The thought of sharing them forever with Marie makes something in me want to snarl.
The thought of finally being claimed as worth keeping makes me want to cry.
"Vee," Eli whispers. "What's going on in there?"
"I don't know yet."
But a tiny, stubborn voice says:If they keep their word, you won't always feel temporary.
Maybe.
Just maybe.
One day, the mark on my skin will be proof that I survived all of this and was still worth staking a claim on.
That thought is dangerous.
It's also the only one that keeps my heart from cracking open completely as I watch Marie bask in a promise I'm desperate to believe extends to me.
Chapter 16
Breakfast tastes like potential disaster.
Also cinnamon, but mostly disaster.
I'm back at the table.
That still feels new enough to notice. Weeks of exile at the kitchen bar carved a groove into my routine; sitting in my old seat now feels like sneaking into someone else's life.
Ragon at the head, Eli to his right, Drake to his left. Marie on Drake's other side, shoulders brushed against his. I'm at the far end with Jasper beside me, quiet as always, eating like he's filing data about toast.
The table smells like food and coffee and the faint tension of too many unspoken things.
Marie is practically vibrating.
I notice it around the third bite of French toast. The way she keeps glancing at Ragon, each look a little more charged. The way her fingers worry the edge of her napkin.
Finally she can't hold it in.
"So..." she says, bright, casual. Not casual at all. "About the bonding."
Ragon's fork pauses halfway to his mouth.
Here we go.
"You said soon. How soon is soon?"
My stomach tightens.
Eli's knee bumps mine under the table, deliberate. I don't look at him. If I do, my face will give away how hard my heart is pounding.
Ragon sets his fork down carefully.
"A couple of weeks."
The words have the weight of something official. Already decided.
Marie gasps. "Really?"
