Page 20 of The Bound Blood
Professor Marris straightens slowly, her face pale.
“I’ve seen many bindings, Lindsay. Temporary tethers. Life-saving rituals. But I’ve never seen this. Not three. Not like this.”
“They’re not all…” I swallow. “It wasn’t intentional.”
She gives a tiny shake of her head. “Magic doesn’t care about intention. It responds to instinct. Emotion. Survival.” Her gaze sharpens. “You pulled from all of them during the Harvest Moon.”
“They helped me,” I say, weakly.
“No,” she says quietly. “You used their power with yours to seal that rift. It created a link between the four of you. That’s powerful and unbreakable.”
The runes dim slightly, like they’ve said all they’re willing to for now. But the impression of the threads lingers in the air, faint and unmistakable.
“I don’t think the Council understands what they’re dealing with,” Professor Marris says, finally meeting my gaze again. “They think this is still about control. But what’s happening inside you…” Her jaw tightens. “Trying to bind you could be like chaining a storm. Or worse—adding fuel to it.”
A silence stretches between us.
“You’re here to break the bond with Raiden,” I say, and my voice sounds hollow.
She hesitates. “Yes. But now… I’m not sure severing just one will change anything, if it is even possible at this point.”
My stomach twists. “So what happens if you try?”
“I don’t know.” She doesn’t soften her words. “But if they force this through without understanding it, I’m afraid it won’t just hurt you.” Her eyes dart again to the faint threads in the air. “It could destroy all of you.”
My breath catches in my throat. Destroy all of us.
The words echo loud in the tiny chamber. Louder than the Veil does when it rips open. Louder than my guilt at trapping all three of them to me. I press the heel of my hand against my chest like I can quiet it somehow, and I can will the threads to stop glowing in my memory.
“If I could’ve prevented the bonds, I would have,” I whisper.
“I know.”
“No,” I snap, louder now. “You don’t. I used towishmagic was real. I readHarry Potterlike it was gospel. I waited for my letter. I sorted myself into a different House every year depending on my mood.”
I let out a hollow laugh. “But none of that prepares you for the part where you might have too much magic inside of you and accidentally bond yourself to three guys you barely understand and then get locked in a glowing containment ring because you’re suddenly a liability to the people who’re supposed to protect you.”
Professor Marris is quiet, but not dismissive. She lets me speak. Lets me spiral.
“They don’t do this at Hogwarts,” I mutter. “There’s no chapter where Dumbledore and the Ministry decide Harry’s too unstable, so they shove him in a cell and start discussing magical castration like it’s for the greater good.”
My voice breaks ongood.
I turn away from her, unable to look at her face—kind, steady, and not the enemy—but not enough.
Nothing feels enough.
“I didn’t choose them,” I say, softer now. “I didn’t know this would happen. I didn’t know I could—would—pull from them like that. I was only trying to help. But now Raiden’s already pulling away. And Kael… Kael acts like he’d burn the world to protect me, but I can feel him holding something back. Nolanlooks at me like I hang the fucking moon. I don’t want to hurt any of them.”
I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly cold.
“And now the Council wants to tear out the only threads that feel real inside me. And if that doesn’t work? What, they cage me forever? Put me in a box like I’m some magical bomb with a countdown clock?”
Professor Marris takes a cautious step closer, still outside the ring. “You are not a weapon, Lindsay.”
“No?” I meet her eyes. “Then why am I surrounded by runes designed to hold things in? At least I’ve learned that from your classes.”
The silence between us is enough, because the council thinks I’m dangerous.
