Page 36 of The Bond That Burns

“I think he wore himself out,” I said, eying the little creature. “At least, for now.” I looked at Florence. “So he’s been living with you in the library?”

“I don’t live in the library, Medra,” Florence said, laughing. “My mother has a suite of rooms. I stayed there with her over the summer. Neville would sleep over sometimes. But I didn’t see him every day. He’d disappear sometimes. I figured he was roaming the castle.” She purposely didn’t meet my eyes. I knew we were both thinking of who Neville had probably been paying visits to.

Blake hadn’t brought the fluffin to see me over the summer. And he hadn’t snuck Florence in. Because he couldn’t or because he had chosen not to?

“I bet he’s been sneaking into the kitchens,” Visha observed. “Look at him! He’s fat enough to roll.”

“He is not,” Florence said primly. “He’s just putting on some winter weight. Like a squirrel.”

Theo laughed. “Blake was probably feeding him, too. Neville’s been sniffing around Drakharrow Tower since I got back. He’s obviously at home here already. Look at him, he’s practically glossy.”

I frowned, thinking of Blake caring for the fluffin. It didn’t square with everything else I knew about him. For a while, I’dbelieved Blake was capable of caring for something else beside himself or his precious house. But I’d been wrong.

Neville had worn himself out again. He collapsed in a heap at Visha’s feet. The highblood girl gingerly stretched out a hand to rub his white belly.

“He’s so soft,” she said, sounding surprised. “I’ve never pet one before.”

I smiled. Finally, we’d found something Visha hadn’t done already.

The room descended into quiet. Theo helped himself to some cold tea and passed me the other mug. Then he cleared his throat and looked at me hesitantly.

“So,” he started, his voice carefully casual. “How are things going with you and Blake?”

The air immediately turned heavy.

Visha stopped petting Neville. Florence shifted uncomfortably in her position on the bed.

I didn’t meet their eyes. “What do you mean?” I said, pretending ignorance.

Theo sighed. “I was there, Medra. At the Tribunal today.” He glanced at Visha. “You’ve probably heard?”

The highblood girl nodded.

“And Florence will get the short version eventually, I’m sure,” Theo said, looking at my other friend. “It’s all anyone’s talking about. You woke a fucking dragon. And now you’ve asked for your bond with Blake to be dissolved.”

“And everyone claims it can’t be,” I reminded him sharply. I looked around at each of them. I knew Florence was my friend. I wanted Visha to be. Theo, too. But two of them were highbloods. Their loyalties were... stretched. I weighed how much I should say. “Blake bonded with me without my consent. He gave me his blood before the Consort Games. He didn’t tell me what the real consequences of sharing blood would be. Then he drank from me, without my permission after Selection Day was over, there in the Dragon Court.”

“Is that why the dragon woke up?” Visha asked, her eyes wide.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so.” I didn’t feel like explaining there had been a completely different blood ritual much earlier than that.

Theo and Visha exchanged a look—one loaded with highblood understanding. I glanced at Florence. Her face was outraged. She was blightborn. She understood. Did they?

The divide in the room suddenly felt as wide as a chasm.

“That’s not unusual for a highblood,” Visha said bluntly. “I mean, we don’t usually take blightborn consorts. But archons can often do whatever they want. It’s tolerated, even...”

“Stop,” Theo interrupted. “It’s not right, Visha. And you know it. It’s not how things should be.”

I wasn’t sure if he meant the arrangement between consorts and archons or blightborn and highbloods or all of it.

Visha raised one eyebrow but said nothing.

Theo continued, “You know, before Blake’s father, things were worse for blightborn. Much worse. Now Viktor’s working to undo everything his brother stood for.”

“He was your uncle,” I said quietly. “The Peacebringer, I mean.”

Theo nodded. “Alexander Drakharrow.”

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