She nodded, her eyes closing briefly. "There was so much pressure on me, but it never really felt beyond what I could handle.” A strangled laugh escaped her. "Honestly, I'm still not sure if I wanted to fail or not. If I did, I'd be able to step away from this world and my duty as a princess and reclaim my Earth life. But at the same time, I would have been devastated if I’d failed." Her eyes met mine, searching. "I'm insane, right?"
Unable to help myself, I reached out and wrapped my fingers around her forearm, drawing her closer. "What you’re feeling is completely normal. It's the reason my brothers and I want to step away from being leaders of the American supes. The job consumes our time and emotions, and since we’ve been on quite a few world-saving adventures recently, we can’t give it the energy it deserves. The energy our people deserve."
A dark heaviness flickered across her face, settling into those depthless eyes. “What are you thinking?” I asked, needing to know.
"How can we make this work when we're from two different worlds?" she asked, honest as always.
She was serious, and I didn’t dismiss her worries, even if they weren't my own.
"We make it work the same way Tyson and Grace do." Thankfully, we weren't pioneering this style of relationship. "We make it work any way we can, because there’s no other option."
She shook her head, clearing her throat suddenly. "Sorry, I kind of jumped the gun a little there. Last time we talked, you weren’t even sure you wanted a true mate bond."
Flames ignited around us, but unlike the times I'd lost it in the past, this was a controlled release. Learning to deal with my emotions meant I had to stop fighting them and start releasing them at a pace I was happy with.
As the circle of flames surrounded us, Justice's eyes went wide. “Impressive,” I heard her murmur.
"I was never not sure about our bond," I said, the timbre of my voice deeper than usual as the power continued to flow from me. "I was unsure about myself. The way you make me feel … it's wild and untamed and out of control. I've never dealt well with being out of control, and I was afraid that if I let it go any further, it was going to end in disaster."
She tore her eyes from the flames, finally meeting my gaze, and it was hard to read her again.
"How is now any different?" she asked.
She wanted to turn back to the flames, I could see she did, and it was no doubt to reiterate her point. But I didn't release her from my gaze. "Because now," I said slowly, allowing more power to slip free—the flames started dancing around us, forming intricate patterns and images, in a way that no one could mistake for natural—"I have found a symbiosis with the new emotions and power. I have learned a balance between rigid and relaxed control. I also missed you so fucking much that the thought of not spending my life with you … it’s a darkness I cannot embrace."
She moved until our bodies were no more than an inch apart. "It was the same for me,” she breathed. “The moment I opened the portal, I knew it was a mistake to leave. But, in the end, I think the time apart has made us strong enough to embrace this bond.”
My eyes caught on her full lips and I felt an urge to reach out and capture them between my teeth. Bite down and taste her.Thank you, Max.Fucking vampires. It was weird to think I had that energy as part of my own, but, again, I was no longer fighting the urges.
"We should get going," she whispered. Not that she was moving. If anything, she was even closer to me, our bodies all but pressed together as flames danced around us.
Not wanting to piss her parents off any further, I retrieved my fire, and in an instant the barrier that had been around us was gone.
Justice jumped, blinking like she'd been in a bit of a daze. "Shit,” she muttered, “we have to go. My parents are going to kill me if I'm late to my own party."
They wouldn't kill her; anyone could see that they adored their long-lost daughter. I was glad I hadn't shown up too soon, even if staying away was the hardest thing I’d ever done.
Justice must have picked up on that thought. "I'm surprised you did stay away for so long?"
"I visited," I admitted. I hadn't wanted her to know that, but I also didn’t want her to think I didn’t care or that our separation was easy for me. "From afar. You had a personal stalker, but I knew you needed this time with your family and this world, and I wasn't going to be a selfish asshole and take that away from you."
She swallowed roughly. "I thought I felt you a few times, but I chalked it up to missing you."
Another twist of my heart, and another swirl of fire inside, but this one was not as strong as before, so my energy remained where it was supposed to.
"What else did you do?"
This question took me by surprise. I'd done quite a few things in the time we'd been apart. Some I'd tell her about, others I wouldn't.
"The president and supes reached an agreement," I said, explaining the full agreement, followed by our plans to ensure this type of thing would never happen again.
"He's a bastard," she seethed. "I knew from the start that he was not to be trusted. I can sense men to avoid…”
She trailed off, a haunted look on her face.
"What's wrong?" I pushed, wildness in my voice. She brought out the base instinct in my nature; I would kill for her in a heartbeat.Hadkilled for her.
"I saw some memories during my bonding to the rubies," she finally said after a minute pause. "Some shit from my past that I had to relive. After reliving it, I got to banish those bastards and it all…" She shook her head. "It took a toll. I'm really proud of myself for fighting the darkness—those events were the worst experiences in my life. I just wish there was a way to banish the memories from my mind forever."
