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”Has he tasted your blood?”

I drop my head, blinking back tears. This is what it always circles back to. This is why no one believes me. That, and they never let me get a word in edgewise. They refuse to let me actually explain anything.

“Not that I’m aware of,” I respond, resigned to the fact that this conversation’s going to end like it always does. Vae will lay out all the reasons I’m wrong, reassert the fact that I’m a liar, and I’ll be left screaming into a void until my throat turns raw.

“Trust me, you’d know if one of us had fed off you. So that’s a no, then.” He releases a long-suffering sigh like he can’t believe my ignorance.

“If you’ve never scented each other, and he’s never tasted your blood, then you’re not Mates. That’s the only way you’d be able to sense him like that, Omega. Do you understand that?”

“I understand what you’re trying to say, but I also know you’re wrong.” I lean forward, bracing my hands on the floor in front of me.

“I can feel him in my chest, Vae. Like a long silver thread. And I can see your Bonds with him, too.”

He rolls his eyes, and just like that, my anger surges forward. The flame flares, and I have to blink several times when I notice that the air directly surrounding me looks warped, like steam rising off hot asphalt.

My vision clears quickly, and I push on, anger overshadowing my confusion. “They’re separate, and faded compared to mine, but they’re there.”

For a brief second, an uneasy expression crosses Vaelenor’s face, like maybe what I’m saying means something.

Then, like lightning striking on a cloudless day, it morphs into rage. “You’re lying.”

“How would I know that, then?” I throw up my hands. “How would I know with absolute certainty that your Bonds look like pulsing green threads?”

Vae throws his head back and laughs. The sound is mocking. Meant to remind me of my place—below him. I recoil at the noise, instinct warning that I’m pushing too hard. That I’m going to be punished if I don’t stop.

He rises, pinning me with a disgusted look. He looks like royalty, even standing in my small attic room, hunched over so his head doesn’t hit the sloping ceiling. He’s a statue of a Prince, his eyes hard shards of ice.

“Everyone knows that,” he snaps. “Everyone on this planet knows pack Bonds are green.” He shakes his head, releasing another cruel laugh. “I’m such a fucking idiot. This is why Dax doesn’t trust me to make decisions about you. Hell, this is why I don’t trust myself when it comes to you.”

I rear back, stunned. Is he saying—? I’ve always thought pack Bonds were something unique to the pack. Not a universal color like Mate Bonds.

And everyone knows that?

I sag in defeat.

Of course they do. Everyone except the Omega, who’s been locked away her entire life.

Everyone except the girl whose father made certain she knew as little as possible about the world outside of his walls.

Everyone except me.

He storms toward the door and straightens to his full height, pointing an accusing finger at me. “You’re good. I’ll give you that.”

I frown, still trying to wrap my mind around my own ignorance. “What?”

“You really had me going. Playing dumb. Pretending you had no idea what we were, or what the Severed were. Fates, you even looked mildly concerned when I told you about the ambush.”

That flame inside of me flickerss before going very still. It’s like a music box winding down, the melody becoming slower and slower until the gears finally stop turning altogether.

Then… Silence.

A vast, empty, dark void that extends in every direction.

And in that silence is Vaelenor’s laugh. Cruel. Mocking. Meant to make me hurt because he’s hurting.

My chest is hot. I can feel the burning behind my ribs, and with each word he spits at me, it burns higher.

I’m so tired.