“Not all of them,” Vicente mutters, momentarily lost in his own thoughts before his eyes lock on mine. “I remember this pack. They had a third mate, but the third mate only shared a bond with one of them and it eventually drove him mad with jealousy.”
Damn, that blows, but why’s he looking at me? “Where is he now?”
“He was banished,” Vicente says quietly. “A decade ago…to Exile Island.”
The words hang there like a noose.
Creed turns back to Haide, expression dark though he says nothing, likely searching her mind for the truth.
“I didn’t do this,” she says, but there’s less fire behind it now. Just exhaustion and something that looks too close to fear. The bond feeds it to me, her terror bleeding into my own rage until I can’t tell where hers stops and mine starts.
Creed’s anger only grows. “Portalling without knowing how? That’s not normal, even for the gifted. If you can even call yourself one.”
“Tell me, oh mighty King Creed, what part of thisisnormal?” Haide snaps defiantly. “And you forget, I never wanted to come here in the first fucking place!”
“Sure you fucking did. You want power just as much as the next, but I doubt you’re even worthy enough.”
“So which is? I have power, or I don’t?”
His eyes flash in warning. “Behave.”
“You,” I warn, my lip curled.
His features stiffen, but you’d have to be watching to see it, and I am fucking watching.
Yeah, he doesn’t want Legend to pick up on his subtle reminder of our deal but he wants to make sure I don’t forget it. As if I fucking could.
I’ve been thinking about that little conversation we had that day, and something isn’t quite adding up.
I open my mouth to ask him something.
“Enough.” Knight’s voice slices through the tension before I can speak. “We need to look at this closer, and outsiders are not welcome while we do.”
I snarl. “She’s not a fucking—”
“Yes, I am! Stop trying to come to my damn rescue. I don’t need nor want it!” she snaps, burning me with her glare. “You can all fuck off now.”
Then she moves, stalking toward the tree line with that lethal grace that makes every instinct in me scream to follow, to drag her back, to chain her somewhere safe where nothing can touch her.
But I don’t.
I watch her disappear into the shadows, the bond stretching tight between us, and force myself to stay still.
For now.
“She’s gonna end up dead if she keeps this shit up,” Creed mutters.
“No,” I say, voice cold and certain. “She won’t.”
“People will start to talk.”
“Let them.”
I’ll burn this whole fucking realm down before I let anything happen to her.
I should stop her as she walks away, but I don’t. Because she can throw a fucking tantrum loud enough for the Gods to hear, but that ain’t gonna change shit.
“You think she’s gonna behave?” Knight asks, brow curved. We both know she isn’t, but it’s what makes her Haide. My little fucking monster.
