Chapter 8 #2
The smiling blond who knew exactly how to make a girl feel special—how to melt her in his hands.
He listened.
He understood.
He never belittled my feelings.
Someone who warmed instead of burned.
Most girls fall for bad boys.
I fell for someone good.
And he hurt me in ways bad boys never could.
“...Sorry.”
Airis’s rough voice startled me enough to make me flinch.
“I don’t know why,” he admitted quietly, “but whenever we end up sharing a bed, I realize I handled things with you the wrong way.”
“And I don’t know why you’re so good at finding my weak spots,” I replied, still turned away from him, my fingers gripping the edge of the blanket.
“My best friend, Tarven, calls it my curse.”
A small smile tugged at my lips before I could stop it.
“He’s right,” I murmured softly.
“At least it makes you uncomfortable when you realize you’ve reopened someone’s wounds. That’s not the worst thing in the world.”
“Were your relationships difficult?”
I swallowed, wetting my dry lips.
“No. They were wonderful.”
And that only made it hurt more.
“I don’t understand then...”
“That’s exactly why endings hurt so much.”
Kai hadn’t been simple.
Yes, I’d fallen in love with him, and love had made him seem a hundred times more valuable and beautiful to me.
But even without it...
He’d still been good.
And I truly thought he fit me.
Like he’d been made for me.
“Was he the one who ended things?” Airis asked quietly.
“Have you ever been in love?” I shot back suddenly, trying either to change the subject or wound him in return.
“Never.”
His answer came low and calm.
“Love...” He stopped himself.
“Love was never meant for someone like me.”
I snorted softly.
“Is that even possible?”
A pause followed.
“I think love is the meaning behind all existence.”
Maybe it sounded naive.
Stupid, even.
But I truly believed it.
“Tarven and I formed a union,” Airis began after a moment.
The gears in my head immediately started turning over his words.
“It’s called the Balakla Bond. Two warriors bind themselves through loyalty, understanding, and protection—creating a bond deeper than blood.”
“And what’s the point of it?” I asked immediately.
“Does it give you some kind of advantage?”
“It improves combat efficiency,” he explained.
“And allows me to use my air magic alongside his earth magic even when Tarven isn’t physically nearby.”
“How did a conversation about love turn into one about friendship so fast?” I asked, unconsciously turning to face him.
Airis was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.
“When Tarven and I formed the Balakla,” he said slowly, “we swore an oath. It mattered to him.”
I heard the way he swallowed before continuing.
“If we were ever forced to choose between saving our brother... or saving our soulmate...”
He paused again.
I saw his hands tighten around the blanket.
“...we would choose the soulmate.”
I froze.
At first, there was only emptiness.
Then panic slowly began creeping through my thoughts like fire.
I imagined being the person forced to make that choice.
How could anyone choose?
I would never forgive myself if I failed to choose Gwendolyn, Dwayne, or Mike.
And I would die inside if I abandoned the person I truly loved in return.
“That’s why I made a decision,” Airis said quietly.
“Either I fall in love with the strongest woman capable of saving herself...”
His silver eyes finally shifted toward me.
“...or I never fall in love at all.”
The beating of my heart slowed, still reeling from his words.
I didn’t know why, but I suddenly wanted to pull him into a hug and tell him that his wish would come true—that both Tarven and his soulmate would survive.
That he would never have to choose.
But I held myself back.
He’d already seen me vulnerable.
Far too many times in just two days.
“So...” I bit the inside of my cheek, as if proving to myself that I could endure the pain that would come the second I said it out loud.
“Now will you answer my question?”
I exhaled slowly, forcing lightness into my voice.
“There wasn’t exactly a breakup. Someone just made me fall in love with him. Made me feel loved and accepted in every version of myself...”
I bit my cheek again, holding back the tears threatening to rise.
“And then he disappeared without a single explanation.”
Even now, memories of him replayed endlessly in my head.
The little things he remembered about me.
The things he did just to make me comfortable.
The lies that slipped so easily from his lips whenever he told me he was serious about me.
That he cared about me—not my body, not sex.
And yet it was after we slept together that he vanished.
Leaving me alone with plans for a future together.
And with hope for the happiness I had spent my entire life avoiding.
The room filled with the sound of our breathing.
And the ache spreading through my chest.
Before it could crush me completely, I forced myself to change the subject.
“Is Tarven part of the Strongest Twelve too?”
“We walked that road together.”
I watched his body slowly relax again.
“He’s been in the academy since he was fifteen. His powers awakened too early as well.”
“And what’s his magic?”
“Earth.”
Airis glanced at me briefly.
“The strongest earth mage among them.”
I fell silent, turning onto my back as I thought over what Aars had told me earlier—that Airis was bound to the wind harpy, yet somehow represented Istarus.
And that the energy-being who created Istarus didn’t hide like the others.
Which meant that being had to be connected to someone too.
Just not the world’s representative.
Or maybe there could be more than one representative?
“Can there only be one representative per world?” I asked carefully.
“Yes,” Airis answered.
“Why?”
“How can a mage bound to a wind harpy represent Istarus?” I asked quietly.
Silence.
Everything happened instantly.
I didn’t even have time to blink before I found myself staring into Airis’s burning gaze as he loomed over me.
A cold dagger blade pressed against my throat.
I shouldn’t have asked.
But I realized that far too late.