Page 52 of Wings of Lies (Daughter of the Seven Circles #1)

“Through the tattoo. A force written in ink shall emerge. Our bond began when I received this tattoo. That’s the only part of the sentences I’ve figured out.

We’re tethered together through my ink. I can track it to you at any time.

Except for when you almost escaped, and I found you next to that Soulhound.

” Seeing my puzzled expression, he elaborated.

“They’re ancient creatures related to Hellhounds, though less dangerous since they’re usually bound to an angel that keeps them in line.

I thought they were extinct, but after almost losing you to Hellhounds, I didn’t care what creature it was.

I lost it. So, I fought it until I scared it off. ”

I sighed, relieved he didn’t kill the Soulhound. It seemed sweet until Aspen showed up.

He bowed his head to mine, his voice thick with emotion. “God, Lucille. A month after our fight, I felt the tether between us shrink, like you were moving further away. I thought nothing of it until I decided to search for you and couldn’t find you. I couldn’t fucking find you.”

My eyes stung with the intensity of his voice and the pain I could sense.

“Something blocked the ability, and then our tether faded as if you were slipping away from me. The panic I felt didn’t go unnoticed.

And then she sensed you come through the portal just as the tether reestablished.

” He shook his head, rubbing it against my forehead as if trying to erase the memory.

“She knew she found her next power source to drain and knew my behavior was connected somehow.

“That night, she carved the rune on me as she had done for years, but this time with more commands. When Brock and I portaled to The Divide and saw you...” He pulled back, locking his glowing gaze with mine, gripping my face.

“When I saw you, stick-thin and all bruised, I nearly leveled everyone in the clearing.

“But I’m under orders not to kill those loyal to her, and I didn’t want to hurt you or the Nephilim.

Except, when I discovered Marcus was a turncoat, I happily killed her soldiers and almost Marcus, but he jumped back through the Earth portal.

In my rage, I accidentally obliterated the portal to the Tenebrous Kingdom’s boundary line. ”

“To buy more time until you had to hand me over,” I stated, putting the puzzle together.

Sadness doused the blue glow in his eyes, and he nodded.

“I was so enraged—with you, myself, our situation, the fact that you couldn’t remember anything, and her fucking commands.

I couldn’t fully protect you, yet I had to ensure you stayed alive.

I couldn’t intervene with Brock, but I had to prevent him from accidentally killing you.

I couldn’t remove your cuffs or allow you to escape.

The only place I could take you was the Tenebrous Kingdom, so I destroyed the fastest way there.

I couldn’t show any sign that you meant anything to me, not with Brock monitoring my every move.

Yet, every time I played that role, it hurt you, and I just wanted someone to stab me in the heart and get it over with.

“I wanted to resent you for stepping through the portal, so I took it out on you, but deep down, I resented myself for failing to protect you. Then your presence stirred up memories that the rune repressed.”

I wiped away the tears trailing down his cheeks, not sure what to say to all that.

His confession didn’t exactly excuse his behavior.

He didn’t have to say the horrible things he did.

It didn’t sound like that was one of his commands.

Even if Brock was watching his every move, Aspen took out his rage and fear on me for coming to a world he couldn’t save me from.

I understood it but didn’t forgive him for it.

“How long until you’re back to the evil bastard,” I joked, kind of.

“Maybe if we continue to always touch, he’ll never come back.”

Oliver groaned a few feet away, and a shot of guilt hit me. I forgot about him. “Not sure how that’ll work, seeing as Oliver’s waking up, and soon his knife will be at your throat.”

Aspen sat back, sweeping a deadly gaze over Oliver’s moaning and groaning form.

At his severe expression, I looked at his rune under my thumb, relieved it wasn’t glowing.

This was a facet of Aspen. The utter confidence, as he sized up Oliver, that I once thought was arrogance was really self-awareness.

Aspen grew up in Elora. He knew this world.

He had years of experience. And yeah, maybe he was a little arrogant, but most of it was backed up by the fact he could kill someone without a thought .

“You can’t hurt him,” I said, not exactly sure where we stood but hoping he listened.

Aspen glanced back to me and nodded before taking my hand from his face, placing it on my chest and almost releasing me, but I squeezed it in a death grip.

“What are you doing?” I panicked.

“You’re right, we can’t touch forever. I need to put my gear back on if your friend is gearing up for a fight, and you need to put your pants back on.”

Dirt and sticks dug into my exposed skin. I swallowed. If Aspen hadn’t shown up or he was even a second later… I squeezed my eyes shut.

Warm, calloused hands smoothed away the frown between my brows.

“Hey, sweetheart, look at me.” I did, staring into his vibrant blues. “I will always come for you. I will always find you.”

“Can you sense my emotions?”

He cocked his head to the side. “No, but I’m intelligent enough to put two and two together.”

I was wrong. He was arrogant.

“I can sense yours,” I admitted, knowing he needed to know the other facet of our bond. But why couldn’t he sense mine?

“What?”

I nodded. “It’s true, but I think your rune affects when I can and can’t sense them.”

“For how long?”

Thinking back to my dream-walks, I remembered a couple of instances I sensed emotions that didn’t feel like my own. “From the beginning. ”

“I wonder?—”

“Ahh, fuck-a-duck, how did that twig knock me out?” Oliver groaned, interrupting our conversation.

Aspen grabbed my chin, turning my attention back to him, and ignored Oliver.

“The male I decapitated was an Archangel bounty hunter. Grab the feather from his belt and the cuffs from his pocket. I want you to cuff my ankles. They’ll stop my power and make it harder for me to take you.

” He fished something out of his pocket and handed me a black key—the one that matched the color of my cuffs.

“Then I want you to run as fast as you can back to the Earth portal and get the hell out of Elora.”

“And leave you?” I asked, pocketing the key so I didn’t lose it.

He nodded, earnest.

I smacked him across the face.