18. Awakening Bonds And Potential Immunity
18
AWAKENING BONDS AND POTENTIAL IMMUNITY
~GWENIVERE~
C onsciousness returns like waves lapping at the shore, each pulse bringing fragments of clarity through the haze of exhaustion trying to drag me back under.
Nikolai's voice cuts through first, sharp and clear despite my struggle to remain aware:
"I saw through your game. Watching to see how far she'd progress. It was entertainment at first, wasn't it? Until she got too close to the prize."
The words float to me as if through water, their meaning taking extra moments to process through my foggy mind. I fight against the heaviness of my limbs, the urge to sink back into oblivion.
"Too close for you to deny the unique beauty of her existence in a world you've molded to despise anything that defies order. To crush any hint of femininity that might bring mercy and salvation to this hideous realm you're so proud of."
The conversation continues, pieces of truth falling into place like a puzzle I hadn't known I was solving. The trials, the souls, Malcolm —— all of it orchestrated by this being of immense power that even now makes the air feel thick and strange around me.
"No one will accept her as your Queen."
The words pierce through my semi-conscious state, sharp enough to make my heart stutter.
Queen?
The implications send my thoughts spinning, even as I struggle to maintain this fragile awareness.
Nikolai had helped me knowingly. Knew the consequences at hand and decided to do something far from being wicked by helping me save those souls. He chose to form a bond like Cassius's, understanding exactly what it meant, despite there clearly being consequences and potential repercussions.
The weight of that decision settles heavily in my chest.
I may not know everything about the Fae realms, but I've read enough to understand the gravity of bonds and marriages among their kind. Wars have been fought over less —— entire kingdoms have fallen for the sake of claimed mates and contested bonds.
"Then let me die alone, as I was always destined to be."
His quiet acceptance makes my heart ache. Why would he resign himself to such solitude? Why would either of them —— him or Cassius —— choose this path?
My thoughts drift to that night with Cassius, the intensity of our connection. Had it felt like a fever dream to him too? Something impossible and precious that neither of us had dared to imagine could be real?
The mark above my heart burns as if responding to my thoughts, forcing me to acknowledge its presence isn’t some foretelling or imaginative delusion.
I want to wake fully, to see the mark with my own eyes, and tell them both how wrong they are to assume such isolation is inevitable. But my body refuses to cooperate, held in this strange state between sleeping and waking.
"Just because you've claimed her," the voice I assume belongs to the Headmaster says, "doesn't mean she's immune."
"Perhaps not," Nikolai agrees, his tone carrying notes of dangerous amusement. "But would you risk war with my realm simply to dispose of her? She's mine now, and maintaining your wicked sanctuary requires peace, does it not?"
"You dare to wage war with me, child?"
The threat in those words makes the air itself seem to tremble.
"I am young," Nikolai admits. "A few centuries is nothing in the grand scheme of things. But I have no fear of war."
Footsteps approach, and though my eyes remain closed, I sense the surge of golden light. Through whatever connection we've formed, I can see the aetheric plane —— a realm of pure energy where their powers manifest as visible forces.
The golden radiance that must be Nikolai stands evenly matched against a mass of writhing darkness. Their energies meet in perfect balance, making the Headmaster's earlier dismissal of Nikolai's power seem almost laughable.
"Perhaps you've forgotten," Nikolai's voice carries centuries of contained power, "that while the Fae may be beings of perfection and nature, we were born for menace, for natural disaster and chaos. If war comes, we don't cower. We embrace the bloodshed with joy."
The air grows heavier with each word, charged with the potential for violence.
"But as heir to the throne," he continues, "I would be protected from the front lines. As would the woman behind me, for she is now my mate."
"You and the Duskwalker cannot mate the same woman," the Headmaster states as if reciting an immutable law.
Nikolai's laugh rings out, genuinely joyful.
"Why not? Cassius never imagined having a mate at all -- the rarity of Duskwalker bonds makes paper seem thick in comparison. Besides," and I can hear the smile in his voice, "we Fae have no issue sharing our mates with those we respect."
The declaration hangs in the air, bold and uncompromising.
"It won't work," the Headmaster says, their voice heavy with disdain and certainty.
"And what if it does?" Nikolai challenges. "It won't disturb your oasis of wicked sins. Simply mind your own affairs and continue ignoring us as you have these past years."
A pause stretches between them, thick with unspoken threats and possibilities.
He respects Cassius…but does that mean he carries respect for Damien as well?
Now that I know drinking blood from them or any sort of exchange of power can trigger some sort of mate bond, I have to be careful. I don’t want to plague them with futures they never asked for, but then again, I’ve already made two paranormal victims of this unexpected circumstance.
How are we going to fix it? They don’t want me…they barely know me.
I also try to think of what this means for me.
It’s not as though I was in a full-time relationship of any sort. I’ve dated men. I’ve been intimate and had a few that I thought could be my forever, but those all fell through, one by one.
At the end of the day, I don’t fit the quota when it comes to a woman of bonds and marriage.
Not pretty enough.
Not sweet enough…
My resting bitch face makes me scary and unattractive.
Being skilled in the bedroom and open to things is simply one part of the lengthy equations, and I guess my hybrid status turns a lot of paranormal creatures off.
Especially with the haunting witch context…
"We will meet again," the Headmaster finally says, the words carrying both promise and warning.
"I count on it," Nikolai replies smoothly. "But for now, let fate play out. Let Gwenivere continue as Gabriel. She's set something in motion. Let's see where it leads."
The exchange makes my head spin, or maybe that's just the exhaustion still trying to pull me under. The implications of everything I've heard feel too vast to process fully.
Two bonds.
Two mates.
An heir to the Fae throne and a potential Duskwalker Lord, both willing to risk everything —— their positions, their power, perhaps even their lives —— for me.
A stranger.
One they barely know anything about.
The mark above my heart pulses again, stronger this time, as if responding to the weight of these revelations. The need to wake fully, to speak, to understand becomes almost overwhelming.
But the darkness is still too strong, the pull of unconsciousness too powerful to resist.
I feel myself slipping deeper, their voices growing fainter, but I feel the touch of warmth on my cheeks, and I dare believe the light touch to my lips ignites waves of calm and clarity.
“Rest, Solstice,” the words don’t sound like an order but carry a heavy blanket of calm that hums through me. I don’t realize how tense my body has been until it all slips away, a weak sigh escaping what I could assume is from my parted lips. “Stars are always strangers until they cross paths…and I’m willing to discover your orbit, so we can meet, over and over again.”
His words are filled with metaphors as if trying to calm my wild thoughts. I wonder if he can read them, despite my slipping consciousness, but his reassurance gives me an odd sense of encouragement.
That despite the unexpected circumstances that led me here, I have a chance to get to know him. To realize being connected to someone may not be daunting in the way I’m imagining it.
The last thing I register is the sensation of warmth — Nikolai's golden light wrapping around me like a protective blanket, while the world around me begins to tick again — the sensation of Cassius’ shadows raging in movement adds to the comforting embrace of protective harmony.
And then I'm falling back into slumber.