“Hunter, it’s beautiful.” I closed the distance between us, wrapping my arms around him. He stood stoic for a moment, stunned by my forwardness—but in a heartbeat, his arms wrapped around me, locking me to him. Clinging to me as though I were his only lifeline.
“The builder gets all the credit when it was the artist who made the masterpiece,” Finn remarked, tossing my teddy back on the bed.
I reluctantly pulled away from Hunter and turned to Finn. “I thought you already knew what I was feeling?”
“It’s always nice to feel appreciated. And I know exactly how much this place means to you,” he said, holding my stare with inquisitive hazel eyes.
“How often have you been eavesdropping on my thoughts?” I almost didn’t want to know the answer. My cheeks flushed with preemptive embarrassment.
“Whenever the wolfsbane begins to wear off. Your mind’s been a sanctuary. I much prefer it to this cell.”
I wanted to be angry with him for the violation of my privacy, but how could I, with an answer like that? Hesitantly, I reached for his hand, taking it gently in mine, feeling more reserved around him than I did with Hunter.
“I’m so sorry. Nico and the others, they told me there was no way to free you from the dungeons,” I admitted, ashamed that I hadn’t pushed harder to come after them.
“Don’t feel bad, beautiful. Nico’s right. Without an army, there is no getting us out of here,” he assured me, squeezing my hand. “That’s why I’ve been visiting your thoughts when I can. I don’t know how much time we have left. It might be the only way I get to know you.”
“Don’t think like that. They’ve kept you alive this long. And Nico is working on a plan. We’ll get you all out…” I trailed off. “Where is Jase?” I asked, realizing that Hunter had only pulled me and Finn into the dream.
They shared a look.
“We don’t know,” Hunter answered. “Finn is in the cell beside me, so I can pull him into dreams. But Jase… wherever he is, he’s too far for me to reach.”
“Do you… do you think he’s dead?” I swallowed the lump in my throat and sat down on my bed.
“You tell me,” Finn said.
“What do you mean? We’ve gotten no word if any of you were dead or alive.”
“You would have felt it if he no longer walked this realm. The same emptiness you felt when Gunner died. The longer you’re in Hiraeth, the stronger our connection grows.”
“Is that the reason you can reach me when we’re so far from the castle?”
“With you, everything is different. There’s an unbreakable connection. It doesn’t matter how far you are—we can still reach you,” Hunter explained.
“Is that some special perk of being fated?” I asked, the edge of sarcasm coming out a bit too strong.
“You scoff at the idea of being fated, like it’s just some meddling gods pulling strings, but it’s more than that,” Finn said, running his hands through his thick hair as he paced my small room, looking annoyingly handsome in his irritation.
“You say that, and yet you barely acknowledged me from the moment we met. I distinctly remember you pushing against Nico’s decision to bring me here.”
Finn tensed, pausing his pacing as he shot me a sideways glance. “We may be living in a nightmare, but I’ve learned a lot. It just so happens that the scribes’ quarters are directly above the dungeon. Apparently, Johan values them only slightly more than prisoners. They’ve been doing research—notonlyabout prophecies, but fateds too. I’ve been eavesdropping on their thoughts. He has them studying fated bonds. How they are created. How they can be destroyed. Life-binding, ancient blood rites, and the like.”
Finn resumed pacing, stopping to pick up a jewelry box with a ballerina on the top before continuing.“It’s not meddling, asyou so callously called it. They’re more important than you realize. Everything is woven into the fabric of fate. Each of us a string, adding to both the light and the dark. A masterpiece of life. Some are bound together to ensure that balance remains. It is rare for strings to be tied to one another the way ours are. Being fated is more than love. Our threads are now equal parts of the same soul.”
My heart was racing as he spoke, enraptured by his words. I wanted so badly to believe the beautiful picture he was painting for me, but my relationship with these beasts only seemed to grow more complicated. Shouldn’t we simply click into place, recognizing our kindred bonds, and live happily ever after?
“And you believe the scribes that are loyal to Johan?” I asked, trying to play devil’s advocate.
“They areequallyas captive as we are. They’d be killed if they refused him. Besides, I can hear every thought—I’d know if they were lying.”
“You hear every thought? Does that mean you’ve heard all of my thoughts?” I asked, almost afraid I would die of embarrassment if he had.
“If you’re referring to what happened between you and Lucius, the answer is—unfortunately—yes.”
I chucked my teddy at his head. “That was supposed to be private!”
“What are you two talking about?” Hunter asked, his brows drawn together as he looked between Finn and me.
