Page 36 of The Bound Blood
And for the first time since this began—I break. Because I chose her. And now I have to fight for her.
The second I’m left alone, I’m on my feet. I fly out of the room, not caring that my clothing is ripped and torn and barely hanging onto me. I just need to get to her before they try to bind her magic.
The chanting reachesme before I’m even inside the main hall.
It grows louder with every step, vibrating through the stone floors, threading magic into the air thick enough to choke on. The words are clear now, rising like a war cry:“Let her speak. Let her speak.”
I'd bet anything this—this—is what made the Council reckless.
I skid to a stop at the entrance.
The room is chaos.
Students line the stairs, spill across the floors, press in along the walls—bodies packed shoulder to shoulder. Some are standing. Most are sitting. All of them arebuzzing. Magic sparks against my skin, electric and volatile, feeding off itself in waves. It’s too much and not enough.
“Raiden!”
Nolan’s voice cuts through the roar like an arrow, snapping my focus. I blink and find him right in front of me, concern etched deep across his face. His eyes drop to my torn, barely-there clothing—widening.
“They took her,” I say, already pushing forward, the crowd parting instinctively around me.
“Took her? Where?” Nolan falls in beside me, breath uneven, trying to keep pace.
“To do the binding,” I grind out, spinning to face him as the weight of the noise presses down. “Probablybecauseof this.”
I gesture sharply to the crowd. To the bodies. To the magic bleeding from the walls.
His face drains of color. And I immediately regret the edge in my tone. Because it’s obvious now—hestarted this. And I think it’s the only reason the Council moved so fast.
Nolan doesn’t speak at first.
His mouth opens, but no sound comes out—like he’s trying to swallow the truth and the guilt all at once. The noise of the protest around us swells, but I don’t look away from him.
“I just wanted them toseeher,” he finally says, voice hoarse. “To remember she’s a person. Not a weapon. Not a risk to be neutralized. I didn’t think they’d—” He cuts himself off, hands curling into fists. “I thought maybe we could buy more time.”
I exhale, some of my fury cracking around the edges.
“I know,” I say, quieter now. “I thought that too.”
He looks up at me, surprise flickering in his eyes.
“And Ishouldn’thave snapped at you,” I add, because it’s the truth. “You’re trying. You’re doing more than most people ever would.”
He swallows hard. “But it still wasn’t enough, was it?”
“No,” I admit, stepping closer, “but it’s not over yet.”
The protest is still going—chants like thunder in our ears, static clinging to every breath—but for a second, it feels like just the two of us are standing there, holding the broken pieces of what we couldn’t stop and still choosing to fight anyway.
He nods once, determined.
“Then let’s go,” he says.
I don’t hesitate.
We move fast—my bare feet slapping cold stone, breath sharp in my lungs, the burn in my muscles nothing compared to what’s clawing inside my chest from the Veilbond tightening inside of me.
I don’t know if Nolan’s keeping up, and I don’t look back to check. I can’t stop. Not now. Not when she’s being dragged into the one place I was supposed to protect her from.
