“Which one are you?”
Leoake grinned, the edges of his teeth flashing. “I suppose one could say I’m dastardly wicked.”
Cassiel shook his head. “Why are you like this?”
He shrugged. “I have few joys in life.”
“And causing unnecessary travail is one of them.”
“Precisely.” Leoake cocked his head, and a pointed ear with a gold cuff poked out of his hair. “Seers can’t help but meddle when we can feel the questions woven through the hearts of those around us and foresee their futures yet to pass.”
Cassiel stepped back, feeling exposed. “If you can truly see the future, then tell me, is there another way?”
The Druid’s smile sharpened. “If you want answers, you must pay. I don’t work for free.”
“I will not enter a geas.”
“Oh, I know.” Leoake eyed his wings. “As I know that isn’t all you desire to ask.”
Cassiel stopped breathing, a new chill flooding through him. Did he want confirmation of what he already suspected?
Leoake plucked a feather. Cassiel cursed and reeled back.
“You would have given it to me eventually after debating for several minutes if knowing the answer to your question would merit breaking Celestial law.” He rolled his eyes. “I have no patience for that.”
Cassiel gritted his teeth. Unease battled with relief to have the decision made for him, despite every instinct wanting to snatch the feather back. “You have your payment, now answer me. The runes, do they mean Dyna will die?”
“That’s the thing about fate. We’re not bound to one path but several.”
“Speak clearly.”
“No future is ever certain, Dark Prince. Your every step and decision will affect what happens on that island.”
Of course, the all-seeing Druid knew about Mount Ida. But the vague answer, which didn’t hold a yes or a no, concerned him the most.
Leoake twirled the feather between his fingers, stroking the glossy surface. “Two more questions.”
Since the moment Cassiel heard there was someone out there who had the answers to every secret, he knew what he would ask. But now that he had the chance, the words wedged in his throat.
He had to swallow several times before he could make himself say it. “Is it possible … to break a bond without death?”
The question tasted wrong on his tongue. As the bond convulsed, he wished he could take it back.
Leoake chuckled. “It is, indeed.”
Cassiel froze, his mind going blank. His ears rang as if he’d been bashed over the head, a pulse in his temples damning. He thought he might spew. The one absolute thing he’d been told about bonds was that they were perpetual.
“The only way to break a Blood Bond without one of you passing through the Gates is to shear yourself.”
Cassiel jerked away, his back spasming painfully. “What?”
Leoake smirked as he ran his finger along the edge of the feather, making it glow. “Blood Bonds are bound to the soul through the divine blood in your veins, which comes from the magic within your wings. Losing them takes away your long life and the power of your divine blood bound to her. If you wish to be free of the Maiden, then cut off your wings. It’s either that or death.”
His wings were his most precious possession. They were extensions of him. Created from the skies and the wind, gifted by the Heavens. The only thing that gave him a sliver of freedom. He would never give up his wings, nor would any Celestial. If his ancestors knew, they didn’t pass knowledge on to the rest of the Realms. Their wings were the source of their divinity, and the only thing to connect them to any semblance ofElyon.
Without them, they were human.
“Now, I shall answer the question you truly wanted to ask.” Leoake’s irises stirred like molten gold. The air pulsed with a heavy aura and static crawled on Cassiel’s skin. Motioning at where Dyna huddled with the others, The Druid leaned in to murmur in his ear, “The string of fates ensnared you both from the moment you met. It’s tangled through your hearts and souls, and however much you wish to break free, you cannot, for you know exactly who she is.”
