Page 109 of Tethered Fates

“Read the fucking spell!” he orders, his fangs dropped, his eyes two burning points.

Trembling, Elio does.

“Bran,” I beg. “Explain to me—”

Before I can finish, Bran punches through his own chest. I startle, mouth agaped as Bran rips past muscle and bone, splattering blood over Teagan and Elio and the wrinkled pages of the spellbook.

Then Bran, an immortal older than any other supernatural, rips out a piece of his own heart, the sliver wet with darker-than-normal blood.

“I. Will. Not. Be. Denied!” Bran bites out, his eyes bright with feral determination as blood gushes from the hole in his chest over Teagan, as Elio’s voice rises above all the madness.

And through it all, I reach for our bond. No matter what happens, I’ll never stop reaching for Teagan.

Bran shoves that piece of heart into Teagan’s empty chest.

“Come back…” I whisper, clutching Teagan’s limp hand. Tears stream down my cheeks to splatter against Teagan’s. “I can’t survive without you.”

He is more than my destiny, more than a curious man who sees the world in a way I’ll never understand, and for some amazing reason, he invites me to witness it.

Bran’s chest begins knitting itself back together. And impossibly, so does Teagan’s.

I grab hold of our broken bond.

Elio’s voice becomes a shout.

“Come back to me, sweetheart.”

Elio stops abruptly, and the page he was reading from shrivels into dust.

“Please…”

Vidar clings to a sobbing Kai. Luc holds Golden to his chest. The tips of Rurik’s fingers brush Apollo’s neck as the small vampire watches on, hiccuping as he weeps.

It isn’t fair.

I deserve the same.

Then…

The connection knits back together.

Thump.

Teagan’s eyes shoot open.

He sucks in a deep, pained breath, his mouth opening wide to reveal two fangs.

The relief is almost as painful as when our connection was broken. I shove Bran aside to grab hold of Teagan and press my face into his neck as I cry, gulping down his scent. “Oh god, you’re back. I love you so fucking much!”

Kai hugs him from the side, weeping just as hard and muttering ‘I love you’ and ‘never do that again’ and ‘how could you do that to me’.

“I…” Teagan coughs in his little rasp. “I love you, too.”

I think he’s talking to both of us, but as long as he’s alive, I don’t mind sharing my soulmate.

Chapter Thirty-Eight - Teagan

Sen tilts my chin up as he gently lifts a mug to my lips. Sighing, I swallow as blood coats the inside of my mouth and flows down my throat, my tongue lapping at the edges once it’s all gone.