Page 21 of Sing Me Awake (Bonded to the Gods #1)

twenty-one

Rivern

T his small human surprises me at every turn. The way she walked up to that family with determination in her heart and fire in her eyes…

The bond sings to go to her, to touch her. I push the feeling down and settle into my job as a guard to my queen . And to think that I was headed to this place to kill the other side of this bond. And now I’m faced with her fear, her beauty, her fire, all I want to do is protect her. To live every moment in her sanctuary.

Snap out of it, you fool. My internal red flags fly. Such things cannot be. I need to stop making her promises. Making myself promises. Calling her my fucking queen. Just call me the delusional prince.

Solen flies overhead. I fill him in on everything that was happening while keeping eyes on my Little Dove.

Mage still waits on the other side of the northern mountains, and now I just wait for her—for Dove to save her people. I cannot find it within my heart to begrudge her this. I would do the exact same thing if those were my people.

I need her to follow me. I need to sort this Goddess bond out. Surely, the oracles can see how to fix it.

I’m promised to another, and the Goddess knows it. I do it for her folk, after all. We need this bond with the tribe of the Silver Sands. The fae need me to step up as their prince, for our continued prosperous future within our lands.

Watching on, I see my little Dove shaking hands with the male of the family she is conversing with, and I can’t help the utter reverence I hold in my heart for this female. She shows me a strength of character I’ve never known.

She turns towards me and bounds down the stairs with purpose in her eyes. “They are coming,” she beams up at me as she grabs onto my tunic, plastering herself to my body.

Natural.

Comfortable.

Home.

Damn it all to the underworld. I grasp my hands around her body and hold on tight.

We will not be able to be so familiar in Terra. This bond is making us too desperate for each other, however unintentional it may be . I pull her back at arm’s length.

Dove’s smile dips, barely noticeable, and then she retreats a step. “Come. We are walking to the north gate with Lucas’s family.”

She doesn’t wait for my response as she hikes the steps back towards this Lucas and his female. Looking around, I see some excitement—hope—on the children’s faces. The adults look more confused, and some steal glances my way.

A large, shadowed figure swoops above my head. “ Your little human bonded seems to have found herself a troop.”

Solen perches on the tavern’s stone shingles. “Hmm. She’s convinced she can save these humans.” My whispers ride the air to Solen’s ears.

“And what do you think?”

“I think she’s biting off more than she can chew. But we are bonded, and…” I run my hands over my cloaked head. Solen squarks. “And if I were her, I’d probably be doing the same thing, but I’ll be glad when we are back in Terra.”

“To marry your Silver Sands female?”

A lump forms in my throat as a pain sears through my middle. “Yessss,” I hiss. This bond will be the death of both of us.

Looking around, I wonder, what are the chances all these humans will make it to Terra?

The trek from Haven to Terra is not fraught with beasts and dragons, but impossibly hard terrain. I continue to look on at the families before me.

Have we taken on an impossible task?