on me somehow tightening.
Julien steps closer, gaze sweeping between us before settling on me. “Leaving you is… difficult,” he explains. “It always has been, even with the rune, it doesn’t dull the pull. Bonded are not meant to be apart. It goes against everything in us.” I hear the pain in his voice, and his attempt to hide it. “But if it’s what you want, we will endure.”
I nod, swallowing the sudden lump in my throat. “I understand, but this is just a moment.”
“At least one of us should stay,” Ezekial suddenly suggests, and Sai’s markings flare.
I slowly shake my head, and they dim again. “No. I can take care of myself, remember?” I give Ezekial a small smile, hoping he recalls the last time I had to remind him I wasn’t helpless. “A few hours, that’s all.”
He doesn’t smile back. His mouth parts, he hesitates, torn between words, wants and actions—then he nods. “If you need anything, anything at all—”
“I know,” I promise, looking at each of them. “Even in the Pit, I’ll call to you.”
“A few hours.” Kane stands beside his brother, eyes still on me. “Then we’ll find you.”
I should tell Kane I’ll come to them when I’m good and ready, but his words spark a heat in my chest, and the flicker of dark satisfaction in his gaze tells me he knows it.
Then, slowly, I begin to pull away.
At first, Sai’s grip only tightens. “Five more minutes,” he mutters, trying to bury his face back in my hair.
A laugh slips out of me as I glance at Julien for help. He sighs before prying Sai off me, one reluctant finger and grumble at a time.
Even when they’re both finally standing and stepping back, Sai still drags his heels, all mutters and scowls while Julien steers him away with quiet patience. If he really wanted to, I know Sai could escape Julien’s hold with a crackle of wicked blue. But he doesn’t, because he’s showing me he can listen.
His eyes stay on mine, mouth slightly parted like he wants to say more, but instead he exhales a small, defeated sigh.
The shadows reach out eagerly, curling around them—then they’re gone.
Ezekial steps back next, his gaze lingering, calculating, as though still measuring something in me. Then he’s gone, leaving behind the faintest metallic trace.
Kane is last. His expression stays calm, almost neutral, but his dark eyes roam my face.
“A few hours,” he reminds me. “Then you’re ours.”
He steps back, and the shadows swallow him whole.
And I’m alone.
Chapter 41: Jasmine
