Page 95 of Queen of the Night
Darvy shakes his head. “It’s not.”
“It has to be.” I look down. “It’s closed… enough.”
“Barely,” he mutters.
He finishes, and I wince as he secures a knot, then steps back while I slowly grab a clean shirt and gingerly drop it over my head. I hide all signs of pain and raise my brows in success. I try to hide the fact that I feel weak as a newborn foal. Apparently, it shows.
He offers a slow clap. “Congratulations, Your Majesty, you’ve put your own shirt on.”
I scowl at him, then begin gathering items to fill my pack, frustrated with how carefully I’m forced to move. “I don’t know how much longer the mate bond mark will last. They told us six weeks, but it’s already been three.”Or has it been four?The past month has been a whirlwind, and I lost most of last week to injury-induced coma. “We have to go now, or I risk losing not only her, but our kingdom.”
I check the underside of my wrist, the small shimmering gold circle my only link to Vera.
Darvy falls into a cushy chair. “What type is it?”
“I don’t know. We didn’t check, but it’s gold and shimmery. We only needed it to prevent another shifter from trying to mate bond with one of us, and all I knew was it wasn’t the one labeledreproduction.”
Darvy snorts. “You chose thegoldone while you were searching for a different woman to marry?”
I whip my head around to look at him, blinking away dizziness. “Do you know about mate bonds?”
He shrugs. “A thing or two.”
“Well, what is it then?” I’m growing irritated.
“Did you ever wonderwhyit was the most expensive?” He raises a brow, as if I should already know the answer.
“No. The shop was rather… uncomfortable. I just grabbed it.”
“Good thing she ended up being a Tulip and you plan to make her your future wife, or you’d have some explaining to do.”
“Get on with it already,” I growl. He’s getting to be as bad as Jethonan about drawing things out.
“It’s a connection bond, likely the one labeledNever Apart. Some call it the soulmate bond.”
I still for a moment, confused. “Never Apart?”
“I assume so. It’s the only one I’ve ever used—er, seen.” Darvy rubs the back of his neck.
“What does it do?” I stare at the gold circle, dim now.
He appears to consider his words carefully. “If it’s the one I’veheardabout, then it connects you in reality…andin dreams when you’re apart. Have you… dreamt of Vera?”
“Wait. The dreams—are you telling me those werereal?” I freeze as a rush of emotion runs through me, and I try to wrap my mind around the fact that my suspicions all those days ago were correct.
He smirks. “It’s a dangerous thing, buying a mate bond without knowing what it is first, especially when it comes to dreams where we often feel uninhibited. Might you have some explaining to do?”
“What? No.” I shake my head, grateful I kept my head on straight. And why does Darvy act like he knows from experience? It’s something I intend to ask about later.
“So if I go to sleep right now, I’ll be able to talk to her?” Hope blooms in my chest.
“If she’salsoasleep.”
I look out the window to see the third sun setting.
“Kissing her in your dreams will be quite helpful in the current situation,” Darvy drawls sarcastically.
I scowl at him. Unfortunately, no kissing happened in the dreams.
