Page 35 of The Bonds of Nyx

His name came to mind so easily.Ry. I’d known it was short for something—but for what, I wasn’t sure.

I glossed over the darker details, deciding they weren’t for anyone else to hear. “I helped him for two months. Snuck food to him and cleaned his wounds. He made me promise I wouldn’t tell anyone, and although Andrew suspected something was up, I could never tell him.”

And I used to tell Andrew things. As much as he’d disappointed me, as much as I never got along with Kerry, I’d had him in my corner. He’d at least been a friend at that time.

“He was my first. Kiss, time, love, I guess. I would have done anything for him. You’d finally returned, so I was going to tell him about how I’d be there less, but he was gone. He’d left nothing behind…like he’d never been there at all.”

For a moment, no one said a word. I could feel their stares on me, but I couldn’t look up from my hands. My heart thundered, and a part of me wondered if maybe…

“It was him,” Elias grunted. “The old tale of never making promises with a Fae? True. You promised not to tell, so you couldn’t tell your stepfather. He’s your mystery mate.”

I released a shaky breath and closed my eyes. “Well, that was easier than expected,” I joked, but no one laughed.

“Could have told you the other assholes were just human.” Thea shrugged half-heartedly. “Now what? What’s his name?”

I opened my mouth, but again, I couldn’t say it aloud. “I don’t know,” I stuttered, tears burning in the corners of my eyes. “I mean, Iknowit, but I can’t—”

I turned to Maeve, because if anyone had a plan, who knew what to do now, it was her.

But even the team leader looked uncertain. “Ivy, any chance you can remember what he looked like? If he had anydistinguishing marks? Tattoos maybe? If he gave you any idea of his life?”

Shaking my head, I slumped against Elias. “No,” I whispered, even though I could pull his face up clearly in my mind. Funnily enough, I’d always thought he was too beautiful for someone like me. “I remember, but I can’t.”

“If he was running from someone, he would have glamoured himself, even against Ivy,” Rowan said, speaking for the first time today. I looked up to find his eyes, but he was looking at his hands clasped on the table. “Finding him without the bond will be hard. We’ll have to wait until he was ready to reveal himself. He’s made sure she can’t tell us anything important.”

“Why is he hiding?” Thea asked. All eyes turned to her. “Like, why bother? We know he exists now, so what’s the point? And how has he hidden for so long?”

I shrugged and swiped a finger under my eye. “Some kind of mind magic from a mage or witch, apparently, and I don’t know what else. Has he been hiding the bond since he left? Or did neither of us know until recently?”

Thea pressed her lips together for a moment and crossed her arms. She had an idea. I could see it playing in her eyes.

“Spill. What are you thinking?” I asked, sitting up.

“Dreams started on your twenty-first, right?” I nodded, leaning forward as her eyes narrowed. “But I’ve seen your back since then. So, it didn’t pop up untilafteryour magic started appearing. You only noticed it after the attack because of your healing shit with Adrian.”

“Could the marks be linked to my magic?” I asked Maeve.

She looked uncertain for a moment before shaking her head. “That’s something we’d need to ask the queen about. Hemighthave been able to block the mark for some time, but reaching out to you during the attack might have…disabled the magic he was using to hold the bond back from you.”

“Why?” I whispered. “Why hide it? Why run? And why stay away? And why the fuck did he show up at all?”

“He knows what he’s doing. At this point, with Ivy’s magic surging like it is, he has to.” Rowan finally looked up and our eyes met. “I’m sorry, Ivy.”

I swallowed down bile as I rose from the table. “Since we’re nowhere closer to figuring out who this mystery mate is, I’m going to check on the girls.”

Elias stood and pressed his hand against the small of my back.I’ll hunt him down if I have to,he said while guiding me out of the room.Don’t waste tears on that coward.

Sucking in a shuddering breath, I nodded. And quietly, I imagined a wall between Ry and me. No morelittle flowerbullshit. No more mystery.

~

The girls were, thankfully, occupied by Marion. I was more than grateful for the older woman. I’d never seen Maisie so enamoured by something, especially not by a butterfly illusion Marion created to fly around the room.

A tingle raced over my skin in warning. Elias lifted his head as I exited the bedroom, his eyes dark and shoulders tense. “Come on,” he said, holding a hand out to me. “Let’s go for a walk.”

“I really shouldn’t—”

“Ivy,” he cut in, pushing off the wall and stalking up to me. “We need to talk.”

---