Page 110 of In the Shadow of a Dream

“You’re being weird.”

“As you have pointed out repeatedly. Just remember your older brother is the wiser of the two.”

“By four fucking minutes, Luc. Four.” He held up four fingers.

He was driving Luc to distraction, but then this was better than the alternative. He looked at Lachlan. “Well?”

“Between the three of us, we think we got it written out.” Lachlan walked back to the table and read the spell as they remembered it.

“What are you doing?” Nix asked, squeezing in between Lachlan and Johesha. “Hello there, good sir.”

The guard scowled at him.

“Well aren’t you a Happy Harry,” Nix said brightly.

Johesha’s scowl deepened.

Luc ignored them and focused on the spell, reading over what the three of them had recalled. “I don’t think the word wasbond. I think it wasbound,” Luc said, pointing at the word.

“What’s the difference?” Brendsen asked.

“Everything,” Nix said.

They all turned to look at him. He was testing Lachlan’s cot by bouncing on it.

“What would you know about it?” Luc asked.

“Words matter,” he said. He hummed a sound. “You know what it’s like when you tell a woman that you might be falling, and she makes the assumption you mean falling in love, but what you really meant was like falling asleep because you’re tired after fucking. Tomato-tamato am I right?” He laughed, then scrunched his nose and continued pilfering through Lachlan’s things, pressing a hand to his heart.

Luc knew the loss of his memories wouldn’t hold the fade for long, but it would perhaps give them enough time to break the spell.

“Okay. The difference?” Lachlan asked.

“Bond is like a connection, right?” Jude asked.

“Or a thing that ties,” Johesha said, his deep voice surprising Luc.

“And bound?”

“The idea of being destined?” Luc asked. He thought of the yoke. “Like being star-crossed?”

“Exchange vows or a commitment, perhaps?” Lachlan crossed out ‘bond’ and replaced it. “One whose heart is bound and pure,” he reread. Then he looked up. “We’re all agreed that thebeastieis the hedge, right?”

Each of them nodded.

Luc hoped there wasn’t another creature hidden in that monstrosity.

“You know, someone who is yoked could get through,” Nix said, rubbing his heart.

“Like you, Nix?” Luc asked.

He made a face. “I amnotyoked.” He scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. What a horrible thought.” He shuddered and started back toward the table.

“I am,” Luc said quietly, turning back to Lachlan. “And you are bound to Tarley, through your vows. So couldn’t we both get through?”

“Is your heart pure?” Nix asked, looking over Johesha’s shoulder. The guard was clearly annoyed by Nix’s proximity, which, if Luc knew his brother, was by design.

Luc considered the spell. His heart may not be pure in many ways, but when it came to his feelings for Brinna, it was. “I think so.”

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