Page 88 of Mate of a Monster

“She’s controlling him,” he says quietly. “Controlling the bond itself. And I think she knows how to complete it.”

The room suddenly feels smaller.

Hotter.

Complete it? How do you complete it if it’s not real?

“If she does,” he continues, voice dropping even lower, “your bond will be ripped from within you.”

The Nightkin goes still.

“And when that happens,” Creed finishes, “Legend’s Ethos, the Nightkin as he calls himself, dies with it.”

Cold panic surges through me so violently my hands curl into fists, the flame there dancing up my arms. “I will die before I allow him to.”

The rumble in my chest echoes down my spine.

Creed’s expression hardens. “Then you better hurry, Haide.”

Shivers snap down my spine.

“Knight linked me the moment we stepped into this room,” he says. “Her manipulation is working, and the effect on him is stronger now that they’re in her homeland.”

A pulse of rage rolls through me. “How so?”

He grimaces, like the next words are too painful to speak. “He’s agreed to a bonding ceremony.”

My heart slams against my ribs. “When?”

“Now.”

Chapter Nineteen

Haide

The portal spits me out mid-air. But this time, I’m ready for it, and my boots hit the polished floor with a harsh thud.

Conversations cut off immediately as hundreds of faces turn toward me in unified horror.

Zev lands beside me half a breath later, his hand clamping around my arm in an attempt to keep me in check.

The space stretches around us in a massive spiral of bones. Actual ribs bleached white and curved toward an open sky where stars glitter against black.

I count to three, and then the dragons—my dragons—circle above, their scales gleaming in the moonlight. Thyrix roars, and the sound vibrates through the ribcage architecture.

For one stupid second, I smile.

Then I remember where I am.

The crowd presses back, bodies retreating from me like I’m carrying the plague. Guessing none of their children were caught in that flood. That, or they see me as the threat who stands between one of their own and the royal crown. Betting on the latter.

But I don’t give a shit about them.

I scan each attendee to log the numbers more accurately. I know right where my mate is without having to search.

Legend stands at the center of the rib spiral, frozen mid-step, the sharp cut of his jaw tightening. Those eyes track down my body, lingering on the black leather hugging my curves, tracing the dark makeup painting my features, and finally settling on my black lips.

He looks at me like he wants to eat me.