21. Chapter 21 #2
“And you both—” Her deep brown eyes slid toward Cassidy.
“No, all of you didn’t think it was safe to tell me.
” Lara’s nose bumped into Cassidy’s chest—not a nudge of playfulness, but something heavier, something wounded.
“You didn’t think it would be safe to tell me.
” Her ears drooped. “You thought you needed to hide this from me, hurting our ability to help others in the process.”
Cassidy cupped Lara’s large, furry face between her hands, pressing her forehead gently against Lara’s.
“I’m sorry.” She closed her eyes. “Can you forgive me?”
Lara’s whiskers twitched again, and after a long, measured pause, she leaned back, studying Cassidy with steady, unwavering eyes.
“When I offered you my Rider Bond, and you accepted it,” she said, voice strong, certain, “that made you and your family my family, Cassidy Featherlight.”
“I know, but—”
“How could you think,” Lara interrupted, “that I would do anything other than everything in my power to protect my family?”
“I’m sorry, Lara,” Cassidy said, her voice quiet. “I thought you would be bound to the Law.”
Emmaline shifted uncomfortably. “We didn’t want to put you in that position.”
Lara’s attention locked onto her. “No, Emmaline,” she corrected, tone firm but not unkind.
“You wanted to protect yourself. And you didn’t trust that I would support you.
” With a dramatic huff, Lara lowered herself, her massive frame settling across the kitchen floor like a fallen boulder.
“Which, I somewhat understand coming from a non-bonded. After all, Corgis are well known for our sense of justice.” Her tail wagged.
“Our unwavering moral fortitude. Our exceptional dedication to what is right. Our strength of character. Our—”
“Stubbornness,” Cassidy cut in, grinning as she crouched beside Lara and ran a hand over her thick fur.
Lara’s ears flicked, but she merely huffed as if conceding the point.
“We are not easily swayed,” she admitted.
Then, dipping her head, she softened. “But Cas, you should have known better. We are loyal above all else. And you are my family.” She leaned into Cassidy’s touch.
“And so is Emmaline. And Margo. And even Ursula—though I hesitate to say it aloud, lest the power of my words summon her.”
Cassidy chuckled, scratching behind Lara’s ears. “I’m sorry. I’m an idiot.”
Lara’s tongue lolled out the side of her mouth, and she exhaled with great patience. “You’re very lucky that Corgis are also among the Goddess’s most forgiving creatures.”
“Yes, yes. Very lucky,” Cassidy agreed with a laugh.
Emmaline watched them, sinking into the chair she held for balance, blinking back the tears forming in her eyes.
She could have had a bond like that, a love like that, with Deyric.
Her breaths came faster. But she’d destroyed it.
The Goddess’s greatest gift. She’d thrown it away before she’d even realized she had it.
A sharp ache pulsed in her chest, different from the pain that had nearly unmade her the morning before, but no less suffocating. She’d been so lost in her obsession with Caelith, convinced he was the one who would complete her… like her father had completed her mother.
She sensed Cassidy and Lara’s attention shift before she even looked up.
Lara rose from her place on the floor, settling down again, this time at Emmaline’s feet. Resting her massive head on Emmaline’s lap, she peered up at her with those deep brown eyes—steady, patient, understanding.
“Can I examine you, Emmaline?” Lara’s voice was gentler now, lacking the usual gruffness. “You don’t want to talk about it. That much is clear. But something clearly happened.” Her nose nudged against Emmaline’s wrist in quiet encouragement. “Let me help.”
Emmaline tried to shake her head, tried to push the words I’m fine past her lips.
But instead, her fingers moved on their own, threading into Lara’s thick fur, clutching tight.
And then she was pulling, wrapping her arms around the great furry head, and pressing her face into the warmth of her coat, holding on like she might fall apart if she let go.
Lara sniffed Emmaline again, her large nose pressing into the hollow of her throat, inhaling deep.
A moment later, she licked her cheek, the unexpected coarseness of it making Emmaline jerk back with a startled noise.
But Lara only pushed her head more firmly into Emmaline’s chest, releasing a great, weary sigh.
“Cerridwyn’s vow, Emmaline.” Her voice rumbled through her fur. “How can this possibly be true?”
Cassidy straightened, frowning. “What is it?”
“You’re going to have to be more specific, I think.” Emmaline let out a quiet chuckle, the sound hollow, laced with self-recrimination.
Lara huffed, nuzzling into Emmaline’s neck again, the fur tickling against her overly sensitive skin.
“If I didn’t know better,” Lara murmured, “I’d say that’s traces of Siren’s Song.” She hesitated, sniffing again, then drew back slightly, ears turning out. “Or… some derivative.”
Cassidy’s brows drew together, lips pressing into a line as she tilted her head in thought.
“Siren’s Song?” She tapped her fingers against her hip, her mind visibly working through old knowledge.
Then her eyes widened. “Wait. From Hell? The mega aphrodisiac? I thought that was just a myth.” Her expression turned serious.
“Something capable of overriding all inhibition, all choice, turning resistance into desperation—of making the body crave touch at any cost, from any source.
Emmaline wrapped her arms tightly around herself, turning inward. Was that what he used on me?
Lara sat back on her haunches, studying her. “I think so. But it’s mixed with something else. I’ve never scented anything like it before.”
Cassidy exhaled sharply. “Great. A new drug out on the streets being used to—” She stopped abruptly, her entire body stilling.
Slowly, her eyes lifted to Emmaline, the weight of realization hitting her all at once.
“Oh, honey.” Her voice shifted from analytical to something achingly tender.
She took a step forward. “I’m so sorry.”
She reached for her, but Lara blocked her path.
Cassidy frowned. “Lara?”
The corgi didn’t move. “That’s not all.”
“What do you mean, that’s not all?”
Cassidy tried to go around Lara, but the giant Corgi stepped forward, her massive frame creating an immovable barrier between them.
“Give her space,” Lara warned. “I don’t even know how we begin to help with something like this.”
“Lara, move,” Cassidy insisted, darting left once more, only to have Lara shift again, blocking her at every turn, shielding Emmaline from view.
Emmaline’s fingers tightened around herself, nails biting into her skin. Could Lara smell it? Could she sense the broken mate bond?
Cassidy’s head finally popped up over Lara’s shoulder, concern tightening her features. “Emmaline, what does she mean, ‘that’s not all’?”
“I mean it, Cas. I’ve only ever read about it, but if it’s what I think, she should be dead.”
Dead? Fear squeezed her heart as a single, horrifying thought took hold. “Deyric!” She lurched forward, trying desperately to stand. “Oh Goddess, did I kill him?”
Both Cassidy and Lara moved, gently pushing her back down into the chair. Cassidy’s hands landed softly on her shoulders, steadying her, while Lara’s heavy, reassuring weight pressed against her legs.
“If you’re still breathing, there’s a good chance he is too,” Lara said.
“Who’s Deyric?” Cassidy asked.
“The pain…” Emmaline ignored Cassidy’s question, her breath growing ragged. “It was unbearable. I thought I would die. At one point, I even hoped I would.” She turned wild, pleading eyes toward Lara. “But he got up first. That’s got to mean he’s okay, doesn’t it?”
“It would seem logical,” Lara murmured before licking Emmaline’s cheek. “You were the one?” Her voice was softer now. “To break it?”
A strangled noise caught in Emmaline’s throat. She buried her face in her hands, pressing her palms hard against her eyes.
“Honey?” Cassidy kneeled beside her. “What happened? You can talk to me.”
Emmaline took a single shaky inhale. “He was my mate.” The words left her in a broken whisper.
Cassidy stiffened beside her, eyes widening. “There hasn’t been a new pair of mates in hundreds of years.” She whipped her head toward Lara, searching for confirmation.
Lara met her gaze and nodded.
“Great Goddess.” Cassidy rested a hand on Emmaline’s knee. “Caelith?”
“No!” Her nails bit into her palms as rage burned through the grief threatening to swallow her whole. “He’s the one who…” She forced down the bile rising in her throat. The words felt filthy in her mouth. “Who used the Siren’s Song, or whatever it was.”
Cassidy’s entire body tensed, her grip tightening where her hand rested on Emmaline’s knee.
“That heaping pile of useless, entitled, vile noble—” she started as Lara growled, the deep, rumbling sound reverberating through the floor.