Page 27 of The Bound Blood
“It is.”
ELEVEN
LINDSAY
Professor Marris is barelyout the door when the silence caves in again.
Not the comforting kind. The kind that feels like waiting for a bomb to go off.
She left me with a list of sigils scrawled across the page and the faint echo of magic still buzzing along my skin, like her spells are stitched into me now—armor under the surface. Temporary protection, she said. Not a solution.
And definitely not a guarantee. I’m still staring at the runes when I hear the lock click.
The door opens slowly.
Raiden steps in, closing it behind him with the kind of careful quiet that feels louder than a slam. He doesn’t speak right away. Just watches me.
His hair’s damp, curling at the edges like he’s been training hard, which is something I’ve learned he does when he doesn’t want to think. His eyes find mine immediately—and there’s no shield in them this time.
Just guilt.
“I’m not here to fight,” he says quietly.
“Too late,” I say, arms crossed. “You already made your decision.”
His jaw tightens. He looks at the glowing runes between us. At the door Marris just exited through. Then back at me.
“I’m sorry,” he says, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard those words sound so sincere and sohardfor someone to say at the same time.
I stay where I am. “Sorry for what? Walking away? Believing the Council? Making me feel like I was something you had to survive instead of protect?”
His throat works. “All of it.”
For a moment, I want to let that be enough. I want to accept the look in his eyes as proof that he gets it now.
But this isn’t a fairy tale. And I’m not in the mood to be a cautionary one.
“You don’t get to pretend you didn’t hurt me,” I whisper. “You don’t get to show up now and think it’s all fine.”
“Idon’tthink that.” His voice cracks under the weight of it. “I know I failed you. I should’ve protected you. Ishould’ve stayed.”
“Then why didn’t you?” The question slips out.
“Because I follow orders. It’s what I’ve always done, no matter what I want. But I’m done with that. I can’t lose you.” He takes a breath. “I’m not walking away again. I’m not going to let you break our veil-binding. It’s the only way I can protect you.”
My heart stutters.
“You’d do that?” I ask, unsure whether I want him to or not.
He steps closer to the rune edge, close enough I can feel the gravity of him pulling at the tether between us. “If that’s what it takes to keep them from using me against you? Yes.”
My throat tightens. “It would be safer for you if you weren’t tied to me.”
Raiden’s eyes burn like an amber fire. “I don’t care about safety, Lindsay. Not ifyou’renot included in that.”
For a moment, neither of us speaks. Then the runes flicker. Just slightly. I step forward without meaning to.
“I don’t know how to trust this again,” I admit gesturing between us. “Nobody fought for me, Raiden. Everyone, including you, just let them put me in this cage.”
