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"Dammit, witch," he grunted. "The ritual—you said it yourself, it's attempting to bind your soul, temporarily, as a slave to the will of whoever's behind it. And rewriting the runes will only works for a while, until the curse is repeated. You escaped Friday. Great. But I thought it prudent to have a fail-safe."

Finally an answer. "So, the ring?"

"My signet ring would allow me to mark you. And unless the one cursing you has a stronger claim than I, my mark would win out."

Mark me.

As I pondered the meaning of his words, he continued,"As I said. A precaution. In case it came down to you being enslaved, mind and body, I wanted this option on hand, so to speak. But all was well, and I didn't need to use it."

"Is that why it heats up?Your ring. Because it's made to brand people?"

He nodded. "Don't worry—what I did last night wasn't a mark. It won't leave a trace on your clit. It takesa drop of blood from each of us. Blood givenwillingly. That's essential, and why it would supersede whatever spell they're trying to force on you. Once completed, I'd stamp your skin and mine, and it would be done." He repeated himself, "Nothing but a precaution. I assume that you'd find it preferable to a lifetime of enslavement."

"And what would it mean?"

His jaw clenched. "You'd become a member of the house of Nyx. Without the words to complete the binding, it's vague. It wouldn't result in a soul bond, if that's what you're afraid of."

I wasn't afraid of anything. "If it's that unimportant, why not just do it?"

He cursed under his breath. "Kleos. Learn to value your soul. We do this, and part of it belongs to me. Part of me belongs to you. How great the part, how binding the agreement doesn't matter. This is serious. And permanent."

I nodded.

We barely knew each other. Of course he didn't want serious and permanent with me.

"All right. I'd better get home. Tomorrow at the temple?"

He looked at me for what felt like an eternity, and nodded.

44

LUCIAN

Everyone was giving me a headache.

I'd dragged my ass to lunch although I would have been more than happy staying home, to scream about how fucking dumb this entire mess was, and possibly punch a wall. And all I got were wary looks and probing questions.

"What's wrong with him?" my mother whispered again.

"What's wrong with you?" Lucky demanded.

The only person who didn't seem to care was Damian. "Clearly, he's pussy whipped."

It took a herculean effort, but I ignored him.

I still owed him. In actual fact, this entire situation was his fault. Had he not condemned me to the guard, I would never have met Gideon and by extension, Kleos.

Yeah, right. And she'd be enslaved right now. Tosomeone else.

Not that I'd enslave her. The entire point of my keeping my ring at hand was to ensure I could claim her soul, and give her her freedom.

Except I'd made a mess out of explaining it and now, we were all awkward around each other. Practically like strangers, like we hadn't spent an entire week sleeping next door to each other,working together, eating together. As though I hadn't felt her cunt clench around my cock while she begged me to come inside her.

"Whatiswrong with you Lucian?" my grandmother demanded.

I got to my feet. Enough was enough. "I'm tired. Please give my excuses tonight."

I brooded all the way back home. At least, Ronan hadn't made it to lunch today, so he didn't share my business with my whole family because my mother batted eye lashes and asked him to.