“I don’t think I can deal with blood right now.”
“That’s okay.” I brush a strand of hair from her face. “I’ll leave the balcony door open so I can see you the whole time. Just sit right here on the couch and watch something.”
“I’ll read one of my monster books,” she waggles her eyebrows at me, but her usual humour is missing from her eyes.
I press another kiss to her temple, pull a blanket over her lap, and head outside. My breath ghosts silver in front of me. I crouch low, claws to the concrete, and snarl into the wind. I was too busy trying not to thrahk up the bond to notice he was hunting her.
Never again.
I will break him open and claim Lumi while his blood’s still warm
This is the place I failed her. But this is also where I’ll declare war for her.
I reach up and grip my left antler. The bone groans under my fingers. It doesn’t break cleanly—I have to twist. Roots tear from my skull as I wrench it free—the wet snap of bone splitting from bone cracks across the rooftops like thunder.
Pain slices through my head. Blood pours down my face, pooling in my eyes and dripping in heavy plops onto the cement.
I open my mouth and roar—a war-cry so ancient it shakes the bones buried beneath this building.
Let him hear it.
Let him know what’s coming.
I drag my claw across my palm, slicing deep—blood wells up, black in the moonlight. I want to remember this pain when I'm pulling his spine through his throat.
I slam my hand against her balcony railing and hold it there until I feel the magic surging through my veins.Vraksûnsigils start swirling into the stone.
With my free hand, I dip two fingers in my own blood and use the jagged shard of antler to carve a symbol beside the mark—a curved circle pierced by thorns with a snowdrop at its center.
A Rhavari bond-claim. A warning that this soul is guarded by something older than the gods.
“Vel’morath kai’ Saelûn.” (Death comes for those who touch my soulmate.)
And no god is merciful when a bond is defied.
I press a second sigil into the wood of her front door, then break the antler into three jagged fragments.
One, I wedge into the window frame?—
One, I leave beneath the balcony sigil?—
And one, I keep in my palm until my blood coats it completely. Then I press it into the lock like a blade.
I hope he returns and sees the blood I've already spilled for her. I hope his mind runs wild with ideas of what I’ll flay from his body once I find him.
When I walk back inside, blood is still heavily dripping from my antlers. My claws refuse to retract, and I can feel the rage burning in my throat. But the moment I see her, I force myself to soften.
She’s sitting in the same spot she was when I left to complete the ritual.
“Come here,” I rasp.
She doesn't hesitate. She crosses the space between us, barefoot, bruised, and too thrahking brave for her own good. I catch her before she can sway again. Her arms wrap around my neck.
“You’re taking me back now,” she whispers.
“Yes,” I breathe.
She doesn't say another word, just drops her head against my chest and curls into me.
