Page 33 of The Bond That Burns (Bloodwing Academy #2)

The library was quiet just before dark. Filled with the kind of hush that only seemed to come when heavy snow was falling. I sat at a table by the window, my legs tucked underneath me, the book I was supposed to be reading open but forgotten in my lap, and watched the huge fluffy flakes swirl in the fading light. My breath fogged the glass as I leaned a little closer.

Movement caught my eye.

A wolf!

It was bounding through the snow along the rocky cliffs, its fur silvered in the dusk. My heart lifted as I watched it. I’d never seen a wolf here on the island before. Bloodwing Academy was so isolated, its grounds surrounded by icy sea waters. How had it gotten here? Wolves lived in packs, didn’t they? It was hard to imagine a wolf pack managing to hide somewhere on the rocky little island.

The wolf made a leaping jump across a ridge of snow, looking graceful and powerful, then disappeared behind a mound of white. I smiled to myself. The wolf had seemed so carefree. In some ways it reminded me a little of Neville.

I glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed the animal. But at the tables across the aisle, the few students working there all had their heads down.

My chest tightened as I thought of something. Could it have been the same animal who had helped us when the carriage was attacked? There had been something obviously uncanny about the creature. But after growing used to living in a world with vampires and dragons, I hadn’t given a whole lot of thought to the single silver wolf. Now I leaned my forehead against the cool glass, scanning the cliffside. But there was nothing there except the falling snow.

“Enjoying the weather?”

I jumped at the sound of the deep voice and turned to see Kage standing beside my table. He had a book tucked under one arm and his pale hair was damp, as if he’d just come from a bath.

“I saw a wolf,” I explained. “Playing in the snow.”

“A wolf?” The faint smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth told me he was skeptical.

“I didn’t imagine it, you know. I really did see it.”

He held up a hand in mock defense. “I believe you. It’s just a little...unusual.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure. Says the vampire.”

Kage frowned as if he hadn’t understood the joke.

Hiding a grin, I stood up and crossed over to the nearby row of shelves, running a finger along the spines and wishing Jia were around to ask for help.

Kage sat down at my table, taking a seat across from mine. He stretched out his long legs and flipped open the book he’d been carrying. The sight of him, so casual and unbothered, surprised me a little. I wasn’t sure how it had happened, but the House Avari leader seemed to have grown comfortable around me. Or maybe he always had been and it had been me who’d always been the one ill at ease. I studied Kage, trying to pin down what I thought of him now.

A sudden, shrill voice broke through my reverie.

“Miss Pendragon! Where is Miss Pendragon?”

I stiffened. It was Professor Hassan’s voice. And she did not sound pleased. I had no idea why she would be looking for me at this hour. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be found.

Kage had looked up, his dark eyes were dancing with amusement. “Sounds like trouble,” he murmured.

“You can say that again,” I muttered, glancing down the row of shelves.

I could hear Hassan’s voice growing louder as she drew closer. From the sounds of it, she seemed to be going up to every table and demanding to know if anyone had seen me in the library that evening. I slouched in my seat and covered my face with my hands.

“Quick,” Kage said, suddenly standing. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, then tugged me into a shadowy alcove between two high bookshelves that I hadn’t noticed before. “In here.”

“Hide?” I whispered frantically. “This is ridiculous. I’m not a child.”

“Yet here you are,” he whispered back. “Better ridiculous than caught.”

He grinned and I couldn’t help smiling back. His amusement was infectious. We slipped into the alcove, stifling laughter. The space was narrow. My shoulder jammed against his chest. I tried to shift but my foot caught on something—a hanging curtain. I went to try to pull it shut around us and tripped.

I let out a squeak of panic.

“Careful!” Kage said, catching me as I started to keel forward.

Then his balance gave way. Before I could reach out my arms to steady myself on the wall, on anything, down we both went. I landed hard against him, sprawled across his chest. The impact forced the breath from my lungs. For a moment, we both seemed too stunned to move.

Then Kage laughed. The sound rumbled from deep inside his chest, warm and unguarded, as if it had broken free before he could stop it.

When I glanced down at him, his eyes were already on me. Dark eyes, framed by long, dusky lashes.

“Comfortable?” he asked, his voice deep, his grin lazy.

For a moment, that grin reminded me of Blake. I froze.

I opened my mouth to reply, but the words twisted up on my tongue. I knew I should move. I should absolutely move.

But I didn’t. Instead, I noticed the way his hand had settled lightly on my hip, the way his touch suddenly seemed to be burning through the very fabric. The air seemed impossibly warm.

Then, from the shadows, came a growl.

The sound was so primal, so reminiscent of Nyxaris, that my entire body went rigid. I whipped my head toward the noise, fully expecting to see the dragon standing there in the library.

Instead, Blake stepped into view, his expression thunderous.

This was bad. Very bad. And yet something went through me. Filling me from head to toe. Something that felt very much like... relief.

The moment Blake saw me sprawled on top of Kage, his composure seemed to snap.

“Get your fucking hands off her,” he snarled.

“Blake, wait—” I started, scrambling to get up, my face flaming. I felt a pang of guilt I couldn’t fully explain. I hadn’t done anything wrong and I knew it. But under Blake’s gaze, I felt as if I had been caught tearing library books to shreds or stealing candy from a baby.

But Blake didn’t wait. He lunged forward, grabbing Kage by the collar and hauling him to his feet.

Kage staggered but didn’t retaliate. “Calm down, Drakharrow,” he said, his voice even. “You’re overreacting. As usual.”

“Overreacting?” Blake’s fist connected with the House Avari leader’s jaw, sending him stumbling back. “You think I don’t see exactly what you’ve been doing?”

Kage wiped the corner of his mouth, his calm facade cracking a little. “And what exactly do you think I’m doing?”

“Sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong. Trying to take what isn’t yours,” Blake spat, shoving him again.

“Enough!” I exclaimed, trying to step between them. But it was too late.

Kage’s patience splintered. He surged forward, slamming Blake into one of the bookshelves. The impact rattled the shelves, sending a few books tumbling to the floor.

The two men grappled. Blake fought like a tempest, all raw power and fury, while Kage’s movements were more deliberate, strategic.

“Stop it! Both of you!” I cried, darting in again and trying to pull them apart.

Neither of them would listen. I glanced at the books on the table, suddenly tempted to wack both of them on the head with one. Then I thought of what Jia would say about a book being used as a weapon. Still, it was hard to resist.

A lone highblood student walked by, carrying a large knapsack. As he saw the two House Leaders fighting on the floor, he quickly picked up his pace. No other student would dare intervene. I was on my own.

Blake’s fist collided with Kage’s ribs. The sound of their scuffle echoed through the library, and my heart was pounding. They were going to get caught. We were all going to get in trouble. And then what? Detentions, suspensions, expulsion—the words danced through my mind. I couldn’t afford to have even more attention drawn to myself right now.

“Enough!” I exclaimed again, a little louder this time. “Stop it! You’re both being complete idiots!”

I grabbed Blake’s arm, my hand gripping him tightly and the motion seemed to finally jolt him back to reality. He froze, his chest heaving, his eyes still locked on Kage.

Kage shoved Blake off him and scrambled to his feet, brushing himself off as if nothing had happened. “You need to get a grip, Drakharrow,” he said coolly. “She’s her own person. You can’t control what she does.”

Blake glowered at him, his fists still clenched.

“Kage, I think you should leave,” I said firmly. I knew I was being unfair. He hadn’t even started this. But I suspected I’d have better luck asking him to be reasonable than I would with Blake.

He hesitated, then he nodded. “I’ll be seeing you, Medra.” He kept his voice light but obviously was intent on reminding Blake where my new home was.

When he was gone, I turned to Blake, frustration flaring hot and fast. But it wasn’t just frustration, and that was the problem. My heart twisted at the sight of him. He looked...wrecked. Exhausted. His entire body was tense, his face shadowed with stress. Was this because of Kage? Or something more?

I thought of Theo. I’d visited him in the infirmary since moving out of the Drakharrow Tower. I knew he was improving, but that didn’t mean Blake wasn’t still worried—or wracked with guilt.

I’d been keeping him at arm’s length ever since moving into House Avari, trying to rebuild some measure of the distance we’d lost. Surprisingly, Blake had respected that—at least, until now.

But here we were, standing so close, and suddenly I felt the heaviness of all the things we hadn’t said. He’d accused me of running away. Now I wondered if he’d been right.

I crossed my arms, trying to mask the tangle of emotions I was feeling. “Do you want to explain what the hell that was?”

Blake's eyes were lingering on the spot where Kage and I had fallen. “Do you ?” he asked, his tone cutting.

The guilt twisted tighter, but I shoved it down. “Nothing even happened.”

“That’s not what it looked like,” he said.

Annoyance broke through the guilt. “You don’t own me, Blake. We’re not married.” Not in the way I was used to where I came from. “We didn’t make vows. There’s nothing to say we have to be exclusive in...” I searched for the right word and failed. “In whatever the hell this even is.”

This doesn’t have to be anything , I reminded myself.

But that wasn’t true, was it? Not when I’d spent every spare moment turning over the possibility of breaking our bond. Not when I’d hesitated every time I’d come close to deciding.

I thought of the ritual Kage had told me about. A severing spell. Dangerous, complicated, and completely forbidden. But it could free me from this bond—free us both. Blake had no idea the choice I held in my hands right now–and something about that seemed wrong.

Except just like with all blood magic–performing the ritual wouldn’t be so simple. I no longer had my mother’s soul inside me, providing me with magic to fuel the spell, so I had no idea if I’d even be able to successfully conduct it.

And severing a blood bond wasn’t just a matter of cutting ties. It would demand a toll, something steep enough to match the power of the bond itself. The writings hadn’t spelled it out exactly, but they didn’t have to. There were phrases that lingered in my mind like ghosts: “the essence of life exchanged,” “the tether of existence undone.”

Why hadn’t I acted? Because it turned out breaking a bond like ours meant dancing on the edge of life and death itself. And while I might want to be free, that didn’t mean I wanted Blake Drakharrow to lose his life in the damned process.

Was I really willing to live with his death on my conscience? Now? After all we’d been through together? Blake might not be a good person, but there were people in his life who he loved and who depended on him. He could be an asshole, a bully, even a tyrant. But he’d shown he could be kind as well as cruel. He’d held me, comforted me, cared for me.

This...would be the ultimate betrayal.

There was another thing. What if I went through with the ritual and nothing changed?

The feelings I had for him—the pull, the ache—what if they weren’t just the bond’s doing? That thought terrified me more than anything.

Now Blake turned to face me, his eyes burning. “No. But you know damn well it’s not that simple. You don’t see it, do you?”

“See what?” I demanded.

“How he looks at you,” Blake said bitterly. “How he waits for me to slip up. To fuck up and lose you for good.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but the words wouldn’t come. The naked pain in his voice stopped me cold. However ridiculous it might sound to me, he believed what he was saying.

He moved over to the table where I’d been sitting and took Kage’s chair. “Anyhow, I came to talk to you about something else. Not about...whatever that was.”

“That was nothing,” I repeated. I took a deep breath. “What do you need to talk to me about?”