Page 35 of Darkening Truth

When he hits three, I feel the magic surge, the castle around us shuddering and shaking, threatening to come down around us.

I hope that our show of power isn’t going to gain the wrong sort of attention, but I honestly don’t really care at the moment. Farren is more important.

As soon as the magic hits, I feel her dream shatter, breaking the hold that it had on her and dispersing the nightmare.

Surprisingly, she doesn’t lower to the floor though, and before any of us can get to her or pull our magic back, I feel her magic wrap around mine, searching for something.

I’m not sure what.

My magic seems to know more than I do, which isn’t really surprising, and it welcomes the curiosity.

After only a few moments, Farren’s magic surges through us all, and I feel something snap into place.

As soon as it does, her magic pulls back, and then she gently lowers back down onto the sofa below.

I share a look with the others.

“What was that?” Reaper asks, his voice a rumble.

Hades' eyebrows are high on his head as he says, “If I’m not mistaken, that was Farren creating bonds with all of us.”

“Like the ones that Kill, Loki and Storm already have?” Rival asks.

Hades nods, “Yes, exactly like that.”

“She shouldn’t be able to make her own bonds like that,” Khaos says. “Although I am starting to think that nothing is as it should be when it comes to Farren.”

“Yeah, I think that’s a fair assessment,” Loki agrees.

A noise from the sofa immediately stops our conversation, and we all glance over as Farren sits up.

“What the fuck happened in here?” She asks, “Did I sleep through an attack?” Before any of us can explain, her eyes widen in shock, “Holy shit, I can feel you, I’m bonded to you all?”

I grin, “Yep, we’re pretty damn pleased about it.”

I get the feeling she needs to hear us say that before she does something ridiculous like apologise.

“That’s an understatement,” Mayhem says, watching Farren closely.

She studies us for a moment, “You’re all okay with this?”

We all nod enthusiastically, and she smiles.

Looking over at Khaos, she says, “Even you? We haven’t known each other for very long at all.”

Khaos smiles, “I think the things that we’ve been through together, the things that we’ve shared, have more than made up for the lack of time that we have known each other. I am honoured that you have bonded with me.”

Farren’s smile widens, and in true Farren form, since emotions make her uncomfortable, she simply nods and looks around at the destroyed room again.

“What the fuck happened?”

“That was you,” Hades says. He clicks his fingers, and the room goes back to how it was, with no sign of the absolute chaos that Farren managed to cause. He then explains what happened, and she winces.

“I’m really sorry,” she starts.

“Don’t.” Reaper growls. “Don’t ever apologise for something like that.”

He opens his arms, and she gets up, practically falling into them. It’s then that I notice the slight shake in her hands. She is behaving like the nightmare hasn’t shaken her, but she can’t hide the shake in her hands. I’m not the only one who notices, and Reaper pulls her closer.