Page 62 of Blood On His Lips

Renaud. The Prince of Everenne. High Lord of House Montague.

My mother’s killer, my brother’s jailer.

My bonded.

RanielDarkanRenaud

RanielDarkanRenaud

RanielDarkanRen

Hands grabbed my shoulders and yanked me backwards.

“Release her, boy,” RanielDarkanRenaud said, death in his voice. He’d already proven he could kill those I loved.

ChapterNineteen

“It’s fine, I’m fine,”I murmured to Numair, then laughed. “Give us a minute.”

Reluctance stiffened his muscled body, but he withdrew—barely, skirting the line of obedience.

Renaud’s—wait, which one was this? RanielDarkanRenaud?—cool gaze stalked Numair as my chevalier retreated, the violence in the air rising and sharpening. Seething, possessive fury scorched the edges of my mind, and I was also enough in tune with Numair to feelhisanswer to the silent challenge.

Darkan didn't bother to hide his feelings from me, not that he ever had. Our minds entwined, halves of one whole. I fought a sense of overwhelm and grim understanding that since rising he must have been muting the brunt of the bond to give me space. But then it wasn’t death I’d truly feared when it came to the Prince. Death was peace.

With my memories and new perspective came understanding, my view of RanielDarkanRenaud—

Stop it, damn it.

Renaud.

He was Renaud.

Because Raniel existed only in Avellonne, and Darkan only in my mind. So, here, in cold, drenched reality, I would think of him as Renaud.

There. Much better.

—my view of Renaud was, perforce, more complete. I understood his drive to bend me to his will, but I refused to live as a will-less vessel of the Prince, and if he could get away with such a thing, he would. No High Fae would relish so deep a chink in their armor. If he did not tame me, he would be forced to kill me.

How it must gall you, to claim a halfling girl.

Was I so galled when you played in the sands of Avellonne? Have I been galled since?

No, no he wasn’t supposed to talk to me like this as Raniel. Not with Darkan’s voice while looking at me with Renaud’s eyes.

I felt him retreat, and breathed easier. I was going to have to come to terms with this. Somehow. Gods, Susenne was going to have a field day.

He would fight me, fight himself. But for every hook he sank into my soul, I would return the favor in kind. With my memories returning, I understood that he needed me as much as I needed him. He’d called me an anchor, and now I knew what he meant. All those years I’d walked in his mind, I’d kept him tethered to his body, to sanity. Whatever bond we’d inadvertently forged now whipped him with the same craving it scoured me.

Renaud Gauthier. The male who had killed my mother. Raniel Stormthrone. Son of two Ancients, and former Lord of Avellonne.

The universe had a perverse sense of humor. And I—I knew now it must have been my fault. Had he killed her because a part of him knew she would fight our bond? Had he killed her in order to keep me?

I bent over, bracing my hands on my knees for a moment. The maelstrom in my mind whipped into a frenzy.

You must calm yourself, girl.Nayya's voice in my mind.Your distress increases Raniel’s. He will fracture, and you do not want that.

“Get out of my head!” There were too many people in my mind. Too many powers, flinging me around like a leaf in a hurricane, as if I was nothing. The walls around my psyche lacked integrity.

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