Page 181 of Glutton for Punishment

The word vomit comes out all at once.

There’s no elegance to it. No structure. Just everything I’ve been carrying suddenly spilling into the space between us.

“I have three more bonds. None of them are bonded to me,” I say quickly, “and I don’t think they want to be. Well—except maybe Maylo, but he’s under some kind of intense pressure from someone he calls ‘Master.’ I think he’s being controlled or chained in servitude or something because nothing about him is normal and—”

I cut myself off only long enough to inhale.

“They’re bonds all revealed themselves at the bonding ceremony last year. The same time as Atticus. Oh! And they only know about themselves. Well…” I gesture vaguely between Atticus and Maddox, “…and now you two, I guess. But it’s not like it’s going to be a problem.”

The words are coming faster now, tripping over each other.

“Alexi is a Luster, so he doesn’t even want to bond. I don’t think he cares. Even if he’s always popping up around me and likes to shove my face into his proclivities. And Professor Gabriel—he’s not interested, like, at all. There’s no way he crosses that line; he’s very professional, extremely unromantic, deeply committed to boundaries, so, yeah, that’s fine.”

Stay on track, Arwen.

“And Maylo—well, Maylo is… I mean, he’s barely ever here. Which is weird for an academy student, right? Shouldn’t he have a schedule? Classes? Accountability?”

I realize I’m rambling and force myself to stop. Just for a breath.

“But anyway,” I finish more quietly, “they’re all mostly anti-bond. So they shouldn’t be a problem. I just thought you should know because we’re doing full transparency now and also I have two powers and I’m just very sorry it hasn’t come up yet. It seemed like there was never a good time and, well… maybe I was a little bit of a coward.”

My eyes squeeze shut at the end. Like if I can’t see them, I won’t have to see the reaction.

Silence stretches long enough that my stomach drops.

I risk squinting open one eye. They’re both staring at me. Completely and utterly still. Like I’ve short-circuited something fundamental in both of them.

Oh no.

I’ve broken them.

Maddox opens his mouth, shuts it, opens it again. Nothing comes out. Atticus is staring at the table like he’s doing math that won’t balance.I swallow.“Somebody say something,” I whisper.

Then Atticus exhales hard, leans back in his chair, and stares at the ceiling. Then he says the most unhelpful, most un-Atticus thing ever…

“Well…”

He drags a hand down his face.

“…shit.”

Chapter 56

Arwen

The last few weeks have been, against all reasonable expectation, the best of my life—which is a thought so dangerous I almost don’t let myself think it, like saying it out loud might tempt the universe to smack me back into place.

After what felt like endless rounds of tense, circular conversations where I had to keep convincing Maddox and Atticus—in various states of near- panic—that no, my other three bonds aren’t secretly scheming together or planning to ruin everything… things finally settled. Not perfectly. But enough. Enough that my life has felt almost… stable.

Not perfectly. Not like some fairy tale. But enough. Enough that I can almost pretend this is normal.

Even Holly and Sly seem to be working on things, although getting updates from her on it is like trying to squeeze blood from a stone. Brix is even coming around more after our conversation, albeit slowly.

The creepy messages from Maylo have stopped, causing some concern… but maybe he has just been implementing some healthy boundaries like I requested. I’ve also somehow dodged Alexi and Ryker. The former I’m grateful for. The latter, I wouldn’t mind running into, if only to practice my right hook for what he did to Brix.

Somehow, it works.

I’ve been training more consistently than ever, splitting my time between mental shields with Atticus and power control with Maddox. My Pride ability is still unpredictable in its edges, but its feeling less like something happening to me and more like something I can reach for.