Professor River nods. “Left hand to her marked arm. Palm to skin. Hold.”
Raiden lifts his arm, slow and precise. The black and red ink winding around his bicep shimmers faintly now, reacting to the runes like it knows something I don’t. Which, let’s be honest, isn’t saying much.
I raise my arm, my breath caught halfway between panic and anticipation. The mark on my skin flares warmer the closer he gets—like itwantsthis. When his hand closes around my arm—skin to skin—the mark ignites.
White-hot. Blinding. Alive.
A breathless sound escapes me before I can stop it, and I immediately want to melt into the floor and die of embarrassment. But there’s no time.
The pulse between us is instant—like someone lit a fuse inside my spine.
Professor River’s voice cuts through the thick, humming air. “Do not break contact. The Veilbind seeks balance. It will align.”
Align?
What does that even mean? Is that magical for "This might get worse"? They should really consider some kind of class before throwing people into this.
Before the thought can finish forming, the runes beneath us erupt in a pulse of light that tears outward in all directions. A force grabs hold of me—tight, unrelenting—like I’ve been hooked by the chest and dragged forward.
Raiden’s breath catches, sharp and ragged. Ifeelit. Not just see or hear it—feel it like it’s tangled in my own lungs.
And then we’re moving. No say in the matter. No time to brace. The magic hauls us together with the subtlety of a freight train. Awesome. Nothing like mystical forced proximity to spice up a trauma bond.
Emotion rushes through the tether, a pure, raw feeling completely unfiltered.
Determination. Resentment. Controlled fury. And under it, beneath the iron will, an edge of fear. Not for himself. For me. It punches the air right out of my lungs.
Raiden’s hand flexes against my arm, instinctive, like he’s trying to ground both of us. His other arm wraps around my back just as another pulse tears through the bond. Magic crackles down my spine, locking tight between us.
The mark on my skin flares bright, from my fingertips up to my elbow, answering the same glow etched into the runes winding up his arm. In perfect sync.
I can feel him now. His pulse. His tension. The strain he’s under to hold himself together. He’s not cold at all. He’s a wildfire shoved into a pressure cooker.
And he’s barely keeping the lid on.
My own emotions spiral in response—fear, confusion, that deep, primalwhat-is-happening-to-mescream—and I feel the moment they slam into him. His jaw tightens. His grip closes just slightly too hard.
Oh good,I think vaguely.Now I get to traumatize him back.
Professor River’s voice echoes distantly through the haze. “It is done. The Veilbind is sealed.”
But we don’t move. Can’t. The bond is alive now, buzzing between us with the intimacy of a whispered secret and the force of a live wire. It wasn’t there a breath ago, and now it’severything.
Raiden’s pulse jumps—and mine matches it like we’re sharing a rhythm. Which… I guess we are now?
For one breathless second, it’s like our hearts are playing a game of chicken. Mine races. His stays steady—barely. Underneath it, I can feel the pull of instinct, his muscle memory screamingback away,distance,control.
But the magic won’t let him.
Another pulse shudders through the bond—hot and dizzying. I gasp, the sound catching between us like it doesn’t belong to just me anymore. Raiden’s jaw flexes again. I can feel the war happening inside him now. Instinct versus obligation. Control versus…whatever this is.
And then Professor River speaks again, like he hasn’t just dropped us into the most awkward emotional pressure cooker in existence.
“The bond will release you in a moment. Let it settle. Do not fight it. I’ll give you privacy.”
Privacy? For what?
I’m notdoinganything. Unless clinging to the magical equivalent of a live power line counts as doing something.
