Page 41 of Bounty Hunter

Ikar and I stand a bit awkwardly in front of the shelf, both unmoving for a long moment. I scratch my arm even though there’s no itch, then check the tie at the base of my braid while I wait for him to make the first move. He doesn’t.Nowhe decides he doesn’t want to be in charge? I sigh. Fine. I lean in a little closer to read some of the descriptions.

Below a row of green, I read aloud, “Adventure.” I look back at Ikar with a brow raised to gauge his reaction. “This is kinda fun, right?”

He mostly just looks bored and uncomfortable. I notice that the hand he rests on his sword pommel twitches like he might be in actual danger. So, the mancanbe dramatic. I would laugh, except I’m also quite nervous about this whole mate bond thing. Only one way forward.

I continue by dragging my finger to a row of light-bluevials next. “All Business,” I say, louder this time, feeling more confident in our options.

Applicable, but boring.

My eyes slide to the next color, a row of bright pink vials, and read, “Romance.” I don’t look back at him this time. In order to diffuse the awkwardness of the last label, I move too quickly to a row of sunshine yellow vials and blurt out, “Reproduction,” before I realize it’s worse than the last. My cheeks are flaming. I’m pretty positive we aren’t ready for that, and I thought these were temporary anyway. I have questions for Miss Mate License.

Ikar growls, “This is ridiculous.”

He decisively reaches over my head and grabs one of the gold vials recommended by the shop lady without reading the label and walks toward the counter to pay for it.

“Wait! I didn’t read the description on that one,” I whisper-yell at his back. Besides, after seeing some of those vials, I don’t trust this woman’s recommendations.

“We know it’s notreproduction,” he mutters beneath his breath without slowing and slides it across the counter into the hands of the cheery lady. I’m just walking up to the counter when she smiles knowingly, “Wonderfulchoice, you two. It’s worth the expense.” She hands Ikar a receipt with a total so large at the bottom I choke a little.

I lean around his arm, worried and feeling a little panicky. “Maybe we should take a look at the others?”

He counts out the money and hands it to her. He seems out of his element in this odd little shop, his discomfort almost tangible. His face is unreadable. Is mate-bonding with me just to get across a forest so awful? I cringe at the thought. He just wants out. So, while paying that amount of money would make me cry, it’s clear that he’s earned so much from hisviolent escapades as a mercenary he gives no thought for expense.

The woman takes the money and then hands us each a charmed quill. “Sign here and here.” She points to two lines at the bottom of the contract she’s just written. Ikar’s eyes skim the contract, but he keeps glancing outside, probably hoping we can get back to the gate before the suns go down and it’s too late. I haven’t read all the details about the binding, but before I can finish Ikar signs his name with a flourish and slides the paper to me. “Sign,” he commands.

I carefully sign my name, and our names settle permanently into the parchment with a flourish of sparks. I gulp.

The woman quickly rolls it up, ties it with a wide, flashy red ribbon, and hands it to Ikar. “Now. The mate bond. Would you like to do that here or on your own?”

Without waiting for an answer, she eagerly leads us over to the back of the shop with the wood arch I spotted earlier. Roses trail down outside the window. It’s a bit overdone for my tastes, but I smile anyway, trying not to think about if this were an actual marriage to Ikar and not just a temporary mate bond. She flings a startlingly bright white fur cloak around her shoulders and prepares to begin.

Ikar stops her. “We’ll take care of this on our own, but thank you.”

The woman’s face falls a little.“I do love to do the bonds with the gold vial,” she removes the cloak, “but I understand.” She scurries back over to her desk and shuffles noisily through a drawer. Bits of ribbon fall, twirling to the floor, and papers in all shades of pink and red messily peek over the edge. She finds what she’s looking for and heads back over to us with a piece of paper and a delicate gold chain in her hand. She neatly folds the chain up inside the envelope. “Here are the instructions,follow themverycarefully to make sure it’s done properly. You wouldn’t want anyone else bonding with your lady.” She winks at Ikar and leads us to the door. “I wish you every happiness.”

I thank her, hoping the wariness doesn’t show too much on my face. She sure acts like this is a big deal, when we just don’t want to be forever bonded by wild shifters on our way through the forest.

We step outside with our flashy-wrapped parchment and crystal vial of gold liquid, both of which Ikar promptly shoves in his pack and away from outside eyes. I would laugh, but a rush of nerves flutters in my stomach, which is ridiculous. Nothing about this is meant to be romantic or meaningful in any way. I search Ikar’s face. Yep, all business. Shoulda chosen the blue vial, or was it the green? Doesn’t matter since Ikar panicked and grabbed gold before I could investigate. Though, maybe he isn’t quite so unaffected. I see that telling muscle in his jaw clench, but that’s usually a sign of irritation. Not quite what I’d like to see in my ideal mate bonding situation.

In search of a place to figure out this bond, I follow Ikar out of town a ways, until the manicured gardens and topiaries disappear and we find ourselves in natural forest. He stops after awhile and looks around. “This should work.”

We stand in long, soft forest grass surrounded by saplings, their coin-shaped leaves fluttering lightly in the breeze. Light filters softly through their branches, and I can see dust particles float in the streaks of sunlight that make it through. He couldn’t possibly have chosen a more romantic location. I peer at him carefully, wondering if it was intentional, but his face is emotionless. Rupi shows her approval by flitting amongst the thin branches, happy to have some freedom after being perched for so long.

He leans down and pulls the envelope and gold vial fromthe pack. He stands once again and I take the gold vial while he opens the card and unfolds the instructions, the gold chain dangling from his hand. He starts reading to himself.

In the shop, the gold vial looked glittery, but as I hold it up to the sunlight to inspect it closer, I realize it isn’t glitter, but miniscule flashes of light continually bursting. Curiosity pokes at me. I really wish we had read the description. Maybe I can go back to see what he’s purchased later. If we don’t already know by then. More butterflies flutter in my stomach. I watch Ikar as his eyes scan the page, focused. I step closer to him and angle myself so I can read the page, too.

The instructions are relatively simple. Stand close, place a very careful droplet on the inside of each of our wrists, then press them together and wrap the gold chain around both and secure it with a charm. Then it’s done.

“Are you okay with this? We can always try to find a different way around,” he says.

I look up into Ikar’s blue eyes, shadowed with concern. “Another way around may not even be possible, and there’s no time to search.”

He nods firmly.

“Areyouokay with this?”

He swallows and looks out into the woods, his body tense. I grow concerned when he doesn’t say anything for a few moments.

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