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“’Tis not a good day to remain here,” Rihanna said in a hushed voice, urging him to the driveway.

“Is everything okay? What’s going on?” He finally dug a boot into the pavement, turned and caught Rihanna about her waist, drawing her close. Her violet eyes shimmered with emotional madness. Her pink lips pinched, as did her smooth skin over her brow. She cast the townhouse a brief glance, then lowered her forehead to his shoulder. “Little bird?”

“A situation has arisen. ’Tis not good.” Her arms snaked around his waist, her face turning into his neck. Warm breaths teased his skin, but a tidal wave of distress poured into his mind, leaking through the newly woven gold strings binding them together. “I wasn’t expecting you for a few hours still.”

Bryce slid a hand beneath the spill of her hair, tracing her spine up to the base of her neck. He combed his fingers into her silken strands and held her tight.

“I left early. I tried calling you several times but couldn’tget through and had this”—he grimaced, fingers curling in her hair—“horrible feeling in my gut that something was terribly wrong.”

He couldn’t wrap his head around his intuition. All he knew was the cramping ache that had started in his stomach and spread to his chest, followed by a sense of anxiety. He’d struggled to get through filling scripts while he waited for his relieving pharmacist to arrive and took off without a word. He’d nearly crashed his Hummer twice in his rush to get to Rihanna.

Only now, as he held her in his arms—a safe and uninjured Rihanna—did he realize that their renewed blood bond played a crucial role in what he had felt. She’d explained how “rebonding” would affect him, but the moment it happened, he’d completely forgotten.

This was his new normal. Feeling what Rihanna felt, when she felt it. He treasured the bond, even if it would take a bit of getting used to.

“Let’s leave here. ’Tis not a good idea to linger if we don’t need to.”

“Okay.”

He led her to the passenger side of his Hummer and helped her into the passenger seat before rounding the truck and settling in behind the wheel. The silence stretched, turbulent and electric, as he steered them away from her home toward his. The cords binding them together hummed with a sense of foul unease. Rihanna cast glances out the passenger window, her fingers tangled in a tight knot between her knees.

“What happened, Rihanna?” Bryce asked. He hadn’t intended for the question to come out sternly, but it seemed to fracture the strain and tension he’d been suffering since he bolted from work and sped straight to Rihanna.

To his surprise, his little bird deflated. Every muscle folded under an unseen weight on her shoulders. She shook her head, opening her hands and staring down at her palms. The scarred flesh had healed, leaving a welted pink mark where she’d reopened the old wound.

“I understand why he did it, Bryce. I do.” She turned her head up. When he glanced at her, her eyes shimmered an ethereal amethyst. “Does not change the danger he agreed to put himself in. My brother’s agreed to bait an old enemy who has returned.”

“That doesn’t sound smart, if you ask me. What of Moira?”

“That’s where the problem lies. He made the agreement without consulting her. Alas, the blood bond was one-sided, on behalf of a Seelie Council member, but ’tis binding if solely through my brother’s value of loyalty. To him, his word is as binding as blood.”

“She still doesn’t know, I take it.”

“She knows.” Rihanna released a sharp breath and looked out her window. “Sweet Goddess, she knows.”

“Who is this enemy?”

“The very woman who cursed my brother to two hundred years of torture for her own greedy pleasure.”

Bryce swallowed, raking a hand through his hair. For several seconds, the talk about curses and Seelie sent his head reeling. A minute or so later, he nodded, accepting that he had a lot to learn about this new world, life, and all that his soul mate’s existence encompassed.

“’Tis complicated. I worry about Moira. She sifted here alone this morn without telling anyone back home. Left my brother in a fit of panic. Now this. She’s far into her pregnancy. The stress on her mortal body can’t be good. Liamperformed an assessment on her overall well-being before taking his leave, but in her current mind-frame…”

He reached over and caught her hand, lifting her fingertips to his lips. “Though I don’t know her personally, she seems to be reasonable. I’m sure she’ll understand why he made the decision.”

“I hope so.”

Her words belied the edgy doubt that flowed between them. “Do I dare say that maybe he was wrong to make the decision without speaking with her first?”

Rihanna pursed her lips. “’Twas a foolish move. Moira is very understanding. She supports him in all he does. Had he spoken to her first, mayhap this wouldn’t have happened. My fear is that he’ll do as she wishes and leave her to calm down.”

“With a threat about?”

“Thierry will stay with her. He wouldn’t leave her alone. And under her current stress, ’tis not safe for her to sift back home.” She twisted to face him. “Shaye will do anything to please her, but her safety shall always be his priority. He agreed to this because the truth is, the plan to use him to lure our enemy out of hiding is the best plan. She will find him, and come she will.”

He released her hand to trace her jaw. “I’m learning about how things go in your world, so bear with me. Is there anything we should do to help?”

“Nay. ’Tis between Shaye and Moira. He will listen to naught until Moira forgives him. She is his heart.” She pressed her palm to his chest. “As you are mine.”