Caspian's POV
Three hours until the bond snaps back.
We're in a stolen car Adrian's backup vehicle racing through the city while Elara tries to call Vivienne. Marcus is in the back seat, still weak, watching the streets blur by.
Without the bond, everything feels wrong. I can't sense Elara's emotions. Can't hear her thoughts. It's like missing a limb.
She's not answering, Elara says, frustrated. Vivienne's phone goes straight to voicemail.
Try again. I take a sharp turn, heading for the one place we might get answers. We need to find her before the bond reconnects.
Why? Marcus asks. Won't you be stronger once it's back?
Stronger, yes. But vulnerable. I glance at Elara. My mother said the bond makes us the perfect weapon. If we're bonded when we face either of them, they can use that against us.
So what's the plan? Elara pockets her phone. We can't kill Vivienne in three hours. We don't even know where she is.
We go to someone who does. I pull up to a run-down building in the old district. The historian I mentioned. She knows things about Blood Bonds that no one else does. Maybe she knows how to make the separation permanent.
Your mother said it's impossible.
My mother also said she was dead. I'm done believing anything that woman says.
We climb out of the car. The building looks abandoned broken windows, peeling paint, graffiti everywhere. But I know better. This is where Morgana lives. Ancient, powerful, and completely insane.
Perfect for our situation.
I knock on the door in a specific pattern. Three times, pause, twice, pause, once.
The door swings open on its own.
Inside, the place is the opposite of the exterior books everywhere, magical artifacts on shelves, candles floating in mid-air. And sitting in a rocking chair is the oldest woman I've ever seen.
Caspian Noir. Her voice sounds like grinding rocks. You're bonded. I can smell it. Even separated.
Morgana, I need your help.
No. She doesn't even look up from her book.
You haven't heard what I need.
Don't care. Blood Bonds are forbidden knowledge. Council banned me from discussing those sixty years ago. Finally, she looks up. Her eyes are milky white. Blind. But I know she sees more than most people. Especially bonds that are being manipulated by the Collector.
Elara steps forward. You know about the Collector?
Everyone with half a brain knows about Celeste Noir. The question is why you two are stupid enough to get involved with her schemes. Morgana waves her hand. A tea set appears on the table between us. Sit. Explain. Quickly. You have She sniffs the air. Two hours and forty-seven minutes before reconnection.
We sit. We explain everything the gala, the bond, Viktor, Vivienne, Celeste, the six kids, all of it.
When we finish, Morgana is silent for a long moment.
You're all going to die, she says cheerfully.
Thanks for the optimism, I mutter.
Not optimism. Fact. Morgana pours tea that glows faintly green. Blood Bonds can't be permanently broken. The potion Celeste gave you was designed to separate temporarily so you'd be vulnerable. Desperate. Willing to do anything she asks.
So there's no hope? Elara's voice is small.
I didn't say that. Morgana's blind eyes focus on Elara with unsettling precision. There's one way. But it requires something you won't want to give.
What?
Complete acceptance. You stop fighting the bond. Stop resisting. Let it consume you entirely. Become one person in two bodies. Morgana sips her tea. Most bonded pairs refuse. They cling to their individual identities. But if you surrender completely, the bond becomes unbreakable by outside forces. Even the Collector can't touch it.
But we lose ourselves, I say.
No. You become something new. Something stronger. Morgana sets down her cup. The Council fears this. It's why they suppress information about bonds. Two people, perfectly unified, are more powerful than any single mage. More powerful than the Council itself.
Through the fading separation, I feel the bond stirring. Reaching for Elara across the gap.
Two hours left.
How do we do it? Elara asks. How do we accept the bond completely?
You already know. Morgana smiles, showing missing teeth. You've been fighting it this whole time. The attraction. The trust. The growing attachment. Stop fighting. Choose each other. Fully. Completely. With no reservations.
That's it? I ask skeptically.
That's everything. Morgana stands, suddenly serious. But be warned once you accept the bond this way, there's no going back. You'll be connected forever. Death won't separate you. Time won't separate you. You'll share everything. Every thought. Every feeling. Every secret.
Elara and I look at each other.
Can we have a minute? she asks.
You have exactly nine minutes before you need to be touching or you die. Morgana shuffles toward a back room. I'll give you privacy. Marcus, come with me. Let's see what Vivienne did to you.
Marcus follows reluctantly, leaving us alone.
The silence is heavy.
So, Elara says finally. Complete surrender or death.
Sounds about right. I move closer. Even without the bond, I'm drawn to her. What do you want to do?
I want to save Marcus and the other kids. I want to stop Vivienne and your mother. I want She stops. I want to not lose you.
The admission hangs between us.
The bond might be forcing you to feel that, I say carefully.
Maybe. But you're not bonded to me right now. We're separated. And I still feel it. She takes my hand. Do you?
I could lie. Should lie. But what's the point?
Yes.
Then let's do it. Let's accept the bond. Become whatever Morgana described. Elara's jaw sets. And then we use that power to destroy both of them.
Before I can respond, pain explodes through my chest.
The bond. Reconnecting. Ahead of schedule.
Elara screams. I scream. We grab each other as the bond slams back into place like a freight train.
THUMP-THUMP. THUMP-THUMP.
One heartbeat. Shared. Synchronized.
But it's different this time. Stronger. Angry at being separated.
Images flood my mind Elara's memories, her feelings, everything she experienced while we were apart. The loneliness. The fear. The desperate need to have me back.
And she's seeing mine. My panic. My realization that I need her. My
You love me, she gasps.
Through the bond, there's no hiding it. No lying.
Yes, I admit.
I love you too, she whispers.
And in that moment, something shifts. The bond doesn't just reconnect it explodes. Deepens. Transforms.
We're not just linked anymore.
We're merging.
Morgana rushes back in. What did you do?
We accepted it, Elara says, but her voice sounds different. Layered. Like both of us speaking.
So fast? Morgana looks amazed. Most pairs take days. You did it in She stops. Oh no. Oh no no no.
What? I ask.
You accepted too completely. Too fast. The bond is accelerating. You're not going to become partners. You're going to become She searches for the word. Singular. One consciousness. One being.
Horror fills me. Fills us.
How do we stop it? Elara asks.
You don't. It's already happening. Morgana points at our joined hands. They're glowing. You have maybe an hour before you completely merge. After that, there won't be an Elara or a Caspian. Just... something else.
Through the bond, I feel Elara's panic mirroring mine.
We wanted to accept the bond to protect ourselves.
Instead, we're losing ourselves.
There has to be a way to slow it down, I say desperately.
There is. A new voice. Cold. Familiar.
We turn.
Vivienne stands in the doorway, holding a gun that hums with magical energy.
Break the bond, she says calmly. By killing one of you. If Caspian dies right now, the bond shatters before the merge completes. Elara survives. Wounded but whole.
I'm not killing him, Elara snarls.
Then I will. Vivienne aims the gun at my chest. It's actually perfect timing. I get what I need your separated magic, before the merge. Celeste loses her precious weapon. And Elara, sweet Elara, gets to live.
Don't, Elara begs. Please.
Three seconds, Vivienne says. Then I shoot.
Through the bond, Elara and I make a decision.
Together.
We release our combined magic. Not separate anymore. Unified. One power flowing through two bodies.
The blast sends Vivienne flying backward. She hits the wall hard.
But she's laughing.
Perfect, she says, struggling to her feet. The merge is accelerating. Soon you won't even remember being separate people. You'll be a weapon. My weapon.
We'll never serve you, we say in unison. Our voices completely synchronized now.
You won't have a choice. Vivienne pulls out a crystal that glows with dark light. This is the control stone. Keyed to your specific bond signature. In thirty minutes, when the merge completes, I activate this. And you become my puppet.
The crystal pulses.
And deep in our shared chest, our shared heart responds.
She's telling the truth.
We have thirty minutes before we stop being Elara and Caspian.
Thirty minutes before we become a weapon.
And somewhere out there, Celeste is watching. Waiting. Planning her own move.
We're trapped between two monsters.
And we're running out of time.