Page 27 of A Court of Ravens
My fingers freeze over the glowing symbol. My throat tightens. “You mean…forever?”
His eyes are molten. Unreadable. “Through lifetimes.”
I pull back slightly, lifting my head, needing to see the truth in his face.
My chest tightens. “But I’m…” I hardly know what I am anymore. My voice cracks. “How is that even possible?”
A shadow of a smile ghosts over his lips, but there’s no humour in it.
“That’s the thing about the fae,” he murmurs. “We don’t play by the same rules.”
I swallow hard. “So, what—you’re telling me this bond just…happened? Like fate tied a nice little bow around us and decided we’re stuck with each other?”
His gaze sharpens. “The bond chose us.”
I scoff, shaking my head. “You keep saying that, but what the fuck does itmean?”
His hand cups my face, thumb ghosting over my cheekbone. “I don’t have all the answers, love.” He trails his fingers down, brushing the mark above my heart. It pulses under his touch. “Butthis? This is proof. Proof that we belong to each other.”
The word slams into me like a wrecking ball. Belong. Panic claws up my throat. My heart kicks into overdrive.
“I didn’t ask for this.” My voice shakes, my breath coming faster. Fear wraps itself around my ribs, tightening. Squeezing.
“Breathe, love?—”
“No!” I shove away from him, scrambling to my feet. “You can’t just drop this on me and expect me to be fine with it!”
A candle flares to life beside the bed. The flame flickers, twisting like it’s listening.
“What kind of fae parlour trick is this?” My voice is sharp, too sharp, but I can’t rein it in.
He watches me carefully. “It’s not a trick. It’s ancient magic. Older than the courts, older than the standing stones.” His jaw tightens. “It doesn’t give a damn about what we want.”
I take a step back, shaking my head. “Like hell it doesn’t.”
“The bond chooses.” His voice is steady. “It binds.”
The room feels too small. The walls too close. My chest hurts. And I feel like I’m dying.
I press my fingers to my temple, trying to breathe through the rising panic. “I didn’t ask for this, Niall. I don’t want to belong to anyone, and I sure as hell don’t need some cosmic fae joke deciding my life for me.”
His entire body goes still. Then, slowly, he rises. The movement is liquid. Predatory. His voice is sharp as a blade. “Do you think I wanted this?”
The words are a slap.
“You think I woke up one day and thought, ‘You know what would be fun? A bond with a mortal who doesn’t even know what she is?’”
His frustration crackles in the air. The raw, brutal honesty of it steals the breath from my lungs.
I open my mouth to fire back, but the room shifts. The temperature drops.
A shadow slithers along the far wall, stretching unnaturally. The air turns heavy. Thick with something I don’t understand.
Whispers curl into the edges of my mind.
A cold voice slithers in. “You’re not enough.”
A second voice, low and cruel.“You’re adopted. No one loves you. No one ever will.”
