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“He came here for several reasons, but they all revolved around me.”

Eliza rolled onto her side, tucking a hand beneath her cheek so she could see him. He seemed to be searching her face, looking for something. Apparently, he found it because he continued speaking.

“He brought me to Tybalt. To keep me hidden. That’s what he said anyway, but I’d heard them one night. Him and Tybalt arguing. Tybalt wanted them to take me with them so that I could stay with them until Cethin was of age.”

“Of age? For what?” Eliza asked.

“I was brought here to be his Guardian.”

Eliza tensed. “You were forced to become his Guardian?”

She remembered Tybalt speaking of the Guardian Bond at dinner one night in Aimonway. He’d said it wasn’t a burden, and that no one selected as a Guardian was against it.

“I eventually chose it on my own, but not when they wanted me to. I was supposed to become bonded to him when his power was awakened. I refused. For decades. Centuries. Tybalt tried to persuade me. Saylah threatened me numerous times. But Tybalt would not allow it to be forced. Repeatedly argued with her that forcing a bond would work against what it was meant to be.”

“Why did you eventually choose it?” she asked quietly.

“I hated Cethin. For decades. I hated being around him. Hated being in Avonleya. Hated being in Halaya.”

“Halaya?”

“That is what this world is called in other realms,” Razik said.

“You read so much to escape,” she said in realization.

“No,” he countered. “I read so much because I believed that someday Saylah truly would force me into a Guardian Bond. I wanted to find a way to break it. So I studied magic and bonds. I studied beings in this world and others. I read any book I could on the subjects. I read any book I could get because you never know when or how such knowledge might be useful.”

“Did you ever find a way?”

“No.”

“But you still chose it?”

He shifted. The first time he’d moved the entire conversation. “Cethin and I eventually realized we are soulmates. That as much as I resented him, we got along remarkably well when I wasn’t being a prick, and he wasn’t being an entitled ass. As much as I hated being left here for such a purpose, it appeared fate had other plans.”

“Do you regret it? Fighting it? Accepting it?”

His sapphire gaze came back to hers. “No,mai dragocen. But I know what it is to have a bond forced on you, to be pressured into accepting something you do not want.”

Her stomach twisted at what he was implying.

“You think I am being foolish? To fight what fate has destined for me?” she asked.

“No, Eliza. It takes a special kind of strength to fight fate. Even if you eventually accept it, it will be on your terms, and I am okay with that. Because I know that forcing fate would work against what it was meant to be.”

Eliza swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. She shifted, rolling away from the intensity of his stare, but not before she said, “Good night, Raz.”

* * *

“Shit,” Eliza muttered, tugging on Razik’s arm.

“What’s wrong?”

His arm slid around her, pulling her in close. Instinct or because he could, she didn’t know. She’d woken curled into him again this morning, and when she had stirred, his arm had wound tighter around her. He’d still been sleeping. She could tell by his breathing, and it was foolish of her, but she stole a few more minutes of what could have been if she had been a different person.

She’d nudged him awake a few minutes later, and they’d grabbed some pastries from a street vendor before boarding the ferry to take them to Solembra. Now they were nearing the docks, and Eliza realized they were checking papers. Sorin had randomly ordered the same, usually when they were needing information or trying to track someone down. She didn’t know if this was standard practice with Bastien or not, but the fact remained that they didn’t have identification papers on them. Furthermore, she wouldn’t need them. The moment they saw her face, she’d be reported to Bastien.

“Travel us to shore. Now,” she hissed.