Her body collapsed against mine like she’d been held together only by that spell. Boneless and prone. She buried her face against my chest, sobbing softly, her fingers curling weakly into my shirt.
The bond…Gods.
Iterupted. A burst of warmth and recognition so fierce I staggered to my knees. Her magick pressed into me, wrapping around us. Two halves slammed together like a heartbeat finally synced.
She gasped at the feeling—and clung harder. I held her like something sacred. One of my arms was under her knees while the other was around her shoulders.Her cheek was pressed against my throat where her breath was shaking out of her and her warm tears saturated my skin.
“I’ve got you,” I whispered, voice breaking. “I’ve got you. I’m here.”
“Savla…” she cried softly. “You came.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I’ll always come,” I said. “I willalwayscome for you.”
Her fingers slid up to my collar, gripping hard. And the bond hummed—deep, electric and undeniable—like it had been waiting for this touch and this moment—thistruth—all our lives.
Chapter 32
Savla
Hanna’s breath hitched unevenly against my throat, cold and shallow, each inhale a knife scraping down my spine. Her fingers clutched at my shirt—fistfuls of fabric, shaking and desperate—like if she let go, she’d be dragged back into the spell.
The bond hammered inside my chest, no longer quiet or buried. It roared now. Demanding, alive and answering her fear pulse for pulse.She was alive, breathing, and in my arms. I’d never felt relief so violent.
I angled her closer, my hand splayed across her spine to feel the faint rise and fall of her breath. Her hair brushed my jaw, soft and sweat-damp while her magick flickered weakly across my skin, trying to spark and grab onto me for stability.
I gave it everything it reached for, but behind us, Corwin wheezed and Hanna’s mother sighed.Actuallysighed.
“How dramatic,” she drawled, sounding irritated at the inconvenience of her kidnapped daughter being rescued. “Hanna, darling, you’ve caused enough trouble for one evening.”
Hanna flinched like the words were a slap and anything that had everresembledcontrol inside of me shattered.A low growl rumbled up from deep in my chest—instinctual, feral and utterlydisgusted—that I didn’t try to hide. My grip around her tightened. Krusk stepped in front of us, broad frame blocking Corwin from even breathing in our direction.
Tabitha, still haloed in residual spell-fire, turned her head slowly toward Hanna’s mother. Her eyes were no longer human—they glowed with ancient witchlight.
“I ought to turn you inside out,” Tabitha said, voice calm enough to be horrifying.
The female, who was clearly too stupid to realize that was a real possibility, rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Tabitha. It was a restraint spell—”
“Abindingspell,” Tasia snapped, stepping forward, voice sharp as a blade. “Which isillegaland you know it. You used it on your owndaughter.”
Hanna’s mother’s lip twitched. “If she insists on behaving the way she does, I see no issue.”
Tabitha’s fingers curled. The air behind her shimmered. If Zara hadn’t grabbed her arm and whispered, “Wait, I have a better hex,” I was certain Tabitha would’ve ripped the female’s soul out with her bare hands.
I would’ve enjoyed watching that. I might’ve even enjoyedhelpinghowever I could,but I was too busy keeping myself from tearing Corwin apart.
Because Corwin chose that moment—that unforgivable moment that revealed everything rotten in him—to push himself upright. He swayed, wiping blood from his mouth with a trembling hand, and then he dared toglareat Hanna.
“This,” he spat, pointing at me with a shaking finger, “is what you run to, Hanna? A hellspawn mongrel? A beast whose clan will be dust when Greyleaf and Ashvale merge?”
My entire body locked and my claws extended. But my Hanna whimpered. Shewhimpered. The sound was tiny—barely a breath and it detonated inside me.
Tabitha gasped softly and Enka froze, eyes wide, while Krusk’s fangs bared in a silent snarl. And I—I nearly dropped Hanna just to get both hands free to kill him.
My vision narrowed to a pinpoint but Dristan moved like thunder.He stood next to us, eyes glowing hot with bloodlust.
“Savla,” he snapped, “you can’t kill him.”
“Why not?” I growled, voice sharp enough to crack the air.
