“Taught there, actually. I know Torin.”
The woman’s face was impassive, none of my admissions cracking her careful composure. The only physical tell that indicated my words struck a chord was the tightening of her knuckles against the shaft of her spear.
“Why are you following us, Lex d’Talionis?” I liked the way my name rolled off her tongue; sharp yet smooth.
A dopey smile covered my face again as my head lolled onto my shoulder.
“There’s this, pull in my chest.” I slapped my hand against my heart and wrinkled my nose in disgust when it made a wet squishing sound. “It keeps drawing me to you all, but it’s silent now. I found you.” I nearly whispered the last part as my hand fell back to rest limply at my side.
The woman’s perfect black eyebrows scrunched slightly as she pondered my words.
We sat in silence—Ilyas and I too tired to engage in further conversation—as she stared at us before finally reaching into a pocket of her trousers and pulling out a small stone. Her eyes never left mine as she brought the stone to her lips, quietly muttering some word that caused the stone to glow briefly before I heard Torin’s voice.
“Is it taken care of, Folami? Are they dead?”
The woman—Folami—stiffened as a pleased smile erupted on my face.
Folami. That was her name.
“I can’t,” she replied curtly, and I heard Torin’s sigh.
“Why? Who is it?”
There was an elongated pause from Folami as I watched a million thoughts flash behind her eyes, her fingers tightening and loosening on both the stone and her spear. Ilyas grabbed my limp hand and squeezed while we awaited her judgement.
“Lex d’Talionis and his Bonded followed.”
“Shit. Don’t kill them, Folami.” Torin’s voice was urgent. Folami shook her head even though Torin couldn’t see her.
“Ican’t, Torin. Even if you wanted me to.”
“What? Folami, what is happening? What are you not telling me? Just . . . wait where you are, I’ll send?—”
“He’s my True Bonded, Torin. And he’s dying,” she whispered, her voice full of pain, remorse, and a thousand other things I couldn’t identify.
“Fuck,” a different male voice intoned, “hang on, Fo. I’m coming.”
Folami dropped her hand listlessly to her side, eyes glazed and unseeing, as the enormity of the situation finally dawned.
I’m dying?
My eyes flicked to Ilyas’ only to see raw, undiluted fear etched in every line of his face.
“Lex,” he whispered brokenly, but I didn’t hear the rest of his words. My muscles locked as I was thrown into another seizure, my body rejecting the loss of my Bond.
My last thought before I was blessedly dragged under was a prayer that Sasori felt even half of this pain.
Chapter Five
Folami
My heart thundered in my chest, a rapid rhythm that felt like it shook my whole body and reverberated deep within my skull. My fingers and toes tingled as a haze clouded my mind. The ringing in my ears was so loud I could no longer hear the sounds of the forest or the rain as it pattered against the dense canopy of trees. My skin and clothes were damp, but I didn’t feel the droplets, too occupied with the words that whispered on an endless loop.
True Bond, True Bond, True Bond.
The truth of the ache I’d felt in my chest since Vespera banged in time with my elevated heart rate, like my soul was trying to beat the truth into my dense skull. As much as my spirit recognized —maybe evendesired—the man in front of me, my head rebelled.
There was no way I’d ever let myself be Bonded again, be beholden to someone else and their whims, treated like cattle or worse.
