Chapter 13 #3
No one else felt the bond flare like something ancient recognizing itself.
I pick up my fork with fingers that tremble. Valerius's voice slips into my mind, rough and controlled badly. Are you all right?
I almost drop the fork. He goes still beside me. I look at him. He's still not looking at me but the concern is there, pressed through the bond, dark and warm and unavoidable.
I answer before I think. I don't know.
His eyes close for half a breath. Then, silently— Neither do I.
We don't speak for the rest of lunch. We don't have to.
By the time we reach Professor Thorne's ward chamber, I'm shaking with nerves I refuse to name.
Not from fear of Mira. Not from the whispers.
From the kiss. From the words inside it.
From the fact that I can still feel Valerius's mouth on mine every time I breathe.
Professor Thorne takes one look at us and pinches the bridge of his nose. "What happened?"
"Nothing," Valerius says.
Thorne's eyes move to me. My face burns. Seren, who insisted on coming as far as the door and then was denied entry with the force of three separate ward commands, says from the hallway, "That is violently untrue."
Thorne looks toward the door. "Miss Ashwick."
"I'm leaving." Her footsteps retreat. Slowly. Like she is hoping to overhear something.
Thorne seals the door. Then turns back to us.
"Inside the circle." We obey. The ward rises.
The moment it closes, the silence becomes unbearable.
Professor Thorne studies us both. "Your bond is agitated."
My stomach tightens. Valerius's expression remains blank.
Thorne's gaze narrows. "And neither of you is surprised."
I look down. Valerius says, "The silent communication is slipping."
Thorne goes still. "Define slipping."
"It happens without intent," Valerius says.
Thorne looks at me. I nod, cheeks hot. "In class. In the corridor. The dining hall."
"The dining hall," Thorne repeats. Valerius's jaw flexes. I feel his irritation through the bond. Mine answers with embarrassment. Thorne's eyes sharpen. "And what, precisely, occurred in the dining hall?"
Neither of us speaks. Professor Thorne closes his eyes for a long moment. When he opens them, he looks older. "Tell me you did not publicly test an unstable fated soul bond in a hall full of students, professors, and council informants."
"It was not a test," Valerius says.
Thorne's voice turns dangerously calm. "Then what was it?"
I stare at the floor. Valerius says nothing. The silence stretches. Finally, I lift my head. "Mira Ardent said I was his pet." Thorne's face goes cold. "She said I was nothing," I continue, quieter. "That I could follow him around and pretend his power made me matter."
Valerius's Shadowflame flickers. Thorne notices. So do I. "And?" Thorne asks.
My face burns. "And he kissed me."
Professor Thorne looks at Valerius. Valerius looks back. The ward hums. Thorne says, very carefully, "In front of everyone."
"Yes," Valerius says.
"Because?"
Valerius's eyes darken. "Because she gave me permission." My breath catches.
Thorne's gaze moves between us. For a moment, his anger shifts into something else. Not approval. Never approval. But recognition. "She gave permission through the bond?" he asks.
I nod slowly.
Thorne exhales. "That means your communication is already strong enough to carry intention, not only stray thought."
"Is that bad?" I ask.
His eyes settle on me. "It is dangerous." Of course. Everything is dangerous. "Did anything else pass?" he asks.
My pulse stumbles. Valerius goes still. Thorne sees both reactions. "What words?" I don't answer. Valerius doesn't either. Thorne's expression hardens. "If you want me to keep you alive, you do not get to protect your pride from me." The words land harshly but they land true.
My throat tightens. I look at Valerius. His jaw is locked, eyes fixed somewhere past Thorne's shoulder. I say it because he won't. "He said mine." Valerius's eyes close. The bond flares with something like shame. I hate that he feels ashamed. I hate that I know.
Thorne's expression does not change, but the ward lights dim slightly. "And you?" he asks.
My face burns hotter. "I said yours." Valerius turns his head toward me. I can't look at him. "And from there we are able to send full sentences through.
Thorne is silent long enough that fear begins to crawl up my throat. Then he says, "That cannot happen again in public."
"It wasn't planned," I whisper.
"I know." Thorne reassures me. That almost makes it worse.
Professor Thorne steps closer to the edge of the ward.
"Fated soul bonds do not follow ordinary bond restraint. The more emotion you feed it, the faster it roots. Anger, fear, desire, protection, humiliation, tenderness—every intense feeling gives it a clearer path."
My heart beats too hard. "So what are we supposed to do?" I ask. "Feel nothing?" Thorne's mouth tightens.
Valerius gives a humorless laugh. "That should be simple enough."
I look at him. The bond opens for half a second. Liar. Valerius's gaze snaps to mine.
Thorne says, "That. Exactly that. You are leaking thoughts even now."
I turn back quickly. "We can't control it."
"That is what we are here to address." Thorne says.
"We don't know how." I reminds him.
"You will learn." Thorne looks directly at me.
Valerius's voice hardens. "And if we don't?"
Thorne looks at him. "Then every council-sensitive mage within these walls will eventually feel the flare when your bond opens, and once they understand what they are sensing, I will not be able to hide you."
The word hide sends a chill through me. Valerius steps closer without thinking. The bond warms.
Thorne's eyes drop to the space between us. "Separate."
We both stop. Neither of us had realized we moved closer.
My stomach twists. This is worse than I thought.
The bond is not only speaking. It's pulling.
Quietly. Constantly. Whenever fear rises.
Whenever danger is mentioned. Whenever one of us feels too much.