Page 18 of The Bound Blood
I feel it recoil, frustrated and restless, and it only makes the pressure in my chest worse.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” he says calmly. “Or to trick you. I’m here because the Council has made a decision. And I want to explain it before anyone else does.”
“Let me guess,” I hiss. “They’re afraid of me. So they’re going to cut out what they don’t understand.”
He steps a little closer to the edge of the circle, careful not to cross it. “They’re afraid of what might happentoyou. And of what might happen if they don’t act. A simple magical evaluation will be done and, as long as you pass, you’ll be free. If you don’t, your magic will be bound.”
“Oh, so it’s for my own good?” I smile, all teeth. “Is that what they’re calling it now? Why did you even bring me to this school?”
His voice softens, but it doesn’t bend. “The Council has confirmed the next steps. The Veilbond will be severed, and the evaluation will begin after.”
A bitter laugh catches in my throat. “So Raiden wasn’t lying.”
Headmaster Veyne hesitates. “No.”
My pulse spikes. The magic inside me reacts, pressing outward like it wants to claw through the circle holding me still.
“Of course not. Why would he lie?” My voice goes cold, laced with something venomous and ugly. “He just dropped the information like a warning and walked out. As though I’m some mistake he doesn’t want to be tied to anymore.”
“You know that’s not true.” Veyne’s tone is calm and careful. As if he knows one wrong word will send me over the edge. “He’s following orders. As am I.”
“You keep saying that as if it means something.” My nails bite into my palms. “Like it makes any of thisokay.”
He steps no closer, but I feel the weight of his presence shift—grounded, firm, annoyingly composed. “This isn’t about punishment, Miss Blake. It’s about protection.”
“Forme, right?” I snarl. “Always for me. That’s what everyone keeps saying. But all I see is control. Leashes. Circles drawn in glowing lines to make sure I don’t lash out.”
“You’re afraid,” he says simply. “And so is the Council. But I’m not here to force compliance. I came to offer clarity.”
“I don’t need clarity,” I snap. “I needout. I need to feel like I’m not being peeled apart one layer at a time while everyone else pretends this is normal.”
His brow furrows with something close to…guilt.
“I argued for this room,” he says. “Not the holding cells. Not the sedation chamber. This was the best compromise I could get them to agree to. You’re not restrained. You’re protected from yourself until we can begin.”
I stare at him, breath shallow, magic still flaring beneath my skin. He thinksthisroom is a good thing? Maybe for them. Because if they thought I wasn’t in control of my magic before, telling me they are going to bind it sure has woken it up.
“And the bond?” I ask. My voice is quieter now, but not gentler. “You’ll just rip it out? Like it was never there?”
“We don’t know what will happen when it’s broken.” He doesn’t hide the weight of the truth. “That’s why Professor Selene Marris will guide the severing. It has to be careful. Deliberate. If the tether snaps back on either of you?—”
“Spare me the lecture,” I cut in. “You already decided. You’re just here to make it sound palatable. Like I have a say.”
His jaw tightens slightly. “You do.”
I lift my gaze to his. “Do I? Because it feels like all my choices have already been made.”
He doesn’t argue. And that’s worse than if he had.
“I’ll send in Professor Marris shortly,” he says at last. “Tomorrow, you’ll begin controlled stabilization training. Guided casting. Barrier containment. The Council wants a full assessment within seventy-two hours. That’s the time you’ve been given. I’ll make sure they bring in items that will make your stay here more comfortable.”
My hands are shaking now. Everything is closing in on me, and if I ever felt stable before, I feel the opposite of that now. I’m two seconds from proving them all right, that they do need to fear me.
“You should leave,” I whisper.
He holds my gaze a second longer. Then nods. When the door closes behind him, the silence isn’t peaceful. It’s suffocating.
The runes flicker faintly beneath me, thrumming with containment.
