Aurelius’s hand covered mine. And everything changed.
The hum deepened.
Not just through my skin. Through my chest.
Through my ribs. Through my breath.
Zephyros’s pulse had synchronized with mine. I felt the steady rhythm of her heart, and beneath that, another rhythm.
Aurelius’s. For a heartbeat…or maybe three—I couldn’t tell which pulse was whose.
My inhale stuttered. Zephyros inhaled. Aurelius inhaled.
The air moved through all three of us at once.
I was no longer just a mortal with a dragon and a Fire Fae. I was a circuit. A current of magic vibrating through us, binding skin to scale, scale to bone, bone to breath.
And underneath it all— Emotion.
Raw. Unshielded. Exposed.
Zephyros’s presence was vast and ancient and terrifyingly intelligent. I could distinguish her—steady, powerful, sovereign in her awareness.
But Aurelius—
His emotion flooded the bond.
Not controlled. Not guarded. I felt his reverence, hope, fear, and longing.
God, the longing!
It burned through the connection like white fire, sharper than any blade. Not possessive. Not demanding but pleading. My throat tightened. Because I felt it the way he felt it.
The way he watched me.
The way he held his breath like if I broke this moment, something in him would fracture beyond repair.
The way he needed this interaction to matter.
He let me feel it.All of it. What it would be like to stand beside him instead of Titus’s shadow.
What it would be like to be his equal. To not submit to power. But to share it.
My knees nearly buckled, and his hand tightened over mine instinctively.
He felt everything. Every spike in my pulse.
Every crack in my resolve. Every flicker of doubt.
This wasn’t just a bond.
This was a choice; he was letting mefeelwhat choosing him would mean.
“You feel it,” he murmured, but it wasn’t a question.
His voice sounded different, rougher. Lower. Like he was speaking from inside the bond instead of outside of it.
Aurelius’s hand lingered over mine a second longer than necessary.
