Page 50 of Bound

They are books, some of them older than others. Some of the bindings change color as I touch them. Books, but not as I knowthem. Except the air smells like old paper and leather and the silence within this place is one heavy with knowledge.

“It’s a place where you can learn,” I respond to Klynn’s question.

He huffs. “Unless it helps me kill quicker, I’m not interested.”

“If the library is lost, it has to be safe, doesn’t it?” Rych says to Maxym.

“I trust the resistance,” Maxym says. “They helped Sylas, and even if they’ve not been successful in gaining more freedoms for the repressed of Tataunga, they have at least stopped blowing things up.”

All three gladiators shake out their wings.

“More’s the pity,” Klynn growls. “I like a good explosion.”

“A fact of which we are well aware,” Maxym responds with a growl of his own. “Vrexer.” He thumps Klynn on the back of his head with a wing.

Klynn responds with a bloodcurdling snarl which is deadened by the books lining the walls. It’s enough to surprise him into lowering his swords.

Rych draws me to him, dragging his eyes from the shelves to me. He places his thumb under my chin, and his finger holds me in place.

“Do you like it here?”

“Yes, I’ve read about the lost library. I had time on my hands between singing for Fenek.” I look up at the books again. “I didn’t think it could be real.”

“Tatatunga is an ancient city. It wasn’t always such a den of iniquity and a palace to violence,” he says, eyes studying mine. “If I leave you, will you be safe?”

“Given this place is ‘lost,’ I doubt anyone is going to still be looking for it,” I respond. “And if the resistance didn’t think it was safe, they wouldn’t have sent us here.”

Rych brushes his lips over mine and sends a shiver of desire through my body.

“When I return, I will mate you here,” he says, nostrils flaring and his voice a pit of gravel. “Then I will nest for you.”

“It’s the least I expect. And you will come back to me, or I’ll come looking for you,” I growl back.

Rych smiles, a slow, delicious lifting of his lips, exposing just the tips of his fangs. A genuine smile, one he has for me alone.

“Such a wicked little mate, ordering her male around. You seem to seek punishment with every word.”

“Providing it’s you punishing me, I will always order you around.” I absolutely know I will pay for teasing him later, and it’s the only thing keeping me going.

“Rych?” Maxym sidles up behind us, not wanting to get close, his dark wings clamped tight to his body as he attempts to make himself non-threatening.

Quite a feat for such a tank of a Gryn.

“We need to go,” he adds. “There’s a small dining hall in the back which is stocked with food.” He addresses me. “We won’t be long.”

In the center of the library, Klynn moves sinuously, practicing his sword thrusts.

I know this is it. This is the point I have to let go of Rych and trust in him. I don’t want to let go of the one good thing I’ve found in this galaxy.

“I will mate you and nest for you,” Rych murmurs in my ear. “You belong to me,eregri. I will always come for you.”

RYCH

Seeing Chrissie’s face as the door closes behind us is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

“Come.” Maxym slams a hand on my shoulder. “We will deal with the Loxzian, and you can return to your mate.”

“I need to nest for her,” I say through clenched teeth. “It hurts worse than being stabbed by Blayn.”

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