When I open mine up, it’s blank. So is Ryker’s. When we look down on Professor Becca, she’s watching us, her hand on her hip. She purses her lips and then taps a button. Both of our devices populate with each other’s names, but below it is a message for us to see her immediately after class.
“You got us in trouble,” I whisper-shout at him.
“I’m not practicing Bonding with anyone other than my mate.” This side of him makes my heart do some weird routine because, if I’m being honest, I love it. There’s something about his possessiveness that makes my toes curl.
The professor dismisses us to connect with our partners. Ryker finds a private nook in the entry, pulling me into his lap before I can protest. “Possessive flirt,” I tease, shifting off his lap so that we’re sitting knee to knee.
I link our hands, amazed at how he still manages to leave me breathless at a single touch. At least I can now handle the surge in power. Ryker lowers his forehead to mine as my eyes fall close.
“I’ll find a way out of this,” he promises.
I nod, tilting my head until his mouth meets mine. His tongue brushes along the seam of my lips and I open for him. He sweeps in, stroking and tasting with a low groan that makes me smile. At the sound of footsteps, we pull apart.
“Focus,” I command, “you’re distracting me.” I close my eyes again, focusing on the iridescent colors that wrap around us and flow on an invisible wave. “I love it.”
“I felt it that first day,” he admits. “When Cole had to open his damn mouth. The moment you looked at me, I saw it.”
I inhale deeply, letting my forehead rest against his. I then search for that stone bridge between us, and for the first time, I step onto it. I test my weight, then take another step and begin walking. It feels weird to be standing on a bridge within myself—especially knowing it somehow connects my soul to Ryker’s.
Around me, there’s an endless void, but the bridge is illuminated with a soft, warm light. I reach the halfway point only to be met with a wall, extending into the void and impenetrable. It rises around us, not just a blanket of fog, but a living, breathing entity. It swirls and shifts, tendrils curling, imbued with a shimmering, iridescent dust that catches the ambient light. It tastes of ancient earth and raw magic, cool against my skin. It pulls an invisible tether, drawing me forward, and I take a physical step, then another, walking toward the unseen. I reach out, hoping to get through it, only for my hand to bounce back. Maybe if Ryker meets me in it?
“Go down the bridge,” I whisper. One second. Two. When nothing happens, I open my eyes. “Did you go?”
“It’s blocked.” He sighs. “The mating Bond?”
Immediately, the world around us shifts. My head swims with the sudden change. I tighten my grip on Ryker, only to realize that he’s in it with me.
We are standing on a mountain peak, the air thin and crisp. Below us is a thick, ancient forest that stretches to the horizon. A strange circle of glowing markings surrounds our feet, pulsating with a soft, rhythmic light. My spine tingles like an itch I can’t scratch, but it also burns—a painful, searing heat radiates from my skin.
“My back.” I hiss, reaching for it.
Ryker spins me around, his hand tracing the line of my spine. “Raea.” I hear the confusion in his voice. “Your spine is marked with glowing tattoos.”
“What?” I attempt to look over my shoulder, but the vision holds me captive. Some ancient knowledge whispers,Complete.This is the final piece of the mating ritual.
The mountain peak dissolves, throwing us into a whirlwind as the sky turns a bruised, angry gray. I stumble into Ryker as he steadies me. When I look around this time, we’re on a battlefield. Scorched grass stretches in every direction cloaked in a sickly, green mist. Across the clearing, a girl stands.Me.But different. Her hair is dulled to silver ash. Black war paint slashes across her eyes. And a smirk. Not kind. Not soft. Predatory. Certain. Powerful. It’s the same woman I’ve been seeing this whole time.
Ryker looks down at his hand, his right arm is now inked from his wrist and into his sleeve, the tattoo swirling like it’s alive. He now has sleeves up both arms, but the tattoos on his right look like runes. He lifts his palm, and the air itself obeys, spinning as the skies darken, rain pelting us from above. He releases it, and I feel a burst of power, raw and untamed. The air around us charges as starlight swirls in the wind, meeting his gale, devouring enemy forces like a life of its own and out to do his bidding.
“What the hell is going on?” Ryker asks, his voice thick with awe and confusion, his eyes completely white and silver, like the flecks have taken over.
My gaze falls on the woman across the clearing.The shadows curl around her, a living extension of her will. Before I can say anything, or learn anything, my head spins again as we’re thrown back into our bodies, both holding each other and gasping for air.
Still breathless and a little dizzy, I look over my shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of my spine. I don’t know why my response is disappointment when I realize it’s completely normal, no markings in sight. Ryker leans over my shoulder, noting the same thing. He must sense my disappointment because I’m yanked into him, my face buried in his chest while he strokes a soothing hand down my back.
After a few quiet minutes, he asks, “Does that happen often?”
When I shake my head, I tell him about the woman and the shadows. He claims he didn’t see her. But how could he not? The imagesstay with me long after, my thoughts spinning in search of answers I know won’t come.
forty-six
. . .
raea
I’m sweaty and tired,and my whole body hurts. I know why we’re out here with Recon, but still. The afternoon sun beats down on us relentlessly, the black material of my uniform making me wish I’d gone with the standard-issue dress. At least then I’d get some air flow.
Our dorm has been divided into groups of six, comprising a mix of juniors and seniors, as well as a blend of all three divisions. Leading my group are Trysten, Cas, another senior in Intel, and Knox, the senior Recon representative. Ciara and Tate are also in my group since they’re part of my flight team. Ashton, a senior girl who is part of Ryker’s flight team, is also here. We were pulled from bed for an early training exercise—a surprise to all of us. Well, not Ryker. No, he was fully aware and decided to hide this little exercise from me. Last I saw, he was with the other two dorm leaders talking with Professors Ainslyn and Brendn this morning.
