Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
The library vanished. Cyrus was standing before me, and I sat upon the couch once again. He cupped my face, his thumbs grazing over my cheekbones. “Arden?”
My body had stayed behind while my spirit ventured through the library with Domino. “I’m here,” I assured him.
Our gazes met, and he searched mine, radiating concern. “What happened? You completely checked out.”
Ugh. Best to tell him now, rather than drag out the big reveal. “I’m connected to him. Rooted. To Domino. He pulled my spirit into the library while my body stayed here.”
Cyrus blinked twice. A hard, blank mask spread over his expression, reminding me of paint spilling over paper. “Not just linked but rooted,” he said with a hollow tone. He straightened, his spine like steel.
I chewed on my bottom lip. “There was no other way to survive the battle,” I rushed to explain. “Maybe it was wrong. I would hate it if you bonded with Lolli, especially if you did it without talking it over with me first. There was no other way,” I repeated. “No time.”
He ran his tongue over his teeth. “I did tell you to do whatever proved necessary to survive, and I meant it.”
The note of misery in his tone nearly became my undoing. “I don’t deserve to hear your problem with Domino, but I’m asking you to tell me anyway. Help me understand what I’m up against.”
A thousand emotions passed over his expression in an instant, but nothing stuck, the blank mask secured. “His parents worked for mine. We grew up together, were as close as brothers. Closer, really, since I have brothers, and we barely speak. After Domino joined Soal, he tried to recruit me. I turned him in. CURED took him to a rehabilitation facility, where doctors carved open his body and used him as a pritis factory until his escape. He produced a higher-wattage pritis than other glowers, so CURED wanted him back.” Guilt and shame crept into his expression and pitch. “They vowed to execute every member of his family unless he returned of his own volition. He didn’t return, and CURED kept its word.”
My chest tightened. I cupped Cyrus’s shoulder, offering comfort. “I understand. You know my worst secret. How I turned in my own mother. Rest assured, I’m not judging you,” I promised gently.
He ducked his head. “When I became Soalian, Domino ensured I comprehended the pain I had caused him in a multitude of ways.”
That . . . hmm. “Revenge doesn’t sound like him.” Not what I knew of him, anyway.
“People can surprise you.” He let his head fall back and stared up at the crystal ceiling, apprehension whipping from him in increasingly agitated waves. “Rooted,” he repeated.
“We would’ve died without his aid,” I reminded him.
“I realize that. But this complicates things. You can feel him, and he can feel you, I take it.”
“Yes. Kind of.” I shifted in my seat. “It’s muted. An awareness that he’s close if I need him. The bond, um, can’t be undone.” At least, I didn’t think so.
His posture grew stiffer. “Throuples and threesomes aren’t my thing.”
“Nor are they mine.” Until Cyrus, I’d never really been part of a twosome. The thought of being so intimate and vulnerable with someone who could break and harm me had never appealed.
He inhaled deeply, nodded, and handed me a plate he’d set on the coffee table. I eased back on the couch, and he sat beside me with a plate of his own. Side by side, we each ate a sandwich layered with moist, shredded chicken, a creamy pepper-and-fruit spread, and melty cheeses. All the real deal, I’d bet, and none of the lab-grown “meat” and “dairy” ordinary folks were fed when we decided to splurge on something other than a tasteless meal bar made from mystery ingredients.
“How do you want to proceed?” I asked with the barest tremor.
“Give me time to think.”
We finished eating in silence. At any other time, I would’ve moaned over the sublime flavors exploding on my tongue. Tonight, every bite settled like a lead ball in my stomach.
When we finished, we set our plates aside, still silent. I understood his upset, I truly did. Like I’d told him, I’d be super upset if he connected to someone else. The question was, did he want to be with me enough to get past it?
Needing a connection with him, I curled myself against his chest, resting my head on his shoulder. He didn’t rebuke me but slowly wound an arm around my waist. Slow and distracted, he stroked his fingers along my side, pausing now and then to toy with the ends of my hair.
“It’s a complication,” he repeated as if the conversation had never paused, assuring me he’d considered nothing but my new relationship with Domino.
“Yes.” I offered no more, unwilling to pressure him.