Page 337 of Split or Swallow

“I’m…hurt,” Tem said.

“Who hurt you?” they asked at the exact same time.

Tem bit her lip. She looked at Caspen.

“You did,” she whispered.

Caspen’s eyebrows shot up in surprise before knitting together with immediate concern. Beside her, Leo let out an enraged sound, and Tem tightened her grip on his arm.

“It’s not what you think,” she said quickly. “He didn’t mean to.”

“That hardly matters,” Leo scoffed. He was already stepping forward.

Tem moved between them, still aware that they were at a wedding—her own wedding—and there were people watching.

“Stop it, Leo. We don’t have time for this.”

It was true. The sun was setting, and the early moon would soon rise. People were beginning to find their seats. They had to resolve this before the ceremony commenced.

Tem turned to Caspen, her hand still firmly on Leo.

“When you crested me, it wounded my basilisk side. It’s been dying ever since.”

Caspen blinked.

“How can that be? The crest did not work on you.”

“It didn’t work on the human side of me.”

A moment passed as Caspen came to the inevitable conclusion:

“If the basilisk side of you is dying, that means…”

Tem finished for him:

“You’re dying too.”

Caspen was staring at her as if he were finally realizing something.

“I suppose I have been feeling somewhat…off…lately,” he murmured.

From the way he said it, Tem knew it was an understatement. She had no idea how he’d felt the last few days as their bond was slowly decaying. All she knew was how she’d felt—like she was losing the best part of her—and she figured Caspen had felt the same. Tem knew this was the last thing either of them wanted. The blood bond was supposed to tie them together for the rest of their lives. Neither of them thought it might cut their lives short.

“Tem,” Caspen said. “I do not care if I am dying. You cannot do this. I will not allow it.”

“There are limits,” Tem said quietly back. “To what you can allow.”

A moment of understanding passed between them. This was Tem’s choice—no different than choosing between Caspen or Leo, or choosing them both. It didn’t matter what Caspen wanted. It never had.

Leo cleared his throat, breaking the moment.

“Am I to understand that you are both injured?”

It was a gross oversimplification of their current situation. But it would have to do for now.

“Yes,” Tem said.

“And that your lives are tied to one another?”