Page 25

“Unmask your betrothed.”

His golden mask shimmered beneath the fractured light as my hand rose slowly toward his face, hesitant, yet drawn by some unseen pull. His own hand lifted in answer, mirroring mine with eerie precision, as though something had threaded our movements together.

His fingers brushed my cheek, lingering for a moment as if he was drawn to the warmth of my skin. I forgot how to breathe as he pulled the mask from my face, exposing me in a way that felt too intimate as we stared at each other.

Something was wrong. My skin burned and my pulse raced too fast beneath my ribs. My chest tightened as though invisible hands were closing around my heart.

“This bond is final, never to be undone. You may kiss to seal your fates.”

He was so close, so consuming that the world beyond him ceased to exist. His breath washed over my lips, warm and steady, and the air between us seemed to tighten.

I wasn’t sure who moved first. Perhaps neither of us did. Perhaps whatever strange magic wound through my veins simply drew us together.

The moment our lips touched, heat flared through my body. My skin ignited as if his touch had struck a spark beneath it. The suffocating fog in my mind faltered, retreating inch by inch beneath the press of his mouth.

His hands spread against my waist, pulling me against the hard planes of his body and my fingers curled into the front of his jacket without thought.

I gasped against his lips as something slipped quietly between us, unseen yet undeniable, winding through my chest and tightening around my heart as if our souls had brushed against one another.

His kiss was supposed to erase the poison, yet the strange pull growing between us did not feel like a cure.

Fire tore through my right hand, radiating into my chest.

A light flared in my chest next to the shadowy bond that connected me to Rythos.

I gasped, breaking the kiss and stumbling back from the force.

A broken sound left his throat, almost pained at the sudden distance.

My pulse hammered as I looked down.

Intricate lines inked themselves across the back of my hand, curling and weaving in patterns.

A sun surrounded by a wave, and right there in my chest, I could feel him next to Rythos.

The world seemed to tilt.

A bond.

“What have you done?” I whispered.

Chapter Eight

Control

Rythos

Umbra’s hooves pounded against the earth, tearing chunks of soil free with the force of his gallop. We had ridden through the night without stopping, and still we had not encountered a single one of Helion’s monsters. Perhaps they already knew she was gone.

My hands tightened on the reins and I snapped them forward, urging Umbra faster.

“We need to seek shelter!” Caelum’s voice cut through the roaring wind as thunder rolled across the horizon.

For all its beauty, Lumireth was a deadly place when the skies turned. But I could not stop.

I did not know how much time remained before the shadows inside me finished their slow crawl through my soul. Until they dragged me into their depths for eternity.

A flash of lightning startled Umbra, making him kick up on his hind legs. Almost tipping me off his fucking back.