In the way my heart clenched every time he spoke of himself with shame.
In the way one kiss had stripped me more bare than all the lovers I had taken in the years after my escape.
With Kael’Varyn, I had found safety.
With Thyros, I had found home.
I knew in the fierce certainty that if he reached for me, I would go to him. Not because the bond demanded it. Because I wanted to. So there was only one answer left to give, surprising myself more than them.
“Yes,” I whispered.
The word settled over me with startling clarity. Not fear. Not obligation. Not surrender. Love.
Nadine passed me a napkin with efficient precision. I hadn’t realized tears were slipping down my cheeks.
“There is also a statistical likelihood,” she said matter-of-factly, “that resisting a mutually beneficial soul bond with a male who is deeply devoted to you is a poor long-term strategy.”
I let out a watery laugh. Ella wrapped her arms around me before I could stop her. For one stiff moment, instinct urged me to pull away. Then I melted into the embrace. Nadine joined us a second later, a little awkwardly but with unmistakable sincerity.
Surrounded by these extraordinary women—each of us ripped from our lives and thrust into a destiny none of us had asked for—I felt something shift. Not just acceptance. Belonging.
We were not here by accident.
We were not victims of some cosmic manipulation.
We were part of something ancient and profound.
And for the first time, that truth no longer felt like a threat. It felt like home. When we finally pulled apart, Ella brushed my hair back from my face. “Go talk to him.”
I laughed shakily. “He’s going to be insufferably smug.”
Nadine adjusted her blouse. “Based on my observations, he has been miserable for seventy-two hours.”
That image sent a warm rush through my chest.
“Also,” Nadine added, “his productivity has decreased by approximately thirty-eight percent.”
I burst out laughing.
Ella grinned. “See? He needs you.”
I wiped my cheeks and stood. For the first time in days, the golden thread no longer felt like a chain. It felt like a path. A path I was finally ready to follow.
Naeris had avoidedme for three days. Three miserable, interminable days. Not that I blamed her.
The first time we kissed, I had all but devoured her against the wall like a male who had lost every shred of discipline. This last time hadn't been much better. After she left, all I wanted was to run after her and tell her I loved her. A confession I had carried in silence for far too long. But I knew that it was too soon. I would have thrust the words at her as though she were somehow expected to know what to do with them.
She was human.
Worse, she had been raised by the Sythari.
The thought sent a familiar surge of rage through me. I tightened my grip on the edge of the table until the metal groaned in protest. The Sythari had taken a female who should have been cherished and tried to reduce her to a vessel. Abreeding prize. A body to be traded to the highest bidder. A womb to produce more daughters, only to watch those children be torn from her arms and molded into the same cruel system that had shaped her.
The image hit me with such force that my vision darkened.
Fuck.
I wanted to burn their temples to ash.
