Page 149 of Obsidian and Frost

“It’s Velra’s doing.”

“Velra? She gave this to you? When?”

“She spelled it onto me. It’s her version of a Nexus Band. It forms a connection between her and me to detect when I’m in danger or being harmed. It’s only visible now because me using potent magic against Cassius blasted through the glamor she’d employed.” I gritted my teeth. “She’s leashed me, trying to contain me.”

He let go of my hand and stepped back, bursting out laughing. “Leashed? You? Come on, Sylas. It’s well known that it’s not possible.”

“What are you talking about?” I held up my hand, the ring glinting against the light of the room. “The proof is right here.”

“No, silly,” he uttered in a singsong tone, his high state really coming through. “Like her giving me the bracelet, this is her mark on you. As hers.”

“What?”

“She’s possessive. Really fucking possessive. I’ve been seeing the signs of it lately, and it’s something she hides pretty well, but the closer we get, the more the truth of it comes out. With my wolf instincts, I can feel it more than you can. That ring is her staking a claim on you. And, yeah, for her peace of mind becauseshe was obviously terrified after she saw you in that desiccated state that night.”

Possessive?

She was possessive of us?

That… made a lot of sense.

“Aww, you’re so cute when you’re out of sorts.”

I flinched at his words, and then he was right there wrapping his arms around me and holding me to him as he gazed at me reverently. “I love it. I love all the sides of you. Do you know that?” He kissed my cheek. “Do you know that there’s so much that I love about you, my sexy fucking necromantic heartthrob?”

I slid my hand to his hip, my other lifting to stroke his hair, which had him basically purring for me. “You’re not alone in that.”

“I’m not?”

“Of course not.”

“What do you love about me then?” he asked, gazing at me with so much need and desperate curiosity.

I smiled. “I love your passion. Your ferocity. How deeply loyal you are to those you allow close. Your big, beautiful heart. Your dirty mouth and your abrasive humor. The wild and the soft. The chaotic and the vulnerability. I love your strength and your bravery.”

He cried out excitedly at my words and enveloped me in a near-crushing bear hug.

And then he nuzzled against me, little groans escaping him.

He was growing tired.

Crashing.

“How long do you think it’ll be, Sylas?”

“What do you mean?”

“Until they come for me?”

I tensed. “Who?”

“This threat? Until they get past my mom’s protection?”

“Never. I won’t allow it.” It was all I could do to prevent my fists from clenching on him as I held him to me.

“What—or who—do you think it is?” he murmured, his words trailing off now.

“We’ll find out. And they’ll be dealt with accordingly.”Brutally,actually, but I didn’t want to convey that to him when he was in this state of mind, emotionally raw and vulnerable.