Page 54 of Faeheart
Wild squeezed my hand reassuringly as we approached the doorway. “Ready to face the music?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied, drawing strength from his confidence.
When we stepped into the dining room, I was momentarily stunned by the spectacle before us. The ethereal servants had outdone themselves. Platters of food hovered a few inches above the table’s surface, glowing with different colored auras that corresponded to our tetrad energies. Fruits I’d never seen before glistened with morning dew, pastries steamed as if just pulled from an oven, and what looked like golden honey dripped upward in defiance of gravity.
But it was Caden and Atlas who truly captured my attention. They both seemed... transformed. Caden’s normally pale skin had a subtle amber luminescence, tiny flowers blooming in his blonde hair only to dissolve moments later. Atlas’s golden eyes were brighter than I’d ever seen them, crimson energy occasionally rippling beneath his skin like contained lightning.
“Holy shit,” Wild breathed beside me, his grip on my hand tightening. “You guys look...”
“Different,” Caden finished for him, a shy smile playing at his lips. “So do you.”
I realized with a start that both Wild and I must be similarly changed. Through our bond, I could feel Wild’s delight at the physical manifestation of our connection, his fae nature reveling in the magic made visible.
“The soul bond completion,” Atlas said, his deep voice rumbling with something like awe. “It’s affected all of us, not just you two.”
“The tetrad is evolving,” Caden added, gesturing for us to sit. “When you two... finalized things last night, it sent a wave of energy through the entire mansion. The ethereal servants say the wards are twice as strong now.”
I slid into a chair across from them, Wild taking the seat beside me. Through our connection, I could feel all four of us adjusting to this new equilibrium, the bond between us humming with unprecedented clarity.
“So, you felt it?” Wild asked, reaching for a pastry that glowed with emerald light. “When we...”
“Not the details,” Atlas assured us quickly, though a faint flush crept up his neck. “More like... an echo. Powerful emotions, sensations. It was...” He cleared his throat, looking to Caden for help.
“Beautiful,” Caden said simply, his blue eyes earnest. “Like watching a storm from a distance. All that power and beauty but not being caught in the center of it.”
Relief flooded through me, followed by a surprising surge of affection for both of them. Through our bond, I sensed similar feelings from Wild, along with his characteristic mischievous curiosity.
“So, you enjoyed the show?” Wild teased, biting into his pastry with exaggerated pleasure.
Atlas’s laugh was unexpectedly warm. “Let’s just say it was... educational.”
The tension broke, all four of us dissolving into laughter that resonated through our bond, multiplying our shared mirth until tears streamed down my cheeks. The lightness of the moment felt miraculous after everything we’d been through, the attacks, the fear, the uncertainty. We needed the laughter.
“The bond feels different,” I said once we’d composed ourselves, reaching for a blue-glowing fruit that tasted more delicious than anything I’d ever bitten into. “More... complete somehow.”
“It’s definitely stronger,” Caden agreed, his fingers absently intertwining with Atlas’s on the table. “I can feel all of you so much more clearly now. Your emotions, your magic... even your thoughts sometimes, though not in words exactly.”
Atlas nodded, his golden eyes intense as he studied Wild and me. “The crimson journal mentioned this might happen. When two members of a tetrad form a soul bond, it creates a kind ofmagical resonance that strengthens all connections within the group.”
Wild’s hand found my knee under the table, squeezing gently. Through our bond, I felt his curiosity mingled with a hint of nervousness. “So, what does this mean for all of us? Are we all supposed to form soul bonds now?”
The question hung in the air, charged with possibilities we’d only ever joked about. Through our connection, I could feel Caden’s shy interest, Atlas’s cautious consideration, and Wild’s excitement.
“The journal wasn’t specific about that,” Atlas said carefully. “But it did say that each connection within a tetrad is unique. Some bonds might be primarily magical, others emotional or... physical.”
“We don’t have to decide anything right now,” I said, feeling a bit out of my depth. “We’re still figuring out what all of this means.”
Caden smiled, reaching across the table to touch my hand briefly. The contact sent a pleasant trembling through our bond. “There’s no rush. We have time to let things develop naturally, if they do at all.”
“Speaking of time,” Wild said, his tone shifting to something more serious. “We should probably talk about what happened yesterday. The attack.”
The mood sobered immediately, all of us remembering the violence we’d unleashed, the spirits we’d called to defend ourselves. Through our strengthened bond, I could feel echoes of Wild’s guilt about summoning up the dead, Atlas’s fierce protectiveness, and Caden’s quiet determination.
“Atlas, you said someone must have told the Purity Front where to find us,” I said, meeting his golden eyes across the table. “What did you mean by that?”
Atlas’s jaw tightened, crimson energy briefly flaring beneath his skin. “The wards on this place were created by two of the most powerful magical practitioners of their generation. They were designed to be undetectable, let alone penetrable. For the Purity Front to find us so quickly...”
“Someone had to have given them information,” Caden finished, his expression troubled. “Someone who knew where the sanctuary was located.”
