Page 51 of The Malice of Moons and Mages (The Broken Bonds of Magic #1)

Fifty-One

Audra

W hat the fuck was that ?” Audra’s voice echoed into the hallway before the door of their room finished closing. She didn’t care that anyone heard her. “I was supposed to make a good impression. Are you trying to get us killed?”

Lua scowled and crossed his arms. “I don’t like your tone.”

“I don’t care! I’m not the one prone to violence. We were supposed to impress them, not try to kill them. What were you thinking?” Her cheeks were flushed.

A muscle in his jaw flexed, but he only huffed. Audra flung her robe on the bed, sliding away when he reached for her. She wouldn’t let his touch confound her.

He’d just attacked a council member, and the hostility thrown at them when they left was justifiable. The interview had gone well until then. Lua moved closer, but she stepped back.

“Answer me,” she said.

“I didn’t like the way they were treating you.”

“So you attacked them? ”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean for it to go that far.”

“What would have happened if I hadn’t stopped you?”

“You did stop me.”

“Play along. What if?” she asked.

He studied the ground. “I don’t know.”

Her anger slowly waned, morphing to an understanding that wormed its way into her brain. All their time together, she’d reasoned his occasional violence was due to his weakened state. After all, he’d never directed his anger fully at her.

Because he couldn’t.

She wiped her eyes, smearing the kohl’s lines further. He’d been showing her exactly what he was capable of the entire time, and she’d chosen to deny it. “Is this who you really are?”

He'd started to reach for her, but his hand paused in the air. “What do you mean?”

“You’d kill your allies along with your enemies.”

“Of course not.”

Audra swallowed, tasting the bitterness of his lie. “Then what was that?”

“The magic took over. I’d only wanted to give them a hint of what we could do.”

“Oh, you definitely did that.”

“But then I thought about their anchors and how unfair it was that they should question you.” Lua’s eyes narrowed as he spoke. His magic tugged hungrily at hers, but she held it back.

“You mean question you, ” she breathed. “This had nothing to do with me. I’ve dealt with worse before. You used my presence as an excuse to assert your authority.”

“No, that’s not?—”

“And what did you prove to them? That you’ll turn on them if they make you uncomfortable.”

“Audra—”

“That you can’t be trusted.”

Lua froze, his eyes full of wounds as her words found their mark. Insecurity crept into his voice. “Do you trust me?”

She bit her lip. He couldn’t hurt her without hurting himself, but that didn’t equate to trust. She cared for him. True, it could be the magic making her feel things that she confused for something genuine. Trust might be a wholly deeper issue. She shouldn’t trust anyone. It was only now that she remembered.

He stepped closer. Worry marred his handsome face. “Do you honestly think I’d do anything to hurt you?”

“No.” An honest answer to a simpler question.

“Do you think I would hurt your family?”

She shook her head. He’d have a difficult time trying to hurt Zin, and Ferin was still a dragon, even if he wasn’t grown yet. But there was someone else and Audra’s worry extended past her own wellbeing.

“What about Bolin?” she asked.

“What of him?”

“Will you protect him?”

His head dropped a moment before he ran a hand through his hair again. A slew of emotions raced toward her—anguish, sorrow.

“That is complicated.”

“Promise you won’t hurt him.”

He groaned. “I can’t promise that.”

She stepped forward, forgetting about the desire that such proximity brought. “Why not?”

“Do you want to know where he’s been?”

Dread settled in her chest.

He met her eyes. “Just like you, Bolin was an unfortunate victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“What does that mean?”

“I hadn’t put it together until I spoke with Zin about Western mages. I don’t think anyone else has yet either.”

“Lua—”

“Our father delighted in sending Selene and I into battles to prove what we could do. She gained her tenth star decades ago, just after I did. But she grew stagnant. She was sent to Oxton with her anchor.” He grasped Audra’s hands, connecting their energy, calming her as he spoke. “She was reckless—instead of keeping her anchor safely on the ship, she brought her into the fray. A soldier killed Selene’s anchor in the battle. He didn’t know what he’d done, of course. From what he told me later, no other mages were near enough to save Selene. She should have died. I wish she had. But there was a young Western soldier nearby. When her anchor died, Selene’s magic latched on to him.”

Dozens of questions became dust in Audra’s throat.

“It shouldn’t have happened so easily. Like I said before, there are rituals and procedures that are normally followed. When she returned north with two Western soldiers, she said they’d aided her, demanded they be given protection by the Song tribe, and refused to have her new anchor severed.”

“Two soldiers?”

He nodded. “Xiang killed Selene’s anchor. He wouldn’t abandon Bolin to her. They’ve been beside her ever since.”

Audra’s vision blurred. Any hope of having her brother returned was lost. Lua’s sister, his greatest enemy and, according to the whispers she’d caught in the halls, the greatest threat to the Moon tribe’s cohesion, was anchored to her brother. Bolin could never come home. And given what the last Rajav had allowed his Raani to endure, Audra doubted that Bolin would ever be free again.

“You see, I cannot guarantee your brother’s safety. All I can do is try to ensure yours.” He pulled her into his arms.

She breathed in his scent, let the warmth of his touch envelop her as she quietly broke. Later, lying crumpled in his arms, his heart beating in sync with her own, his words echoed in her mind. Do you trust me?

And Audra had no answer.