“Out of the four of us, I was the only one who could be certain of mybinding. That certainty meant Iwouldn’tlose myself to you.”
He paused.“I don’t know how to say this without breaking you further.”
He swallowed. “Do you remember the day we met?”
I did. Of course I did. But the memory felt different now,like a photograph held too long in the sun.
Four months ago, I was sitting outside the campus coffee shop, flipping through sketches for my fashion show.ThenI heard a voice that caught my attention. It was rich and warm, a voice that made me
look upand there he was, Donte, sunlight crowning his hair.
I dropped my sketchbook, my drawings scattering like fallen leaves. Libby and Lacey, the campusjoined-at-the-hip bitcheswere already
giggling. Lacey snatched a sketch before I could reach
it.Holding it up, she grinned, “Well, I guess she could always design Halloween costumes.”
Donte crossed the space between us without hesitation, kneeling to gather my drawings as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He took the sketch from Lacey’s hand with a calm yet cutting look that made her flinch, and the girls fell silent under the weight of his gaze.
“I thinkplaytime’sover. Why don’t you girls run along?” Lacey paled. Her fingers twitched as she nervously glanced at Libby,who sat frozen, her mouth slightly open. The girls grabbed their things and hurried away, chattering loudly as they glanced over their shoulders.
“Pay no attention to them,” Donte said softly, his smile steady. “They only mock what they envy.”
But those memories ache now; what once felt like fate now feels like a lie.
“Of course I remember. How could I forget?”
Donte’s eyes darkened, “It wasn’t chance. My brothers and I arranged it. We’d been watching you, hoping we had found the Marked. But we had to be certain.”
He paused.
“The only way was for one of us to get close.”
I rubbed my temple, fingers tracing the faint outline of the triangles. They were pulsing beneath my skin.
“I thought the mark confirmed who I was? Wasn't it enough for you to recognise me without subjecting me to all this?”
Donte’s gaze dropped to the ground, as if he could no longer lookat me.“The mark wasn’t apparent when we first met you,”he said quietly.“It appeared on your nineteenth birthday.”
I shook my head in disbelief. My world was crashing in around me and I seemed helpless to stop it.
I clenched my fists, nails biting into my palms.I suddenly became angry with myself. How could I have been such a fool?
“Tilly, I’m sorry. My soul bind isn’t you,”
He paused gathering a breath. “I had to know if you were one of the marked.”
I turned away, unable to bear the sight of him.
The air felt colder now, like his words had stolen the warmth from the day.
I stared at the trees lining the path, their leaves trembling in the breeze. Everything looked the same, but nothing felt real.
“Do notmistake this for cruelty,” he said, his voice low but steady. “The cursedidn’tchoose you out of malice. Itclaimedyou because the starsaligned in a way they haven’t in a decade and unless the Varethym Law is upheld, it will take you slowly and without mercy.”
He looked up at the sky, as if the constellations might confirm his words.
“That’swhy we watched you.That’swhy I stayed close. Not only for them, for you.”
