“Savla.” My name was sharp and pleading in her voice. “Stop protecting me from the truth.”
I shut my eyes. The truth was that the bond was already singing between us. I felt her thoughts echo in my ribs like they were my own and I would’ve razed the estate to ashes if we’d been a moment later.
Thetruth wasthat I loved her more than anything, but I couldn’t say it for some reason. It was stuck in my throat.
“I’m here,” I said instead. “That’s all I can promise.”
She swallowed.
“Then stay,” she whispered.
The words hit harder than any punch. My breath froze, and my heart roared but I couldn’t lie to her.
“I will,” I managed, my voice breaking.
A tiny smile trembled across her lips. She eased onto her side, curling closer and Ribbon draped himself protectively over Hanna’s legs like a squishy bodyguard.
I sat beside them, leaning forward so my forehead touched Hanna’s temple. Her breath warmed my jaw and her magick sighed against me.
For the first time since I dragged her from that cocoon of poison and lies—she slept peacefully. BecauseIwas there. Because she trusted me.
And because the bond, whether I admitted it or not, had wrapped us together in a way neither of us could walk away from. Not anymore.
Chapter 35
Savla
Hanna’s breathing finally softened into a fragile, steady rhythm. Ribbon stayed half-flopped across her legs, making soft, worried, burbling sounds. I rested on the edge of the cot, close enough to feel her warmth and close enough that her fingers stayed tangled in mine even as she slept.
As the minutes passed, her eyes fluttered again—slow, heavy and fighting their way back to consciousness.When she blinked up at me, her gaze clearer this time, something inside me unraveled.
“Savla…?” she whispered.
My chest tightened at the soft sound of her voice.
“I’m here,” I murmured.
She swallowed, breath trembling. “I didn’t dream it.”
“No,” I said softly. “You didn’t dream any of it.”
Her gaze drifted down to our joined hands, then back up to my jaw, my cheek and my eyes.
“You came for me,” she said again, her voice so much smaller. “You tore through the glamor like it was nothing. I felt you before I saw you.”
I exhaled slowly. “It wasn’t nothing. I almost—” I stopped myself before the rage resurfaced. Before the memory of her limp body inside that cocoon made my rage flare again.
She reached up with her free hand, cupping the side of my face and her thumb brushed my cheekbone in a soft, shaky line. Heat surged under my skin.
“Savla,” she whispered. “Look at me.”
I did what she asked and her eyes filled with something I couldn’t hide from, couldn’t dodge and couldn’t fight—something warm, terrified and honest.
“The bond… it didn’t lie,” she murmured. “I could feel you calling back to me. You were scared for me and you—you wanted me safe.”
“Hanna…” My voice cracked.
She pushed herself up onto her elbows with effort, leaning closer, her hair falling around her shoulders like a curtain. Ribbon croaked in complaint until Hanna stroked his head reassuringly.Then Hanna looked back at me. Her gaze was direct, soft and certain.
