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“Ican’t be your reason, Lazar,” I murmur. “That’s too much… I can’t handle that.”

Lazar smiles, sadly.

“It’s done already, Natali. You can’t change the past, but you can change the future. You’ll be the one to decide what to say to your father. The other two?” He turns to look over his shoulder, at the empty stairway that Brennan and Otho had left from. “They don’t understand.”

Then, he turns back to me, and that sad smile stretches across his lips once again.

“It’syouwho gets to decide if you tell your father to forgive us, or to execute us, or punish up with the maximum sentence allowed by law.”

He nods towards the stairs again.

“Our Reaver is outside. The autopilot is set to your estate. Utter a voice command, and the vessel will take you there; with a broadcast signal not to fire, and that the only occupant is you.”

Lazar’s eyes narrow.

“When you return to your father – the words you choose to tell him will influence how long we’re behind bars.” He reaches out again, and this time I let him take my hand. He squeezes gently, looking deep into my eyes. “So, choose them carefully.”

I blink twice. He’s looking at me like he doesn’t know what I might say. He’s looking at me like he knows I’ve already had the treacherous thought of juststealingthe benefits of the Bond from him – of running off into the universe, while they languish behind the bars of an Aurelian prison cell.

He knows I can decide his fate – and he’s honoring whatever decision I make.

Now, I’m the one to decide if I want to give these three Aurelians anything in return for the unfathomable gifts they’ve given me.

If I wanted to, I could lie. I could tell my father that they abused me horribly – that they’d raped me, and tormented me relentlessly. If I did, when the trial went to court, the Aurelian Empire wouldn’t just sentence the triad to a hundred years in prison. They’d sentence them tothousands, until they emerge so old and weak that it would have been less cruel to execute them.

I think back to the first moment I ever saw those three Aurelians, when they entered my home to negotiate with my father.

If I’d known back then what was to happen, I’d still have gone with them. They wouldn’t have needed to kidnap me. I would have happily followed them out of the door.

The terror of my capture. Nearly dying out there in the abandoned, industrial wilderness. Of seeing Brennan nearly lose his mind as he punished me with delicious cruelty.

The moment they gave me the Bond.

I wouldn’t have traded a single moment of it – good, or bad.

I smile weakly at Lazar.

“You know, if I could go back in time – to that first moment I saw you – I’d mouth those four words to you.You’ve set me free. You three really did set me free. I’d barely lived before I knew you.”

Lazar nods. “I know – and I also know that the only true freedom is the freedom to choose.”

Without knowing what I’ll choose – whether to wait for my Fated Mates, or betray them entirely – he still wants to send me back to my father.

“What do the other two think?”

Lazar clenches his jaw. I can see the tension in his expression.

“They’re both like me – after all, we’ve spent our whole lives searching for you. However, Otho and Brennan are traditional Aurelians. Most Aurelian warriors wouldn’t be able to fathom why the Bond alone would not be enough to make any woman choose to stay with them.”

Lazar snorts bitterly.

“They’re quite convinced you’re going to speak on our behalf – to plead for leniency. They believe that releasing you to your father will bring us together all the sooner. The thought that you might betray us?” He shakes his head. “That thought hasn’t even crossed their minds.”

Then, those fingers tighten around mine.

“Butyouhave to decide what you want to do with your life, Natali. Not the Bond.”

With the Bond corrupting my mind, I’d begged Brennan to run away with me – to throw caution to the wind and spend the rest of our lives on the run.