Page 99 of The Bound Blood
I choke. “Please never call him that again.”
Tamsin waves this away with a flick of her hand. “Fine. Broodlord. Prince of Edgy Darkness. Whatever. My point is—he wasn’t at breakfast, which means something rattled him. And considering your disappearing act last night, I have a very strong suspicion about what that something was.”
I stare at her. “You’re guessing.”
“I’mright,” she counters. “I can smell secrets.”
“You cannot smell?—”
“Emotional secrets,” she clarifies proudly. “Fae-witchy thing. Very advanced.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Tamsin…”
“No, no, don’t you ‘Tamsin’ me.” She steps in front of me, walking backward as she points at my chest. “You vanished. Raiden was pacing. Nolan was stress-stimming so hard he nearly set fire to his own sleeve. Kael pulled a full disappearing act. And you—” she pokes me again—“have the face of someone who is absolutely hiding an entire novel’s worth of drama. And your bestie deserves to know it.”
My shoulders slump. She’s not wrong.
Tamsin softens, her grin fading into something gentler. “Lindsay… what happened?”
I take a deep breath.
“Okay,” I say. “Fine. Something happened.”
Tamsin lights up like a fae witch about to receive tea hot enough to burn the world.
I keep it brief. Or…I try.
“There was a Veil breach last night.”
Her mouth drops open.
“Abreach?” she squeaks.
I nod. “A real one. A bad one. A student was attacked.”
Her eyes double in size.
“And Dorian and I—” I gesture vaguely, like this is a normal sentence, “—worked together to save her and stop the creature.”
Tamsin’s jaw unhinges. “You and Prince Starlight Dangerhair fought a monster together?!”
I groan. “Please don’t call him that.”
“I absolutely will. Continue.”
I rub my temples, a slight headache forming behind my eyes. “Then I… closed the tear.”
She lets out a soft gasp. “Like—closed closed?”
“Yes. And then I fainted.”
Tamsin’s eyes somehow get even wider. “Oh stars?—”
“It’s fine,” I say quickly, waving my hands. “I woke up.”
“Where?” she demands, leaning in so close I can feel her breath.
“A—uh—place.”
