Chapter 13 Lindsay
THIRTEEN
LINDSAY
The door clicks shut behind me, too loud in the quiet.
Tamsin looks up from her bed, one leg tucked beneath her, a book resting on her thigh. Her expression flickers—from relief to suspicion to something else entirely. The rest of the room is empty.
She shuts the book. Slowly.
“Where the hell have you been?”
I blink. Just stand there. She doesn’t sound mad, but…
Setting her book on the edge of the bed, she pushes to her feet. “Lindsay, I’m serious. I looked for you after Runic Arts at lunch, and you were just…gone. I thought you snuck away with Nolan…but then I caught sight of his tail end as he left the lunch room. Without you, I might add.”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Because where do I even start? The Veilbinding? The library? The almost-kiss? The kiss-kiss? The hallway where Raiden bit me?
Tamsin crosses the room, arms folding across her chest. “You’ve got that look—like you either killed someone or kissed someone. Which is it?”
I bark out a laugh. It sounds wild, even to me. “You’re going to need to sit down for this.”
She doesn't move. “Try me.”
I stare at her for a second. “I was forced into a Veilbinding.”
That gets her. Her arms drop, face going pale. “Wait—what?”
“Yeah. Surprise.” I rub my forehead, suddenly exhausted.
“Headmaster Veyne pulled me out of the lunch line and just…announced it. Like, ‘Oh, hey, time for your life to implode.’ Professor River was there. And Raiden. You remember that magic freakout in the Undercourt? Turns out my power sort of...latched onto him. They say he’s the only one who can stabilize it.
So now I’m Veilbound to him, like it was all part of some cosmic matchmaking ritual. ”
“Holy shit. You tethered him.” She falls back onto her bed like her knees gave out. “And you’re okay? You’re—what does that even feel like?”
I open my mouth again, then close it. My hand drifts to my shoulder, brushing over the spot where his mouth had been.
It still throbs. “It’s like someone hardwired their emotions into your bloodstream, and now you’re just supposed to act like that’s normal.
Like feeling someone else and knowing what’s in their head is just.. .fine.”
Tamsin’s eyes go wide. “Wait. Did he bite you?”
“Yes.” I sigh. “You told me to be careful of the Fang, but I didn’t think you meant he’d actually bite me, Tamsin!”
Her mouth drops open. “Oh my God. That’s primal-level claiming. That’s like—” she mocks a growl, “Mine.”
I flop backward onto my bed with a groan. “He said it meant nothing. That it was instinct. He didn’t even explain it—he just stormed off after.”
She’s silent. And then, “Okay. That’s…horrible. But also kind of hot?”
I shoot her a glare. “It gets worse.”
“Worse than the bite?”
“I kissed Nolan.”
She sits up so fast her book hits the floor. “You what?”
“In the library. He was just…there and so sweet. Steady. Soft. Like the only person in this whole place not trying to manipulate or control me.”
She covers her mouth, muffling a squeal. “Did he kiss you back?”
I close my eyes. “Eventually.”
Tamsin gasps. “I knew he had a crush on you.”
“I don’t even know what I’m doing, Tam.” My voice cracks. “And then Kael—”
Her brows shoot up. “Wait. Demon rescue boy is part of this too?”
“I ran into him after the bite. He found me wandering the wrong hall like a half-possessed idiot.”
Tamsin stares at me like I’ve grown a second head. “So, in the last day, you got magically bonded to a shifter, bitten by said shifter, kissed a sweet cinnamon roll warlock, and had a shadowy heart-to-heart with a demon prince.”
I blink. “Wait—prince?”
She grins wickedly. “Oh yeah. Royal blood, baby. The kind that comes with power, baggage, and a dark wardrobe.”
“Why does that somehow make it worse?”
“Because it absolutely makes it worse. And also hotter. You’re checking all the boxes.”
I throw a pillow at her. “Don’t make it sound like a list.”
She throws it right back. “Oh, it’s a list. It’s a legend.”
I groan into my hands. “Fucking men. Why are they so confusing?”
Tamsin cackles. “You’re living every academy romance fantasy and hating every second.”
“I’m not sure if I’m going to pass Runic Arts or combust in a three-way magical tug-of-war.”
She wiggles her brows. “There are worse ways to go.”
I drag my blanket up over my head. “If anyone else tries to bite me, I’m setting something on fire.”
Tamsin’s voice is muffled through the quilt. “Noted. No biting. Fire warning engaged.”
Under the covers, I smile. Just a little. Because, despite everything, I’m not alone, and I was alone for so long before I came here.
Combat Casting is buzzing with the gossip of the Veilbinding between Raiden and me. The whispers make it sound like it doesn’t happen often anymore—that it’s reserved for extreme cases. Does that mean I’m an extreme case? A supposed human from the mortal world… that somehow called to the Veil?
I scoff under my breath. Right. Human girls don’t call to the Veil or light up with magic like a damn flare gun.
Whatever I am, it’s not human.
None of that seems possible.
I settle into one of the back rows around the training circles. Professor River enters, sealing the door with a flick of his hand. His voice carries as he moves. “Pair up. Today we are testing control.”
I press my lips together, leaning back against the stone wall.
That doesn’t sound like a good time. Across the room, Raiden sheds his shirt and shoes.
And, of course, I notice. I’ve been hyper-aware of him since stepping in the room.
Hell, before stepping into the room even.
I see every flex of his tanned muscles, and my mouth waters.
The spot where he bit me is just a faint bruise today, no longer throbbing, but other parts of me are when I think about it.
Stupid brain, sexualizing a primal behavior that, according to him, meant nothing.
And him stripping in the middle of class. ..really not helping.
“Miss Blake, pair with Mr. Tsukino,” Professor River orders, jolting me out of my not-so-innocent thoughts.
Raiden lifts his head, meeting my gaze, and I know he probably heard every mental fantasy that just ran through my head. Because, of course, he did, because we are fucking linked together now I need to keep that in mind.
I refuse to be embarrassed. I am human, after all. It’s been a while, besides that disastrous date a few weeks before I was brought here... It was dry season in that shitty little town.
I stand, crossing the space when he doesn’t move an inch.
“Shoes and cloak off,” he says when I stop in front of him.
I roll my eyes, kicking off my shoes and peeling off my socks before shrugging off the cloak. I know how to deal with assholes. Hell, I can be one if needed. After my bare feet hit the cold floor, I cross my arms.
“Now what?”
“You need to learn control,” he says, like it’s obvious this lesson is made for me.
“Says the Fang who bit me yesterday.”
He sucks in a breath, and I feel the bond tighten around us as his gaze drops to my collarbone. A phantom throb answers his attention, but I push it away, rolling my shoulders.
“So help a girl out—what am I supposed to do now?”
He shakes his head like he’s clearing it, then holds out his hand, palm up. “Take my hand.”
My stomach flips. Butterflies batter at my insides, trying to escape. Yeah, I want to escape this too. I swallow and eye his hand, slightly shifting on my feet. Last time we had skin-to-skin contact...we both almost lost all control. So, touching him again doesn’t seem like a great idea.
“Lindsay, take my hand.”
My mark flares bright as our hands touch—white and purple, while his tattoos swirl with a reddish magic.
A shiver runs down my spine, goosebumps rising on my arms. My entire body feels like it’s been struck by lightning.
A gasp parts my lips, and I try to pull my hand away, but his fingers tighten around mine.
“Breathe through it. You’re in control, not the magic,” he whispers.
It’s like a cyclone, whipping up my emotions and merging them with his. He’s calm, steady—a rock in the storm raging inside me. I step toward him, seeking the shelter he represents.
He wraps his free arm around me, tugging me even closer.
And the second his chest presses against mine, something inside me stills.
I can feel the threads of magic between us.
Hell, I can see them, like physical things.
The rest of the room fades into the background as I mentally reach for a glowing pink string between us.
When I touch it, a song bursts from it, a confession from my soul.
All of the loneliness I’ve carried since my gran died rushes through me, crashing against Raiden’s control. My fingers tighten against his, and my free hand curls over his shoulder, right above a tattoo of a fox. Tears blur my vision, but I blink them away. They fall uselessly down my cheeks.
He snakes his hand up to my face, brushing them away with the pad of his thumb. “I’ve got you,” he promises. “You’re safe.”
Another thread of magic burns bright, golden and as warm as the sun. Pure comfort. I reach for it, my fingers tracing its edges. Raiden tenses, holding his breath. I can feel it too, the sensation of tugging and tightening. The thread flows between us, chest to chest, heart to heart.
“The tether,” he says tightly.
I hadn’t realized it was physical, something I could see. It’s beautiful. I glance up at him, and he’s already watching me.
“I did this?”
He presses his lips together and nods. “Yes.”
I lick my lips, hesitating. “Why you?”
“The tethers seek out a compatible and strong link.”
“Compatible?” I quirk my lips to the side. We’ve been anything but compatible.
“They’re rare, but I’ve never heard them be wrong.”
Am I softening for this shifter? I think I might be. As if he can hear my thoughts, a smile ghosts over his face, gone before I can fully register it.
“Pull on that blue thread, drag the magic into you… control it,” he says, all business again.
I do as he orders, and the magic consumes me. It lights me up like a damn Christmas tree. My back arches, and he holds me up, presses me to him. I can’t control it. It explodes out of me, the same way it did in the Undercourt and the dueling pit.
Students around us gasp and jump back as the magic bursts through our circle, but I barely register it.
I am the light. I am the magic. My body trembles, my legs go weak, and my world goes black.