Page 11

“Bow,” mouthed Titan, then bent his head forward.

Ezra cast one last look at Al and Jude, who had placed one hand each on Ruth the Elder’s outstretched hands as she maintained the same goalpost position that Ezra had assumed, then copied Titan by lowering his head.

He doubted his concentration would do much to help the bonding process, but he squeezed his eyes shut and scrunched his nose in his best attempt at juicing up his telepathic abilities.

He tried to keep his thoughts focused on Al and Jude and how much he was rooting for their happiness, but he mostly ended up thinking about how much keeping this position was killing his arms, and that he really ought to start hitting the gym.

The ceremony continued.

Ruth the Elder began to hum low, guttural tones in the back of her throat, and the audience echoed the sound. As one, they grew louder and louder, until the entire room felt like it was vibrating from the noise.

Only one sound cut above the odd choir.

A gasp.

Jude.

Ezra lifted his head in alarm to make sure he was okay and found Jude’s eyes wide with surprise.

His pupils were blown out, the blackness almost swallowing his irises completely, but he didn’t seem to be suffering.

If anything, his slightly parted lips and the high arches of his eyebrows suggested unexpected pleasure.

Across the way, Al smiled at him, and while no words were spoken, even Ezra could tell that th ey were communicating with one another.

The bond was being put in place.

Again, like a magnetic pull he couldn’t overcome, Ezra found himself seeking out Titan, and was surprised to see that he’d lifted his head as well. His eyes were trained on Al, so intently focused that he didn’t notice Ezra was watching him.

So intently focused that he’d forgotten to keep up his guard.

The usual facade he wore—smirking asshole, the golden child—was gone, and without it, he looked somehow younger. Softer. Susceptible to hurt. It was obvious that he was feeling some type of way about the bonding ceremony, but the specifics were too muddled to read.

He was happy for his brother, Ezra was certain…

But his smile was sad, and his eyes were the color of the turbulent sea.

Something heavy and uncomfortable prickled in Ezra’s stomach. He swallowed and tasted tears.

It wasn’t that he was upset to see Titan like this. It was just…

He got it.

He understood what it was like to feel happy for someone, yet so sad at the same time.

Wrapped up in the sudden wash of empathy, Ezra’s arms sagged, and Titan abruptly jerked his gaze away from Al to stare straight at him.

The two of them held eye contact for several seconds, Titan’s expression still open and vulnerable, before he seemed to remember himself and shut it down.

All at once, a mask was cast over his face that hid the depths of his emotion, leaving only the cocky, confident front he put on all the time.

Was that what it was?

A mask?

Could his ego really be a front?

More importantly, why did Ezra care?

Titan was going back to Darvrok 6 where he belonged and he was going to take his putrid persona lity with him. It wasn’t Ezra’s job to tear down his walls and discover his inner truth, and doing it wouldn’t get him anywhere. After today, they would never see each other again.

Abruptly, the humming ceased. The sudden silence was eerie, but it did a great job of pulling Ezra out of his thoughts.

He looked away from Titan and at Ruth the Elder, whose eyes were shut and fluttering madly beneath her eyelids.

Al and Jude had closed their eyes as well, and both of them stood trembling, chins lifted, lips parted.

Whatever was happening inside of them was intense, and Ezra found himself concerned.

Then Ruth the Elder’s eyes snapped open, irises not just yellow, but glowing like the sun. She gasped and dropped her hands, and as she did, Al and Jude dropped, too, falling to their knees in unison as though neither had any strength left in their legs.

“It is done,” she announced, then said something in Darvrokian, which was repeated by all who spoke the language including Titan, who mumbled it, and Al, who sounded absolutely exhausted.

Neither Al nor Jude rose to their feet, but even in their exhaustion, they looked up and smiled at each other.

Jude took Al’s hand and kissed his knuckles, and they both snickered like something was funny—and probably, it was.

From what Ezra understood, the bond had tied their minds together and allowed them to speak to one another telepathically.

It was romantic, sure, but it made the hairs on the back of Ezra’s neck stand up a little.

What about privacy?

What about if, god forbid, they fell out of love?

No one stuck around forever.

Although seeing the way they crawled to each other and held each other close, laughing, crying, so blisteringly happy that even Ezra was warmed by it, maybe that wouldn’t be an issue. Maybe the issue was that no one in E zra’s life ever stuck around.

It was cool, though. They didn’t need to.

He was having a good time on his own.

“Congratulations,” Ezra said softly to his friends, stepping forward to offer Jude his hand so that when he was ready, Ezra could pull him up onto his feet. Jude and Al, still wrapped up in each other’s arms, looked up at him, beaming.

“Thank you very much please, Ezra,” Al said. “I feel much happiness.”

“Glad to hear it,” Ezra replied with a laugh. He nodded at Jude. “And what about you, man?”

Impossibly, Jude’s smile grew even wider. He looked at Al and searched his face for a long moment.

“Yeah,” he said, without bothering to turn back to Ezra, “I feel much happiness, too.”