Page 69 of These Dangerous Fates

He shakes his head. “Never heard of it. I can do some digging, though. Probably best to make sure it’s not a threat to her.”

I nod my head in agreement. “Anything else?” I ask her gently.

She shakes her head. “I don’t think so.” Her brow furrows before she turns to look at me. “Do you think all this shit with my dad, I mean … Thomas, can just be over? Do we have to continue this stupid contest? He’s not my dad. I don’t have to do what he says, right?”

The hope shining in her eyes almost breaks my heart. This woman has been beaten down her entire life, literally and figuratively. I want nothing more than to take her away from this gods forsaken city and start a new life with her. To show her what it is to be loved and cared for. To make her happy and never see her cry again.

“I think if we can prove he isn’t your dad, we can walk away from it all.” I say. “But we’d need that proof first. And we’d need to keep it as quiet as possible. If Noah finds out that you know, he’ll do anything to keep it from getting out to the public. I have no doubt he’d come after you to make sure this information doesn’t get leaked.”

Tears well in her eyes, and she buries her face in my shoulder. Cade moves the tray from her lap and rubs gentle circles on her back while I smooth her hair away from her face. I meet Cade’s gaze over her head and nod. They need to talk about being soul bonded. It’s tempting to tell him to wait, she’s had so much thrown at her recently, but that wouldn’t be right. If I didn’t know how strong she was, I’d be worried it would be too much.

“Hey, love?” Cade says, still rubbing her back. “I need to talk to you about something. I know it’s probably not the best time, but I think it should happen now.”

Ellis sits up and wipes her eyes, looking between him and me. This conversation needs to be private, but it’s hard to leave her side. I just got her back, and for some reason, I have this irrational fear that if I leave, she’ll disappear again.

Before I walk away from the bed, I bend down and kiss her gently. “Don’t go anywhere. This is where you belong.”

I don’t leave the room until I see her recognize the truth in my words.

Cade

Nerves flutter in my belly so hard it’s making me nauseous. It’s weird. I can’t remember the last time I was actually nervous about something. Sweat slicks my palms, and I wipe them on my sweats. Dude, get it together. I don’t know why the thought of telling Ellis we’re soul bonded is so terrifying. It’s not that I’m not thrilled to be soul bonded to her, it’s just that she has been through so much since we met, and I’m worried this will be what breaks her. And the last time she found out she was fated to be with one of us, she took off and got kidnapped. Granted, there were extenuating circumstances, but still.

Ellis sits up straighter and places her hand on my thigh. “What’s wrong?” She scans my face with her amber eyes and frowns. “You’re worrying me, Cade.”

“Don’t be worried.” I give her a shaky smile, and she settles back against the headboard. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to freak you out, I’m just … nervous.” I take one of her hands in mine, hoping she doesn’t notice how sweaty I am, and thread our fingers together. “I’m not sure where to start, so I’ll just start at the beginning.” I take a deep breath and look into her eyes. “The first night we met, when I lowered you to the ground from your window, my magic reacted differently than it ever has. Usually, it’s just like an extension of me. Like a habit, a natural reaction, something I don’t even think about doing.”

I turn my free hand up on my knee and let my magic swirl around in my palm. Ellis twirls her fingers through the purple light, a smile playing at the corners of her lips. Goosebumps raise on my arms.

“As soon as my magic touched you, I knew something was different,” I continue. “It’s like it sang to me. It echoed inside me in a way I’ve never experienced. It’s never felt sentient, but at that moment, it did. I had to force it away after I got you on the ground. It didn’t want to leave you. Any time my magic touches you, it’s like that.”

Her eyes are wide as I tell my story. She’s stopped twirling her fingers in the purple glow, distracted by my words, but she hasn’t removed her hand from the light. It pulses gently and she gasps.

“I didn’t do that,” I say wryly. “It did it all on its own.”

“What does that mean?” she breathes.

My pulse races, and my hand shakes, causing the violet light to waver. “We’re soul bonded, Ellis. Fated to be together, the same as you are with Kai and Sterling.”

Her face goes slack, mouth hanging open. “Soul bonded?”

I nod. “I’m assuming you know what that means.” Being raised by mage parents, surrounded by other mages, she is bound to know what it means.

“I do. But …” Her words trail off, like she can’t find the right ones to speak

“How is it possible?” I ask for her. “How are you fated to be with all three of us?”

She nods, her eyes so wide in her pale face.

“I have no idea, but it has to mean something, right?” Shrugging, I squeeze her hand gently. “I mean, a mage, a vampire, and a shifter all fated to be with a human? It seems too strange to be a coincidence.”

Her gaze falls to her lap, and she pulls her hands away from mine. “Do you want it? Do you want to be soul bonded to me?”

Her voice is so small in the quiet of Kai’s room. The fact she feels the need to ask that question is like a knife in my chest. When will she understand how amazing she is? What will it take to show her she is worth so much more than what she has been shown?

I take her face in my hands and force her to look at me. “There is nothing I want more.”

She presses her lips together, but it doesn’t hide their trembling. Tears well in her eyes and spill over, running down her cheeks. I wipe them away with my thumbs and gently press a kiss to her lips before tucking her against my chest. She feels so good in my arms, so right. The fear I felt while she was missing disappears like smoke drifting away on a breeze.

---