My mother made a keening sound and launched herself at him. They both went down, but my father braced himself against the frame and whispered soothing reassurances in her ear. I stood, rooted in the closet as relief flooded me hard enough to crack the fragile pieces of my heart I’d managed to hold on to.
“Daddy,” I whispered, seconds away from a full breakdown.
“We don’t have much time,” he said, his voice as steady as ever. “They will be back, but not yet.”
I’d almost killed my parents. Holy shit.
I’d almost killed my parents.
“I need you to keep it together, little nightmare.” His arms were still wrapped tightly around my mother, but he stood closer now. I took a shuddering breath, held it, and then let it out slowly. When I nodded, he smiled at me with pride. “That’s my girl.”
It took some time, but my mother recovered enough to let go. Together, we put the couch to rights and sat silently in the fractured shell of our home.
“The tribunal offered us clemency,” my father said, and it took a minute for his words to register.
Clemency?
I stared at the mutilated memories the hunters left around us. Was this what that looked like? A wrecked house and an almost broken bond? They couldn't have just sent a note?
“We’ve been hunted our whole lives,” I croaked. “What’s changed?”
My father glanced down at my mother with a sad smile. Hegave her a soft kiss on the head, and then met my confused frown. “They found your bond.”
All sound ceased to exist as my racing heart drowned out the rest of his explanation. I only heard bits and pieces over the one word cycling through my head.
Bond.
“The oracles announced it.”
Bond.
“He’s the heir to the witch faction.”
I’d never admitted it out loud, but I’d always dreamed of finding it—the kind of love my parents had. They said to find your bond was to find a piece of yourself you didn’t even know was missing. It filled a hole, and it fucking sucked to know I would spend the rest of my life with a giant chunk of me missing.
“I won’t do it.” Something fluttered in my chest. My bond? My breaking heart? It didn’t matter. “Tell their precious warlock he can be alone forever.”
My parents glanced at one another, communicating without words. I didn’t want something like that with someone who would have killed me without a second thought if I weren’t fated for them.
“That means you’ll be alone forever too,” my mother warned. Like I didn’t know that I was turning down my only chance.
“I’d be alone anyway,” I replied.
I never wanted the tribunal’s acceptance, only to be left alone. What would my life be like with a would-be murderer as a bond mate? Not worth it. But…
“What happens if I reject him?” I asked. “What happens to you guys?”
The tribunal couldn’t kill me now, no matter what I chose, not without severely weakening a faction heir—even with anuncompleted bond. But my parents…they could retaliate against them.
“This is your choice, little nightmare.” There was no condemnation in my father’s eyes. Only love. “Your mother and I will support you no matter what.”
I nodded, decision already made. “Then I say, no.”
I leaned into my anger to cover the heart-wrenching pain that squeezed my chest like a vise, but it only got worse. The deeper I sank into my decision, the more it hurt. My hands clutched at my shirt as I rode the waves. My parents looked on in pity, but there was nothing they could do. This was my choice. When the pain finally tapered off, only a small flicker of…something…remained inside me. I pushed it down until I felt nothing.
one
2 years later
