“I don’tneedto do anything,” I snap, stepping back from him. “What we are is temporary, because I’m going to fix it. It will be better for all of us in the long run, you’ll see.”
“Weare not temporary. It doesn’t work that way. You may not want to listen right now, and I’ll respect that, but you can’t shut me out forever.”
“Watch me,” I growl and reach for the dry shirt I hung on top of the screen. I pull it on over my head, needing the buffer between me and Treno to help fortify my indignation and my choices.
“You can leave now,” I tell him, giving him my back as I pick up a comb from the side table next to the bed.
I brush through my frizzed locks, the ends of my hair still wet from sitting in the bathing pool with Zeph. Concern and curiosity over where he is and if he’s okay trickles through me, but I turn the worry tap off and tell myself he’s not my problem. Well, hopefully not for much longer anyway.
Treno is still behind me, radiating irritation. I can sense that he wants to say something, but he holds back. Good. Because I don’t want to hear shit he has to say.
“This isn’t over,” he finally grumbles, and then he spins on his heel and storms out.
“Yeah...fuck you,” I mumble under my breath as I comb through more snarls.
I miss conditioner.
“Sorry about that,” I offer Wekun on a tired sigh.
I pull several furs off the bed and drag them over to the pillow nest that’s calling my name.
“You look shot as fuck right now, so I won’t push you tonight, but when you feel up to it, can we try to break the mate bonds for good?” I ask, my voice breaking slightly and forcing my vulnerability to leak out against my will.
“Falon...”
I stop what I’m doing and turn to Wekun. The way he just said my name is screaming that there’s going to be a bunch of words that pour out after it, and I’m not going to want to hear any of them.
“I tried,” he tells me somberly. “It appeared to work for two of your connections. I felt them break, just like I was expecting. But then with the third... When it came to Zeph...maybe it was your awakening that messed with the strength of the connection. Or in your case, it might be that severing things just isn’t possible. I couldn’t cut the cords between you, and not only that, when I tried, it almost drained me completely, and the next thing I knew, the two connections I had already severed were back and fortified as fuck. I’ve never seen anything like it. I understand why you’re making the choice that you are, but there’s nothing more thatIcan do at this point to help you break away from them.”
His words burrow into me, cutting me deeply as they go. Desolation pours into the wounds, and I collapse onto the cushions and stare at nothing as I try to think through a future where I’m stuck with mates like these. Choosing to sever our ties hurt, but I knew it was the right thing to do. Pigeon even knew it was what was best for us. And now, to know that I’m stuck? I look up at Wekun, devastated.
Sympathy fills his features, and he runs a hand over his shorn white hair like he’s trying to think of a way to make all of this better.
“There’s another Bond Weaver in Tierit— that’s where the Sentinels live in the other world. She’s ancient, so if anyone would know of any other ways, it would be her. I can check with her. Well, if her watchdog, Issak, will let me get near her that is. He doesn’t like me, which is an effect I can have on mates. He’s not mated to Getta, just indebted to her, I think, but still.” He shrugs his shoulders. “I honestly have no clue what his story is. He came over with her when she crossed…it’s an odd friendship.”
My mind prickles with recognition for some reason, and I examine his words, looking for the trigger.
“Anyway, let’s get you set up here and start working with your runes and what they can do. I’ll sneak off the first chance I get and see if I can get in to speak with her, find out if she knows any other ways.”
I nod in agreement at his plan, and exhaustion washes over me. I quickly get myself comfortable and pull the furs up around me. Wekun stumbles toward the bed and falls face first against the lumpy mattress. I swear he’s out before his body is done bouncing from the impact.
I release a weary breath and study the runes on my finger.
“What the fuck are we going to do, Pigeon?”
She pulls her head out from under her wing, swaying like she’s too tired to balance properly. She flashes me an image of scissors cutting string, anX, and me fucking each of our mates in turn.
I scoff.“Did you really just tell me, ‘If you can’t sever ’em, fuck ’em’?”I ask incredulously.“That is not the same thing as if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,”I scold.
She just makes that chuffing noise she does when she’s amused, and her face disappears back under her wing.
I watch her for a moment as her breaths grow heavy and steady with sleep. One minute she hates them, the next she’s ready to forgive and move on. I can’t even keep track anymore of what she wants or doesn’t want.
They say women are hard to figure out, well, they sure as fuck never met a female gryphon. Talk about taking confusing to a whole other level.
I try to list what still needs to be done, while my body winds down and prepares for rest. I realize that, as difficult as everything has been already, I’m pretty sure that the hard part of all of this has just begun.
I sigh and drift off to Pigeon’s gryphon-porn-filled dreams flooding my mind.
