Page 42

Skye just stared. “… what?”

“I know,” Taly said again. “About the bond.” Then she threw her hands up and did a victory wiggle. “I got you! That was for the lantern, asshole.”

The lantern? “Wait, from when we were kids?” He’d hung around outside her window with a lantern and convinced her it was feyrie fire. “That was just a stupid prank!”

“A prank that traumatized me for life, Em. I told you I would get you,” she said, grinning like a fiend. “And you would never see it coming! Oh, my Shards, you should’ve seen your face!”

Skye blinked, still trying to process the last thirty seconds. First, she’d been sad, then she’d been pissed. Then she’d started laughing, and now…

Now, the world was tilting.

Or maybe that was just his knees giving out. “I think I… I need to lie down a moment.”

Taly rushed forward with an “oh shit , ” catching his arm and easing him down to the grass. He stretched out, blinking up at the stars, trying to make sense of it.

Taly knew about the bond.

He’d spent all this time agonizing over how she’d react, terrified that he’d get it wrong. Not that any of it mattered in the end because she already knew!

“How long?” he croaked.

“A few months.” Taly settled beside him, unwrapping the white scarf from around her neck and tucking it beneath his head.

“The ice pond was when I first started to suspect. I’d dreamed about you before, but that felt different.

You were more… present, if that makes sense?

So, I started researching shared dreams, which led me to soul bonds and, I don’t know…

it just felt right. I have a theory, if you want to hear it. ”

Skye gave a slow nod. “Sure. Why not.”

“Okay, so, you remember my mother’s spells, right?

Well, I think they were acting as a barrier.

And when they broke, the two halves of the bond must’ve…

snapped together. That’s when I projected.

With so much time energy pouring out of me, I didn’t choose where I went.

Not consciously, at least. I just ended up at the place you needed me most.”

The night in the Painted Room. When he’d been dead set on going to find her, and Ivain was determined to stop him.

She was right. He had needed her then.

Taly dragged her fingers through his hair.

He closed his eyes, melting into the touch.

“What I didn’t know was if you’d figured it out, though I heavily suspected.

You’re not subtle. All day, all you do is tug on it.

” She pressed a hand to his mouth before he could make the obvious joke. “Don’t embarrass yourself.”

“You’re a cruel woman,” he said against her palm.

Taly laughed. “Oh, come on. It’s fun seeing you squirm.

And Shards know you need a little poking.

The Skylen Emrys, heir to the great and almighty Ghislain—” She slapped at the hand that tried to wriggle into her side.

“I mean, I wasn’t planning on picking a fight to torment you—but then the opportunity just sort of presented itself .

” She sighed, visibly satisfied. “I’m in a much better mood now. Thank you.”

He needed a moment. Not to think. Just to absorb it.

“You took something beautiful and turned it into an act of vengeance.” He shook his head, his lips curving up despite himself. “I…” He laughed, quiet and breathless. “I forget sometimes how much I like you.”

She grinned down at him.

“Even if you are cruel .”

Her expression softened. “I think you like that too.”

He did. Shards save him, he really did. “I was going to do this with roses, you know. Maybe a moonlit dinner. But no—you just had to poke and prod until I spilled it.”

Taly shrugged, not even pretending to be sorry. “That’s alright. I don’t really like roses.” Picking a nearby dandelion, she held it to her nose. “How’s the head?”

“Better,” he said softly. The first moon was rising behind her, catching in her hair like spun silver. The bond settled behind his ribs. It had weight now, like something set between them. “You know, we’ll eventually have to make a decision—about whether or not to break it.”

“You want to keep it,” she said matter-of-factly.

“I do.” No point in pretending otherwise.

She snorted. “It takes a special kind of stupid to actually consider bonding with a time mage.”

“Well, listening to you, I’ve never been very smart.” Skye studied her face. There was color in her cheeks that wasn’t just from the cold. She kept her eyes to the ground, fingers busy picking flowers. “Talk to me, Tink.”

“Is that not what we’re doing?”

He sat up. “Taly,” he said when she wouldn’t look at him. “I’m not expecting you to fall into my arms here, but if I ask you how you feel about forever, you’ve got to do more than just call me stupid and avoid eye contact. I’m getting understandably concerned.”

She tugged at a stubborn stem, brow furrowing in concentration before it finally yielded. She sat with it for a beat, then said, “I think it’s a bad idea.”

A crack splintered open in his chest. He exhaled, slow.

“I think,” she went on, fidgeting with a dandelion.

“I think that if we did this, it would put a target on your back. The same one that’s on mine.

Soulbonded mates always find each other—we’ve already proven that.

Vaughn already tried to extort it, and we’re still a long way out from being fully bonded. ”

Skye was already shaking his head, temper stirring.

She was worried about him . Not herself— him .

As if she didn’t think he’d already chosen this. As if she didn’t know the danger went both ways.

He was a prince. Everything he’d ever dared to love had a target painted on it.

“Are we really doing this again? Fuck, Taly, when are you going to get it through that stubborn head of yours that I’m not going anywhere ?”

“I didn’t say that you were.” She picked another flower and began weaving the stems together. “It’s still something to consider, though. The bond is only going to get stronger, and the danger to you will only grow. Others will try to use you to get to me. It would be stupid to close that door.”

“What door?”

“The one that lets you go back. You’re committing treason just sitting here with me, knowing what I am, but your family—they have enough power to make that go away. They could bring you back to Ghislain, if that were something you ever wanted.”

“It won’t be,” he insisted.

“Maybe not,” she conceded, adjusting a twist of violet. “But that door closes if we’re bonded, because then you’ll be part me. And there’s nothing that can save you from that. You say this is what you want, but what if I’m gone? What if I die?”

“ You won’t .”

“I could. It’s harder now, but it’s not impossible.

And anyone who figures out what I am is going to want me dead.

It’s easy to risk everything for something.

But what if that something doesn’t make it to the end?

If that happened, I think you might be grateful to still have the option to go back to a normal life. ”

Skye’s hands curled into fists. It wasn’t meant to be cruel. It was a simple, reasoned analysis of the grim reality in which they lived.

There was just one thing missing.

“What do you want?”

Taly’s fingers stilled on the crown of flowers taking shape in her hands.

“What do you want, Taly? You’ve talked a lot about what you think I should want and the dangers to me , but you haven’t said a single word about how you feel.”

“I…” she started, then stopped, frowning like she didn’t understand the question. Had never even stopped to consider it.

“C’mon, Tink.” He reached up and touched her cheek, smiling when she leaned into it. “Just talk to me. That’s all we’re doing right now—just talking.”

She gave a slight nod, thinking. Stalling. He couldn’t be sure.

“I don’t know,” she said after a long moment. “I don’t know how I feel about it.”

His chest caved, but he didn’t let it show. It wasn’t the enthusiastic, overjoyed yes, yes, a thousand times yes that he’d been hoping for—preferably while falling into his arms. But at this point, either of them could have broken the bond. As easy as snapping a string. She hadn’t.

So, there was that, at least.

He leaned in to kiss her. He meant it as a quick brush of their mouths—a reassurance. A question. Are we okay? Do you still want this?

Her answer was clear. She met him, pressing closer and deepening the kiss.

His breath caught. He angled toward her instinctively, one hand bracing in the grass behind her as he leaned in, chasing the heat of her mouth. Her hands slid into his hair, fingers tightening—and for a second, he didn’t want to stop. Even though he knew he had to.

He pulled away, breathless. “So, uh…” He cleared his throat. “If crossing that finish line is still off the table, I think we need to end here for tonight.”

Taly’s lips brushed his jaw, warm and maddening. He shuddered. “Oh, yeah. I guess I did say that.”

He exhaled sharply. “Taly, I’m serious.”

“Oh, believe me, I know,” she murmured, a smile in her voice. “But what if I said the finish line was yours for the taking?”

“Are you? Saying that… I mean…” It was hard to think with her this close.

She pressed a slow, teasing kiss to his throat, trailing higher. “You said all the right things.”

“I did?” When had that ever happened?

“I’m not worried anymore.” Warm breath brushed his ear as she whispered, “You’re right. We’re permanent. The rest is just details.”

So, she didn’t want the bond—but “ permanent ” was fine? He didn’t get this woman.

“Please just say it, Taly,” he rasped, his restraint unraveling with every electric skim of her lips against his neck. “Small words. Be very clear.”

There was too much blood flow below the belt and not enough above it. He needed to be sure.

Taly pulled back and looked him dead in the eye. “Yes, Skye,” she said, mouth quirking. “Since my blatant attempts tonight to jump your bones haven’t gotten the point across, sex is back on the ta—”

He cut her off with his mouth.