Page 79 of Amaros
Taking hold of his courage, Amaros turned to face her again.“In the past, cambions were tied to their sires through a parental bond,” he told her.“Their sires could control them.Every single one that we hunted down and eradicated was evil.You and Grace aren’t like them.”
Her expression became suspicious.“Fate did something to us?”
“Yes,” he confirmed.“Chaos broke the rules when it released its warriors early.Fate was able to sever their ties to their offspring.Your sires can’t force you to obey them this time.They also can’t have more children.”
“You told Grace and me that our sires would be able to convince us to join their side,” she recalled.“You said they could use us in their war against you.”
He nodded, waiting for her to come to the correct conclusion.
“Fate wants the Knights of Order to become bonded to the cambions,” Zoe realized.“She expects you to form a partnership with the offspring of your sworn enemies.”
“That’s correct,” he agreed, glad she was taking it so well so far.
“What sort of bond would we have with your men?”she asked, striving for a casual tone, yet sounding slightly hoarse.Zoe was suppressing her emotions so hard he was having trouble sensing them.
“It would be an intimate bond,” he hedged, rubbing the back of his neck again.“Like a marriage,” he added.
Zoe sucked in a breath of understanding.“So, we’ll be expected to sleep with you guys?”
“This is new to us, too,” he reminded her.“We won’t have any expectations, because none of us have ever been in an actual relationship before.”
“How will you choose which cambions you’re going to bond with?”she asked, now avoiding his gaze.
“There’s only one cambion for each knight,” Amaros said.She was refusing to look at him, so he reached out to touch her arm.“Fate placed me in your path for a reason, Zoe Zayden,” he said solemnly.“I felt the bond with you the moment I woke up from the landing.”
She swallowed, still avoiding his eyes.“You’ve been fighting it this whole time,” she said.“You don’t want to become bonded to me.You’d rather be raptured if you win or lose the war than to become tied to me for the rest of your life.”
Her tone was full of bitterness and pain.Amaros knew he’d bungled this from the beginning.“That’s not true, Zoe,” he refuted, turning her to face him.Her anguished eyes reluctantly met his.“I’m the commander of the Knights of Order.My men follow my lead in all things.I wanted them to make this decision for themselves, but Camriel is the only warrior I have with me so far.He’s already made his decision to stay here and bond with his cambion.I don’t want to hide this from you any longer.You have the right to know the truth.”
“You’ll only become bonded to me if the rest of your team decides they want to stay here?”she asked, sounding even more bitter and hurt.
“No,” he denied.“I made my decision the moment I laid eyes on you.I just had to convince my stubborn mind to put myself first for the first time in my entire existence.”
“What is your decision?”she asked.He saw the pulse in her throat beating just as hard and fast as his own heart.
“I choose you,” he said.“Now, you need to decide whether to accept our bond, or if you’re going to reject me.”
Zoe was about to reply, then stiffened.Her gaze went distant as she received another vision.