Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four

Orion crossed his arms and stared at Cadel like he was the one whose mind was melting. "It's nothing like a fated mates bond."

"Have you got a better idea? Because shit is falling apart real fast."

"No. But I'm reminding you because it's going to be unpleasant."

He could deal with unpleasant, and it beat doing nothing. "But I'll be in control?"

"You're the one doing the binding, so in theory, yes. But Everest seems to be a powerful magic user…unless that was because he was cheating?" He glanced at Kaine.

Kaine shrugged. "He's more witch than the rest of us. What he'll be like after this, and without his memories, I can't say. He'd only just started shifting when he did this to himself. I doubt he knows what he's capable of."

"He could flip it, and it's much more common for witches to bind shifters than the other way round," Orion said.

"But you can do the spell? "

"I've spent my entire Coven career dealing with bindings, so yeah, I can. And I also know the bleed out can be very fast. Once you open up and give him some energy, I don't know what will happen because usually, the one doing the binding is the one drawing the energy. You're trying to do it the other way, like you're lending your mate strength." Orion shook his head. "And it may not work if his magic is too shifter."

"Just tell me what to do," Cadel said.

Orion pulled out a knife. "It's done the old way with blood and words."

"You don't have to do this. It wasn't in the job description, and no one will think less of you," Kaine said, looking tired and drawn. How much was Quentin taking from him?

They were out of time.

"I'm not doing this for the job. I'm doing it for Everest. For me. For a chance." And maybe he was bloody stupid for thinking he even had one, but if he didn't do this and he walked away, then he'd never know, and he'd have to live with the guilt…the soul bruise for the rest of his life. And he had no idea what form it would take next time. Nor how their paths would cross again. He didn't want Everest writing in his book next time and contemplating ways to fix this wound the next time they met.

Orion held the hilt of the knife out to him, and Cadel took it without a word. He made a small cut on Everest's thumb and then his own.

"Press them together and repeat after me…"