Page 258 of Commanding Blood And Bonds

“Right. And why is that?” he asked, voice chilling.

“Beyond your clearance.”

“So, you are here as a spy.”

I let out a humorless laugh. “Aren doesn’t need more spies. He has them everywhere he finds value.”

“Impossible. We don’t have Crucible-blessed souls in our ranks—and how else would they get here?”

“Hmm…how else do Paladins earn their blades, young Prince?” I stood, sighing when he did too.

“We’re not done here.”

“Look, Cyrus.” I stepped around him, toward the souls pulsing uncomfortably under my skin. “Like I said—I appreciate what you did. But I didn’t ask you to risk your life for me, and you’re not obligated to keep doing it.”

“Oh, but I am,” he growled, grabbing my elbow and freezing me mid-step.

His stare was so sharp, so piercing it sent my heart tumbling down a flight of stairs.

“Let go of me.”

But he didn’t. He pulled me in closer, shaking his head. “You’re acting like this bond is some kind of mistake.”

“That’s not what I said,” I snapped, dizzy with the force of his nearness and the scent of him. It was unfair. It was cruel—that fate had marked a man I couldn’t have as the one I was meant for.

Had I done this? Had Reagan? Had that damn marriage contract she drafted a decade before he was even conceived tampered with his threads?

If fate had a face, I would cheerfully rearrange it with my bare fists. If only to wipe away the hurt I couldn’t unsee in his eyes.

Because I fucking cared.

“You didn’t circle the wrong answer on a test, Freya.” His voice dropped low, laced with fire. “Like it or not, I’m not something you can erase from your lifeline. And you? You’re etched into mine.”

“You didn’t choose this. We don’t even know each other, Cyrus.”

“I know enough.”

I scoffed. “So now you’re going to profess undying love after one disastrous grand adventure?”

“Who said anything about love?” he bit out, annoyance sharpening with every pushback I gave. “I’ve always known my role. My duty. My honor. But let’s not forget—you’re the one who stormed into my world and tore it apart. I should hate you.”

“Should?” I breathed as he stepped closer, crowding into my space. “You don’t?”

He rolled his lips against his teeth, slowly shaking his head. His grip didn’t ease on my arm. “Can’t. Apparently. And I have a feeling neither could you. Not then, even when I deserved it. Not now, when you know what I am. There’s a reason for that.”

“I never pegged you for a fate person.”

“I’m not.”

“Then why are you bending so easily?”

“Because some things are bigger than us. And I’m not so egotistical I can’t recognize when the Universe is moving.”

“The universe has bigger fish to fry than our doomed romance.”

“Mates can be platonic,” he offered, with a shrug so indifferent I almost believed it.

I shook my head. “I can’t channel my soul group mates’ feelings, and we’re already nauseatingly interdependent.”