The bond practically vibrates through my system, and my body starts to shiver at the renewed waves of molten heat that crash through me.
He holds out his hand, and his voice is like a siren, drawing me in. “Vivian, come away from him. I forgive you for your poor decisions. Whatever you’ve done, you’ll make it up to me.”
The bond tugs at me, pushing me to obey. I grit my teeth, trying to remember the reasons I’m not supposed to give in.
No reasons come to mind.
Leon continues in the same silky voice, “Come on, Vivian. It’s time to go home. We are destined, remember? Only I can love you, protect you. You are mine, Vivian. Tied to me for eternity. There is no fighting it. You know that.”
I shake my head in a last-ditch effort to clear the fog.
Sin feels me shaking and tries to distract Leon, “Leon. Are you so pathetic that you need to rely on what is clearly a corrupted bond to get what you want?”
Leon’s eye twitches, and he spits out, “I will do WHATEVER it takes to keep her. The bond will be a blessing as soon as she stops resisting. I will make her happy. Even if she’s too stupid to see it yet.”
His focus returns to me. “You belong to me, Vivian. Whether you like it or not, nothing can break our bond. You can’t run forever. I will chase you to the ends of the universe. Give in. Let me take away the pain. I’ll remind you who you belong to.”
At his words, white-hot pain sears through my mind, and my knees give out. My body feels like it’s on fire. Like I’m going to suffocate if Leon doesn’t make it stop.
A pair of arms catch me around my middle, stopping me from crashing to the ground. I can’t remember who they belong to, only that they aren’t Leon’s and that’s unacceptable. I struggle against them in an effort to go to him. To let him make the burning stop.
Leon steps closer, and my body starts to sing, desperate for his touch. “Leon,” I whimper through the waves of heat.
Leon grins, knowing he’s won, as he continues towards us. “That’s right, Vivian. Tell Sin who you belong to. Who you’re fucking fated to.”
I whimper again and thrash against the arms holding me back.
This isn’t Leon’s touch.
I need Leon.
But the hands around me only tighten.
Distantly, as if from underwater, I can hear the sounds of metal armor growing closer as guards start to crest the top of the stairs.
Leon pauses, smirking. “You see that, Destroyer, she’s desperate to get away from you.”
His voice only draws me in more, and I scratch at the arms around me, frantic to get to Leon.
But instead of releasing me, a whisper comes above my ear, “Hold your breath, kitten.”
With that, I’m wrenched backwards, the arms still securely wrapped around my middle. Not even a second later, we plunge into the inky depths of the river.
The black water swirls around me, throwing me around in the currents. But I can’t kick or swimbecause I’m still being held by the arms. I start to panic for air just as the person holding me kicks against the currents, and our faces break the surface of the water. I have just enough time to gasp in some life-saving oxygen and hear Leon’s furious scream when, abruptly, we go over the lip of the waterfall and plunge into the abyss.
We fall through the air, our bodies pummeled by the cascading waters. Down and down, we plummet, sometimes drowning in the falling water, other times finding small pockets of oxygen.
A garbled voice calls out into the air, “Hades! If you want your freedom, I suggest you find a way to return my powers!”
Choking on water, I realize that the green hills are close. Very close.
Sputtering, I look down only to see sharp rocks jutting out of the violently splashing water.
Dead.
We are so dead.
Another breath and the rocks get closer.
