Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

SERATH

I t doesn't take long for me to sink into darkness, almost as if it's waiting for me. It cradles me, pulling me deep into its obsidian embrace, only to spit me out in a place that's gray and barren with no clue as to which way is up or down.

"Hello? Ubron? Are you there?" I can sense a presence. It must be him.

My skin prickles. Strange because in this place I have no body, merely a consciousness. Can that be altered? Can I manifest somehow?

"If you focus and expend energy," the voice says in my head. His voice. "I would not advise it or your time with me will be cut short."

"Cameron told me everything."

"I know."

"You were listening?"

"No. But I felt your disconcertion and your anger. I am sorry that I am the cause."

Dammit. I want to hurt him. To rage at him, but I…I can't.

"We are connected, you and I," he says. He sounds…resigned.

"How connected?"

"I am not certain how deeply we are woven together, but the longer I remain trapped in your body, the more I see, hear, and feel, even when you are conscious. I believed it to mean that I was becoming stronger and that I would soon be able to take over and?—"

"You wanted to take over?"

"Of course I did. I wanted to save my people. To go home. You cannot fault me for that. Your body is my prison."

"So what changed?"

"This bond." The gray lights up with soft blue tendrils that swirl and twine. "My bond to her, and yours…" Golden threads join the blue, slipping between them and around them. "And our beasts too…"

Crimson ribbons materialize, followed shortly by burnt orange ones until there is a ball of energy pulsing in front of me.

It's beautiful. "That's our bond?"

"Not all of it…Wait…"

An iridescent ribbon of power blooms to life, thick and pulsing. It weaves through the ball of energy, becoming one with it and allowing it to burn brighter.

"This is our bond, and I…I am not sure how to sever it."

Fuck… "There has to be a way."

"Killing the voice should free the infernals from their host bodies."

"But none of the other infernals have mate bonds, do they?"

"No. Those gargoyles were tricked into believing they were consummating."

There's something in his voice. A hesitation. "That's right. They used a chemical to mimic the pheromones of a mate." For some reason, my stomach quivers when I say this.

"You do not remember."

Remember… "I was in my sanctuary, and I saw Cameron there. A manifestation. We consummated."

He's silent. "Yes. I suppose that is what you would recall."

There's more. I know there's more. I can sense it deep in my gut. Have sensed it ever since I escaped from the faction. But I don't want to know. I don't want to?—

The burnt orange ribbons in the orb of power flare as my beast rises…

Anger. Sadness. Guilt…

"What's happening?"

We did not know. We did not see until it was too late.

No. I don't want to know.

We are sorry.

The gray blooms bright, and memories flash through my mind. The pressure on my groin. A body moving on top of me. A woman. Not Cameron. Not fucking Cameron!

"NO!"

I'm back in the gray surrounded by the colors of the bond. The energy pulses around me like a protective shield.

"I'm sorry," Ubron says. "I was powerless to stop them. Each time. It is the same female. She is…evil. I was powerless, and you were powerless."

I feel sick. I want to vomit, except I can't because I'm disembodied and trapped. Forever trapped.

Ubron makes a soft sound of empathy, and in that moment, something happens. A new connection is formed, one that feels almost like kinship.

"We will stop them," Ubron says. "We will make them pay for what they've done."

"Yes, yes, we fucking will." The panic, the disgust ebbs. "Cameron can't know. Not yet. Swear to me you won't tell her."

"It is not my secret to tell."

"Good. I'll tell her. I'll tell her everything once the bitch who violated me is dead."