Well shit. It was worth a shot.
Most of the crowd doesn’t spare Leon a glance. Instead, they’re unnervingly fixated on me. A woman steps out of the crowd, blocking my path, and her birdlike eyes are wide and unblinking as her feathered hand grazes a piece of my hair.
“A blessing,” she whispers in awe.
I frown at her, a bit dumbfounded, but before I can figure out what she means, others start to press in. Dozens of strangers try to touch me, as if I’m some kind of holy relic. Fingers snag in my hair and brush my arms. My chest tightens, claustrophobia starting to kick in, but they don’t stop. The crowd surges closer, threatening to swallow me whole, and I scramble between bodies, desperate to escape before my limbs lock up.
Leon never slows his stride. He doesn’t even bother to look behind him to ensure I’m still following as he slams open the front doors and pushes forth into the night.
Finally stumbling out behind him, I try to catch my breath as I take in the darkened skies. Only it isn’t pitch-black like I previously thought. At the edges of the Council’s estate, repeated bursts of light shoot into the sky, feeding into a giant dome surrounding the castle grounds.
As I take in the darkened sphere, familiar electricity hums through me, warming my body. But before I can grasp why the mate bond is acting up, Leon grabs my wrist and yanks me to his side.
I give him my best ‘go jump off a cliff and impale yourself on sharp rocks’ frown. I really hope my face has conveyed the message.
Unfortunately, Leon ignores my contempt – likely because it’s too dark for him to see my expression.
Sad.
“Remember,” he warns, and his grip is so tight that I’m concerned my wrist is about to break, “not a word without my permission.”
Rather than flinching, I use my free hand to give him the finger. Simultaneously, a burst of red energy explodes through the darkness above us. Another boom of thunder follows it, sending a shudder through the ground. The light from the blast is bright enough that Leon can see my open hostility.
He yanks me even closer. “Donottest me,” he hisses, before he starts walking again, dragging me behind him.
The closer we get to the border of the dome, the easier it is to make out the sounds of yelling and panic. More white light is fired into the sphere.
What the hell is happening?
Finally, we reach the edge. The black void before us is completely opaque, blotting out any signs of the villages below. Leon stops, but his hold on me is still punishingly tight.
“Here is your confirmation of life!” He yells, hostility radiating from him.
At his words, a pocket of darkness in front of us dissipates, revealing two people on the other side of the dome.
My heart stops.
It’s Sin and Arianna, and they look ready to commit murder.
Chapter 3
Vivian’s Point of View
Rule three:Malicious compliance is still compliance.
The moment my eyes lock with Sin’s, the humming over my skin surges.
Our mate bond.
Sin and I forged it the night before I was taken back to the Council’s castle. I haven’t even had a full day with him to understand this new magic that flows between us. And yet, even now, there is no mistaking this feeling.
Despite ending my mortal life, the Council’s wards, the collar and the leash, despite every obstacle between us, my mate bond with Sin is still here. Our souls are connected.
My heart beats erratically as I take him in. He’s dressed in his fighting leathers, and the scruff of his beard is starting to grow back in. We stare at each other,and the longing that fills me is painful. I don’t know how much time passes like that, frozen in each other’s gazes, before the glow of his power dissipates.
Stormy gray eyes soften slightly as he scans my body. No part of him looks relaxed as he searches for injuries, ensuring I’m okay. He’s breathing heavily, and his fists are clenched at his sides in white-knuckle grips. It looks as though staying on the other side of this dome is draining all vestiges of his control.
Guilt stabs at me as I realize why he’s struggling. Damien warned me that Sin wouldn’t hesitate to level every last realm if something happened to me once we were bonded. And yet even now, I can see the untouched city behind him.
