Page 100 of Forged in Fire
The mate bond is forever.
Chapter 30
Iris
The jet’s cabin hums with the steady thrum of engines carrying us home. Thirty-five thousand feet above Europe, and I feel untethered. Not from the ground—from everything I thought I knew about myself.
Viktor, Caleb, and Elena have retreated to the forward cabin with other members of the Aurora Collective team, giving us space that feels both precious and terrifying. Their voices drift back occasionally, discussing logistics and next steps. Normal sounds that belong to a world where ancient kings don’t sleep beneath mountains and brothers don’t come back broken.
Riven sits across the narrow aisle, close enough that I’m aware of him, but not too close to intrude. He hasn’t spoken since we boarded, but his eyes track my every movement. The bond pulses between us—stronger now, undeniable—but I can’t focus on what it means. Not yet.
Kieran occupies the window seat beside me, staring at clouds that look like cotton wool balls. His hands rest in his lap, fingers trembling whenever he unthreads them.
I don’t know how to reach him.
“The engines sound different,” he says suddenly. His voice is quiet, uncertain. Not the cold command tone from the ritual chamber or the hollow echo of programming. Just… Kieran. “Louder than commercial flights.”
“It’s a Craven jet. Military grade.” I keep my own voice steady. “Viktor doesn’t believe in traveling without firepower.”
A ghost of a smile touches his mouth. “You always did like the dangerous ones.”
The comment hits wrong. Too casual for what we’ve been through. Too normal for the chasm that yawns between us.
“Kieran.” I turn toward him, searching his face for signs of the brother I remember. “We need to talk about what happened. What they did to you.”
His shoulders tense. The tremor in his hands worsens.
“I remember pieces,” he says after a long moment. “Fragments. Like trying to remember a dream.” His voice drops low. “I remember you in that chamber. I remember wanting to warn you, but I couldn’t… I couldn’t make my mouth work.”
Pain lances through my chest. “It wasn’t your fault, you—”
“I was manipulated. Brainwashed. Whatever.” He finally looks at me, eyes that mirror my own but hold shadows I’ve never seen before. “All that programming, gone in seconds. But the memories…” He swallows hard. “The things I did while under their control. The people I hurt.”
“That wasn’t you.”
“Wasn’t it?” The question comes out hollow. “I made choices, Iris. Even conditioned, I had moments of clarity where I could have fought harder. Where I could have found another way.”
“They broke you down systematically. They used torture and magical manipulation—”
“They used my love for you.” His interruption cuts like a blade. “That was the key, you know. They convinced me that cooperating was the only way to keep you safe. That resistance would lead them to hurt you instead.”
My shadows stir without permission, responding to the grief and rage building in my chest. All the searching, hoping, and this is what they did. They turned his protective instincts into chains.
“How?” I husk out. “How did they manage it?”
Kieran’s laugh is bitter. “They showed me fabricated intelligence. Videos of you in danger. Audio recordings of you screaming my name while under attack. All fake, but I didn’t know that.” His hands clench into fists. “Every time I resisted, they’d play another recording. Show me another scenario where my disobedience led to your capture.”
The bond flares as Riven’s emotions spike. I can feel his fury through our connection, his desire to hunt down everyone responsible and burn them out of existence. Part of me wants to let him.
“They made me believe,” Kieran continues, voice breaking slightly, “that the only way to protect you was to stop being your brother.”
We sit in silence for a moment, processing the years of manipulation and loss. Outside the window, clouds drift past.
“I built my whole life around saving you,” I finally admit. “I don’t know who I am if I’m not searching for you.”
“And I built my resistance around protecting you. When that foundation cracked…” He shakes his head. “I became someone else. Someone who could do terrible things if it meant you stayed safe.”
“What kind of terrible things?”
