Page 136 of The Bound Blood
“You don’t look like someone who feels safe right now,” he adds. “And if you want, you don’t have to figure this out alone.”
I meet his eyes in the mirror. There’s no calculation there for once. Is it crazy that I want to trust him?
“I just want things to stop trying to control me,” I admit.
Auron nods as if that makes perfect sense. “I know something about control.” It sounds like he’s sharing a confidence with me.
My shoulders loosen despite myself. That alone should probably worry me.
“I don’t want to be pulled in ten different directions anymore,” I say. “I just want one thing to be…steady.”
He nods again. “Then stop letting everyone else decide what you should be afraid of.”
He shifts slightly, angling his body so the mirror catches us both—me tense and tired, him solid and unflinching.
“I can help you,” he says.
He doesn’t reach for me or crowd my space. He just holds my gaze in the mirror, as if he’s already decided something and is waiting to see if I’ll catch up.
“Not by telling you what to do,” he adds. “And not by pretending the danger isn’t real.” His mouth tilts, just barely. “I hate when people do that.”
That earns him something dangerously close to a smile from me.
“You’re not wrong,” I say. “Everyone keeps acting like if they say things nicely enough, I’ll stop noticing when things are not right.”
“Or stop asking questions,” he says cooly.
“Yes.” Relief threads through my voice before I can stop it. “Exactly that.”
Auron studies me for a long moment. It doesn’t feel like he’s assessing my strength, but more as if he’s weighing my will.
“You don’t need another person to protect you,” he says. “You need someone who understands that it’s not all roses and sunshine and what it’s like to have expectations wrapped around your throat and still be told it’s for your own good.”
“You sound like you know what that’s like,” I say.
“I do,” he replies simply.
And somehow, that’s what throws me.
Because this isn’t the Auron I met when I first arrived—the one wrapped in confidence and quiet disdain, like the world existed a half-step beneath him. That version of him always felt sharp-edged. Untouchable.
This one feels… stripped down.
It makes me tilt my head, reassessing. Not because he’s suddenly warm or kind—he isn’t—but because the arrogance that usually clings to him like a second skin is missing. There’sno performance in his posture. No need for an audience in his eyes.
Maybe he isn’t a bad guy.
Which is a genuinely unhinged thought to have about Auron.
It’s not like he’s ever actually been cruel to me. Aloof, sure. Snobby, absolutely. But that’s not the same thing as dangerous.
Still.
I let out a quiet breath and lean back against the opposite wall, studying my reflection. The girl staring back at me looks tired. Wary. Like she’s been bracing herself since the moment she set foot here.
What kind of topsy-turvy reality am I living in where I’m considering trustingAuron…while pulling away from Kael—the one person who’s protected me more times than I can count since I arrived?
The thought twists uncomfortably in my chest. But maybe this moment right here is about letting me choose my own path. It’s not about good or bad.
