Page 32 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile (Compelling Fates Saga #3)

She tried to call their names again, but it was as if the mist around her swallowed her voice, like cotton filled her chest. Stumbling forward on the surprisingly hard floor beneath her, she squinted, throwing her gaze around.

It was all white, but somehow…

The white reminded her of the pressing darkness she’d been forced into in Rioner’s cellar, and her pulse began thrumming under her skin, the sound rushing in her ears as she turned her head back and forth, trying to make out something—anything.

Why have you come here, Elessia Rantzier?

Lessia jerked straight at the deep voice, but not from fear. No, for some reason… the voice was familiar.

She waited a beat, trying to get her mind to understand why the voice felt like home.

She doesn’t even deign to respond.

Another voice that sounded… Her nails dug into her palms as she blinked at the brightness around her. It was her mother’s voice.

Yet… it wasn’t.

And the first one… It was Merrick’s.

But also not.

“Who are you?” she snarled, fighting the suffocating feeling of the mist filling her lungs.

You came for us, yet you don’t know who you seek?

Frelina’s voice, but it was also off. Just a tad too high—the tone just a little wrong—and it didn’t carry the defiance that laced Frelina’s words most of the time.

“You’re the wyverns.” Lessia tried to keep her voice level as worry for the others formed a ball of unease in her gut and the thick whiteness still fought to suffocate her.

Took you long enough.

They did get Raine’s snark perfectly, and she spun toward the voice, almost expecting his red hair to break through the world of white.

But there was nothing.

“What is this?” Lessia asked when it remained quiet, her own heartbeat the only sound pulsating through the mist.

You’re asking the wrong questions.

She didn’t think it would be possible not to want to hear Merrick’s voice.

But this strange one… It was wrong. It was eerie, and the lilt of it raised the hairs on the back of her neck.

“Stop with your mind games,” she gritted through her teeth. “Show yourselves.”

But we’re not the ones with the mind games, are we?

A vision of herself and Loche, with her father and Rioner standing behind them, forced its way into her mind.

Agony, pure agony, raced over her skin as she was transported right back to that moment, listening to herself utter, “Forget me. Forget every moment we had alone. Forget you ever felt anything for me. You will only remember me as the spy, the traitor that tried to ruin your election.”

Such a dangerous gift.

Lessia watched her own knees buckle before she snapped her eyes shut and snarled, “Enough! I’ve lived through this enough!”

She really had. Yes, she might feel guilty for the rest of her life for what she’d done to him. Especially now… especially knowing why he’d done it. But she’d decided to live with it.

Like she’d live with every decision she’d made and would make in the future.

Until you won’t. We’ve heard all about your curse, princess of Vastala.

“I am no princess,” Lessia hissed, the unease she’d felt hearing this strange version of Merrick’s voice shifting into anger, which somehow made it easier to clear her lungs of the strange air.

“I claim no allegiance to my uncle. Besides, if you have heard so damned much about me, then you know exactly why I am here. No need for all of these theatrics.”

Of course we know. As soon as you tricked that stone into choosing you, we felt you everywhere. Heard and saw and learned everything about you. Who you love. Who you hate. Your fears—and you have many. Your wishes. Yes… the ones you carved into your mate’s skin.

“I didn’t trick anything. And stop using Merrick’s voice,” Lessia warned, sensing her magic flicker to life, her eyes reflecting strangely onto the white wall before her.

But you love the Death Whisperer’s voice. You fear you’ll forget it when you die. And you will…. Trust us.

Lessia refused to let the words sink in.

She would never forget him—it wasn’t possible.

She wouldn’t let herself.

Whirling, her eyes throwing that ominous glow around her, she thought that the white surrounding her must be some type of magic that let the wyverns see and speak to her.

As soon as you tricked that stone into choosing you, we felt you everywhere. Heard and saw and learned everything about you. They’d betrayed themselves, and… it tasted like magic—the thick white air reminding her of the stickiness of Merrick’s souls as they layered around her.

While she couldn’t compel magic—the memory of the moment she tried to stop her father’s magic drove a sharp pain through her heart—if the wyverns could see her…

The encounter underwater with Ydren surged through her mind, her violet eyes glossing.

I haven’t met anyone who could control wyverns before. That’s what Raine had told her back on his island.

Something in the air shifted, a tremble—a flicker of uncertainty—and Lessia knew she was right.

Staring straight ahead, watching her own eyes reflect back, she purred, “You will show yourselves, and you will listen to what I have to say.”

Told you she was clever.

They did get Frelina’s voice right that time, Lessia thought as the world flashed.

Then it went dark for a second before her eyes flew open.

“Lessia! For fuck’s sake!” Merrick’s eyes were an inch from hers, his gaze flying across her face.

Frelina was a few inches behind him, Raine holding on to her as they stared down at Lessia.

“I’m fine,” Lessia said hoarsely, that suffocating feeling lingering.

“You’re not fucking fine,” Merrick growled, but he appeared to catch himself, his face still hard but lips pressing tightly together when she glared back at him.

Lessia cleared her throat when he remained silent. “I am. I promise.”

Merrick’s eyes shut for a second as he blew out a breath through his nose, and when they opened, his face softened—at least to her trained eyes.

To Frelina, he probably still looked furious.

Still, when he asked, albeit gruffly, “Do you want to get up?” and she nodded, he was gentle, his arms sliding under hers to help her to stand.

“Your eyes went completely white, and you passed out,” Frelina said softly. “You almost scared us to death.”

Merrick was terrified is what Frelina’s eyes told her, and Lessia stepped closer to the Death Whisperer, leaning into him and wrapping an arm around his waist.

But even though she could hear his heart hammer against his rib cage, when she looked up and met Ydren’s eyes, she knew there wasn’t time for her to make him feel better.

Lessia bowed her head when Ydren cast hers back, and stated, “The wyverns will be here any moment.”