The clatter of dishes was distant now, muffled by thick villa walls and the high-pitched ringing in my ears. Breakfast was over. Tiffany had skipped off humming — probably to flirt with the butlers like nothing had just shifted in the air. Cassian was upstairs — said he needed a shower, maybe a nap.
Coward. I would've joined him if I weren't so thoroughly paralyzed.
I stayed behind.
My hands were still folded neatly on my lap like some obedient little duchess at court — chin high, spine straight, posture impeccable.
But inside?
Inside, I was screaming.
Mavier knew.
I didn't need a dead bird on the windowsill or a cryptic note written in blood. I didn't need the metallic sting of fear in the garden.
I just knew. Something ancient in my blood had twisted — recoiled. A presence brushed past my soul like it was inspecting its property. He had felt it.
He always feels it when I let someone love me. When I open up. When I choose.
And Cassian... Cassian didn't just love me.
He was bonded to me.
Holy, fucking stars. He was bonded to me.
I felt it in the way my pulse stuttered and forgot how to catch up. In the way my magic began to fray — like it didn't know how to sit still anymore. In the way I couldn't hear the birds anymore, even though the windows were open and the morning air was thick with sun and breeze.
He was mine. Irrevocably. Eternally.
Which meant...
My breath caught.
Not loud. Not sharp. Just enough to crack the dam in my chest. Just enough to feel like I was slowly collapsing beneath my own ribcage.
How the hell was I supposed to tell him?
"Hey, Cass — remember when you almost died two nights ago? That wasn't an accident. That was Prince Mavier Auterus. A vampire prince with too much power, too many secrets, and a personal vendetta because I wouldn't marry him. Also, he's stalking me. And now he'll probably try to kill you again. Because we had sex. And you're mine. And he hates losing."
Yeah. Great idea, Sera. Real smooth.
And Tiffany? She'd either make a joke or pass out. Or both.
"Oh, cool, a bloodthirsty immortal ex is going to turn my brother into wall art because his girlfriend broke his little glass heart? Love that. Let me just add it to the scrapbook."
I pressed the heels of my palms against my eyes and inhaled slowly — through the panic, through the pressure building in my temples.
Calm down. Stay calm. Keep it in. Keep him out.
Don't let him feel it. Don't let him—
Sera.
The bond sparked.
His voice was there again. Brushed soft as linen against the inside of my thoughts. Warm. Gentle. Unsharpened. He wasn't pushing — wasn't digging.
Just there. Like he always was now.
What's wrong?
I clenched my jaw hard enough to ache.
Nothing. I'm fine.
A pause.
I could feel the pause. Taste the weight of it. Like copper blood in the mouth.
You're shaking.
I was.
Damn it.
I looked down and hated what I saw — fingers trembling in my lap like I was some wilting girl. My magic shimmered without permission, loose in my skin, lighting silver threads across my arms. The spoon on the table had begun to turn in slow, clocklike circles, as if pulled by invisible strings.
I slapped it off the table.
The clatter snapped something.
Cass... I whispered across the bond, the words slipping out before I could stop them.
I have to tell you something. But I don't know how.
Silence.
And then — heat. The warmth of him surged through the bond like a pulse. Not invasive, just present.
I stood too fast. Pacing. My skin crawled, itched, stretched wrong over my bones.
Why was I scared?
Why was I scared?
I've buried kingdoms. I've walked through burning temples, torn apart gods with my bare hands. I've outlived empires.
But this?
This was different.
Because I knew what Mavier would do. What he'd become when he found out.
Cassian wasn't just alive — he was in my bed. In my soul. And Mavier wouldn't tolerate that. Not after everything.
I could already see it. The way his face would go still. Serene. Murderous.
He wouldn't shout. He wouldn't curse. He would just act.
He'd paint the roads with Cassian's blood if it meant reminding me that I didn't get to choose love. That I was his.
That I always had been.
Sera. Come upstairs.
Cassian's voice again. Firm now. Concerned. Not ordering. Just… calling.
But it was real.
And it was only getting worse.
I turned and walked toward the stairs.
Because I had to tell him.
Even if it shattered us.