51. Chapter Fifty-One
~Kalo~
Of all the ways Leo could have chosen to distract Death, I really should have anticipated the one that he picked.
“Wait,” he called out before Death could put any further pressure on Visenya to act. “Before we proceed, I think we should draw up the terms of our agreement.”
Death slowly turned back towards him, his preternaturally beautiful face a perfect picture of perplexity. “I have already agreed.”
“Verbally, yes,” Leo conceded. “But I’d like written confirmation that accepting Tarron’s soul satisfies the imbalance created by my actions and removes any further claim on either me or Kalo."
The dragons exchanged curious glances, and even Death seemed uncertain how to respond. For perhaps the first time in his existence, someone appeared to be asking him about the fine print.
My lips pressed together, fighting back an entirely inappropriate laugh at my mate’s absurd tactic.
It was completely, unmistakably in character for him, and luckily, it also seemed to be working.
With Death’s attention fixed on him, I eased myself away from Leo and quietly crossed the cavern towards Visenya.
Darius clocked my movement and fell into step beside me, not asking what I was doing but simply joining in, his gaze never straying far from the reaper.
Visenya stood exactly where Death had left her, motionless beside the metal box.
The beating of Tarron's heart still echoed through my head, but I did my best to tune it out as I focused on the bond connecting Visenya to Death.
The stream of green light stretched between them like a river of living magic, but the longer I observed it, the more convinced I became that something about it was fundamentally wrong.
Her glowing eyes shifted towards me as I approached. "What is it?"
"I think I understand what's happening between you and Death."
"What do you mean?" Darius asked.
“I can see the bond, and there’s something unusual about the way it works.”
Darius frowned. “Everything is unusual about this.”
He had a point, and I glanced over my shoulder across the cavern towards Death, who was still fully focused on Leo, his bemusement growing deeper with each second that passed.
But even with his mild frustration and the distance separating us, I could still feel his magnetic pull.
Everything about him seemed designed to draw people closer, but I had seen what existed underneath that facade.
"I mean that the energy only flows one way," I explained. “It goes from you to him, not the other way around.”
Visenya's nostrils flared, just a tiny movement on her usually impassive face. “What does that mean?”
"I think it means the bond isn't powered by Death. In concrete terms, he actually has no hold over you."
Both Darius and Visenya stared at me, his eyes piercing, hers still hazy with their usual glow. “That doesn’t make any sense,” she whispered.
“Doesn’t it? With the werewolves and their mate bond, both sides contribute to it. There’s an exchange of love and loyalty, but this…”
My gaze drifted back to the green light and its one-directional flow.
"This isn't an exchange. It’s only being fed from one side."
Visenya’s lips pulled together. “You think I created it?”
"I think your feelings created it," I corrected softly. She had fallen in love with him; she’d admitted that, and when he asked for her loyalty, she gave it freely. “But I don’t think he loves you in return.”
She flinched, and Darius took a step closer to her. “Why wouldn’t he love her?”
The protective undercurrent to his tone would have made me smile in other circumstances, but there was no time to dwell on it. “It’s nothing to do with Visenya personally. I don’t think he’s capable of loving anyone.”
I rubbed absently at the mark on my neck, remembering once again that cold, terrifying nothingness that I’d sensed just before Leo pulled me back from the brink.
“On the surface, he’s enthralling, but underneath it, there’s nothing. Not evil or cruelty, just… nothing. It’s completely void. I saw it when I was about to die.”
For the first time since we met her, Visenya looked genuinely shaken. “You saw all of that?”
"I did."
Her head dropped, and the green bond connecting her to Death flickered. Just for an instant, but enough that I noticed.
“But Visenya, this is a good thing. It means that if you want to break the bond, all you have to do is let it go. If you stop feeding it, it will fail.”
“It can’t be that easy,” she whispered.
I gave her a rueful smile. “I didn’t say it would be easy.
Love is the most powerful force in the world.
People do extraordinary things in its name every day.
I gave up my mortal life for it, and your bond is real.
Your feelings are real, and the existence you’ve built around them is real too.
Letting go of all of that won’t be easy at all. ”
“Then, how does she do it?” Darius asked.
That answer was obvious to me, only because I’d already lived through it. I’d stood where she was standing, being pulled towards a force that wanted to claim me, and the only reason I hadn’t given in was because someone had given me a reason to stay, providing me with an anchor to a new life.
“She makes a new bond.”
Darius’ eyes widened as he realized what I was saying, but Visenya, still completely unaware of the mate bond that existed between her and the man at her side, only frowned.
“It seems foolhardy to exchange one bond for another.”
“Trust me, I know the feeling.” How hard I’d fought against my bond with Leo now felt like a distant memory, even though hardly any time had passed since I’d finally given into it.
“But this bond is different. It goes both ways, and it won’t take any freedom from you.
In fact, it gives you a completely new kind of it. ”
“I don’t understand…” she started to say, but before she could finish the sentence, Darius reached down to take her hand.
The moment their fingers touched, she startled, and I knew she had to be feeling the same electric rush that always accompanied Leo’s touch for me.
“What was that?” she gasped.
Darius looked almost as overwhelmed as she did, even though, unlike her, he knew exactly what it meant.”
“That is the mate bond. You’re my mate, Visenya, and if you choose to break your bond with him, I’ll be your anchor. I’ll keep you safe.”
“This is why you noticed he was different from the others,” I added softly, doing my best to back Darius up with interrupting the moment too much.
The elf-turned-reaper stared at him with her glowing eyes, her gaze moving from his face to their joined hands. The flowing green strands linking her to Death flickered again. “But… I don’t even know you.”
“You don’t,” Darius agreed. “But I’d like you to. We’re fated, the same way Leo and Kalo are. We’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other, but for right now, just know that I’ve got you. Whatever you need, I’m here.”
The bond connecting her to Death flickered almost to black before Death’s voice rolled across the cavern.
“Visenya?”
Every head in the room turned in our direction, and instantly, she dropped Darius’ hand as she turned to face her master.
I looked towards my mate, who met my gaze with a small, apologetic shrug. I did my best, that shrug seemed to say, and considering he’d somehow managed to occupy Death with contractual minutiae for several minutes, I would say he’d done remarkably well.
I leaned closer to Visenya, speaking as quietly as I could. “This is your chance, and your choice.”
We didn’t always get the opportunity to decide our own destiny, but sometimes, we did. I knew now that I would always choose Leo, no matter what, and hopefully, Visenya would find her own path with that same certainty.