My stomach dropped. “What?”
A cruel smile spread across his face. “He didn’t tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
He laughed. “Of course not. You are the one thing in this world he cannot afford to lose.”
My throat closed. “I don’t understand.”
“You’re hismate.”
The word landed like a blade.
My vision tunneled. “Hiswhat?”
“Mating bonds are incredibly rare. They are sacred to fae.” He straightened, staring at me. “And you didn’t know. Gods, it’s right there.”
“What are you babbling about?”
Vaeris seized a handheld mirror from a side table, thrusting it into my hands. “Look.”
Bewildered, I glanced in the mirror. My reflection caught light—disheveled hair, flushed cheeks, and?—
Oh no.
I stared into the mirror, tracing a rune on my chest. Thin whorls of pale gold threaded with crimson pulsed, syncing with my heartbeat. I barely touched one of the lines, and heat snapped into my finger.
“That’s your mating bond.”
The mirror slipped from my fingers, falling onto the carpet.
“No,” I whispered. “Mating bonds are only betweenfae.”
“You must have some fae ancestry.”
My knees buckled. I caught myself on the arm of a chair, then sank into it, my legs refusing to hold me.
Oh gods.
All those times I’d heard Kairos inside my mind. His voice sliding into my thoughts like he belonged there. Feeling his panic spike through me when I was in danger. His grief, his rage, his desperate love—bleeding into me.
I’d thought it was just…us. I’d been too busy running, fighting, trying to save Rheya to stop and question it.
I reached for him.Kairos.
Silence.
I could feel him, but he wasn’t awake. My hands were trembling. I pressed them flat against my thighs, steadying myself.
“I have Kairos’s mate.” Vaeris towered over me, his eyes gleaming. “Do you understand what that means? A mating bond isn’t just romance. It’s a leash. Whatever pain I inflict, he suffers.”
I gripped the armrest.
“I could break him without ever touching him,” he whispered. “I could destroy the King of Sanguir from leagues away, using nothing but you.”
I couldn’t breathe. The room felt smaller, the air too thick, like the walls were leaning in to listen.
Vaeris shook his head. “I need to think.”
