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“How is the meal?” Gallien switches the topic. “It was caught earlier, while we were underwater.”

“It’s perfect,” I say, enjoying the way the candlelight illuminates the fresh red fish. The taste is so smooth against my tongue, and I drink more of the wine.

There’s a strange… normalcy to this. I’m dining with three Aurelian princes, but we’re speaking to each other like equals.

But under the surface, there’s a tension between us. It’s constant. The way they let their gaze linger over my body, a little too long. The sheer size of them, the pent-up rage, the way they can switch in a moment, overwhelmed by the beastly Mating Rage.

“A table, built to remind me of my home. A dress, tailored to my exact specifications, as you saw me in your vision. You planned all this. But you can’t have planned to come. You were sent here by the Emperors and the Queen. Do they know I am your Fated Mate?”

Doman shakes his head, his blond mane cascading. “No. The only soul I have told is my younger brother.”

“But you had always planned to come to me.”

“We did. And every day was… torturous. Every day that passes now, slipping away in time… but I am the crown prince. I must show my troops that even I am not above the Empire. It is forbidden for any of our army to chase their Fated Mate when the war rages. We planned to come to you as victors, when there was peace.”

“And what if that peace had taken decades? What if I was an old woman when you could come, and you three were still young?”

Doman shakes his head, his blond mane cascading. “Fate smiles on us, Adriana. It would not torment us so.”

“And if it did?”

Doman stares through me, his gaze running down the errant curls that frame my face, the diamonds on my neck, like he is imprinting this moment in his mind so he never forgets me how I am, here, and now.

“I would have found a way.”

“I’m not how you three expect. Most humans… if they had a chance to extend their lifespan for thousands of years, they would do anything for it. We’ve been searching for the philosopher’s stone the entirety of our history. But not me. I’ve thought about this over and over since I felt you three in my mind, since I learned what that meant…”

I put my chopsticks down, placing them neatly on the white plate. “I don’t want to live like the people who sacrificeeverything for extra time. There’s some trillionaire humans, locked up in machine to extend their lifespans. That’s not me. I don’t want to live a thousand years as someone else.”

Gallien’s sharp eyes pierce me. “You do not understand the Bond, Adriana. It’s the opposite. It does not make you someone else.”

“I don’t believe that. I… I don’t want to bring it up again, but I’ve seen the proof.”

“You’re scared,” says Doman. “People change over time. If you lived for a thousand years, Bond or no Bond, you will be a different person each century. But deep down, your essence remains unchanged.”

“And what if I did change? The last time you felt me—truly felt me—was over a year ago, and for a moment. What if, if you Bonded me to you, I wasn’t how you imagined? A year is nothing to your kind. But for a human, it’s a stretch of time. I’ve been caretaker of over a hundred billion souls. I’m not the person you knew.”

Doman smiles slightly. “It’s as I said. The essence of you will never change. And that is what I crave.”

The three princes watch my every movement as I raise the glass to my lips, sipping the sweet wine. I thought my words would give them pause. Make them angry.

“And if I reject the Bond?”

“Then we’ll live the rest of our lives in agony when you’re gone. But it is your choice,” says Doman, his voice getting lower, growly. It sends a frisson down my spine.

“One thing I felt from your essence was honesty. You’re telling me, right now, the Bond won’t change me?”

Gallien leans in towards me. “It will change you. Whatever you crave. Whatever you want. Whatever is you. You care about the hundred billion souls on Pentaris, and that will be strengthened to the point it’s painful. But the Bond is designedprimarily for one purpose. For you to bear our sons. And whatever attraction you have felt for us, whatever things you have imagined, will be a thousand times stronger.”

“You think you’ll turn me into your pet, don’t you, Gallien?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

He licks his lips. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“And what if it’s the opposite? Your species is famed for putting your little harem toys over your lap. What if I want to put you over mine?”

I’m testing him. Pushing him, seeing how he reacts. Aurelians have a deep, inherent pride.

They need to know that I won’t be their submissive little breeding toy, living for them, craving their attention, at their beck and call.