His hand came to my unmarred cheek as Syris’s words returned to me. I could almost hear his thoughts. He’d seen me like that too. Beaten so badly that my features weren’t familiar.
I said the only thing I could think to say.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t,” he replied. His hand skimmed over my cheek.
“Alaryk—”
“I bonded our magic together.”
At first I thought I hadn’t heard him correctly.
“What?” I whispered, my brow furrowing.
“You were dying,” he said. I felt the sharp cut of grief pierce my mind.His,I realized. “And I couldn’t lose you. So the choice became a simple thing.”
“You told me you never wanted to bond with anyone,” I said. “That it would…it would mark you forever.”
Because it was like a piece of your soul was willingly given to another. You would never be whole again. Always…fractured.
He…he’d saved my life? But he’d made that choice for the both of us. I didn’t know how to feel about that.
“We can still break it, can’t we?” I asked, remembering what he’d said once.
He shook his head. “Even if I wanted to, it’s latched itself and it’ll hold. Can’t you feel it?”
Even if he wanted to?
“What…what does this mean?”
His forehead came to my own. And he didn’t have to say anything. I felt it.
He wanted me to remain at his side.
Always.
I gasped.
“I know there’s much I have to make amends for,” he murmured to me, his brows drawn. “I’ve made so many mistakes with you. But I want to start new. With no secrets between us.”
My vision went blurry.
“Because there can’t be now,” I whispered, so incredibly torn and confused. My temple throbbed. “You’re in my head now. You’ll see everything, feel everything. I—I didn’t ask for this.”
“I know,” he growled, his grip tightening. “And I’m sorry for forcing this on you. But Amaia, Isawyou. Ifeltyou in that forest. I felt your resignation, your realization of your death. Your grief for your family. I felt the pain. I felt your magic, reaching for me. And I reached back because Icouldn’tlose you. Ever.”
My lips parted, hearing the rawness in his voice. The turmoil.
“I made a choice,” he continued, voice guttural. “Perhaps a selfish one. But I made it only with the purest of intentions toward you. To save you. There wasn’t anything malicious about it. The answer was clear, and I chose it.”
I looked down at my palms spread open in my lap. Alaryk took them in his, his hands so big they completely enveloped mine. His lips brushed my cheek.
“You know what I did,” I found myself murmuring. “You know what I did, and you still choose this?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation.
“Why?”
