Page 118 of The Bond That Burns

I watched her expression falter as she took in my desperation.

“Please,” I said, my voice breaking a little. Fuck, I hated this. “I don’t have anyone else to ask. Not someone I can trust.”

She nodded slowly. “I’ll be here. You can trust me.” She hesitated, then added, “But you and I need to talk. After this is all over.”

My face hardened. “Just tell me now. What’s wrong?”

“Kage came to see me,” she said, not meeting my eyes.

I knew before she said the words.

“I’ve been given permission to transfer to House Avari.”

Even so, I felt like I’d been dealt a blow to the stomach. For a moment, I couldn’t speak.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

She pushed a long red curl off her face. “I’m not.”

My entire body felt raw. I’d never felt so betrayed. “What fucked up game is my uncle playing at now?”

“Maybe he’s doing us both a favor,” she said quietly. “Maybe separation could be a good thing. Blake, you and I... Well, just look at us. We’re like a fire.”

“I know,” I said softly, touching a finger to her chin and forcing her to meet my eyes. “I feel it, too.”

“But not in a good way,” she whispered–and I saw there were tears in her eyes. “We’re burning out of control. If we stay together, more people will get hurt.”

I stared at her, my face a mask of disbelief. “You can’t seriously mean that. You’d really leave me to go to House Avari? To go tohim?”

She didn’t ask who I meant. She knew. “After all that’s happened, can’t you see, Blake? This bond—us—has to end,” she said, her voice trembling. “Now more than ever. We put people at risk, just by being...us.”

I shook my head. I had no words.

“I’m a danger to Florence already,” she said, her voice wobbling. “But with you, I’m doubly dangerous. Because of Aenia, because of Viktor. He’ll keep trying to use us against each other. Maybe he already is.”

“And you don’t think this isn’t him trying to use us against each other?” I snapped. “Are you really that naïve?”

I watched her take a breath, as if to control herself.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” I admitted. “But stop and think. Aenia was just as much of a pawn at the Tribunal evaluation as Florence was.”

“I know,” she said wearily. “But...”

“But what?” I held up my hands and shook my head. “You know what? Do it. If you’re so determined to run, go ahead. Transfer houses, break the bond, whatever you need to do to make yourself feel better. Because I can’t keep doing this.”

I watched her breath hitch. “Doing what?”

“This.” I gestured between us, my words coming out in a rush, blunt and unfiltered. “This goddamn exhausting mirroring of emotions. When you’re sad, I’m sad. When you’re happy, I’m happy. And when you’re in danger...” My voice faltered.

“What?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

I looked away from her, my jaw clenching. “When you’re in danger, I feel like I’d gladly give up my life and everything in it to keep you safe.”

The weight of my confession hung there between us, heavy and suffocating.

“Blake...”

“Don’t bother,” I interrupted, my eyes blazing as I looked at her. She was deep inside me now. Woven into my blood. Carved into my heart. But maybe these feelings were poison. Sweet but deadly. Maybe she was right and I should have been fighting just as hard as she was to cut them out. “I have to go. When I get back... Well, if you’re going to go, just go. But don’t stand hereand tell me we’re better off apart like it’s some noble sacrifice. Because it’s not. It’s just running away.”

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