Page 4 of The Bound Blood
And whatever connection that formed between us out in that courtyard, it hasn’t let go. I press a hand to my ribs, trying to slow my breathing. Everything feels…wrong. Unsettled.
But not justinme.
Aroundme. The air is different.
Something’s humming beneath the noise of the infirmary. Not a sound exactly, more like a constant pressure. A vibration. It pulls at my senses, a flicker of gold catching at the edge of my vision. I turn my head. And freeze.
There—stretching from Lindsay’s chest to Raiden’s bed—is a line of light. A thin thread of gold.
Faint. Unsteady. Fraying at the edges like a wire that’s been overcharged. The golden tether pulses once—twice—before dimming again, but it’s there. Real.
Magic.
I blink hard, but it doesn’t vanish. How am I seeing the Veilbind between them?
“What the hell…” I whisper, breath caught in my throat, as I try to sit up fully again, my hand reaching for my glasses so I can see clearly.
“What now?” Tamsin mutters, eyeing me warily as if I’m two seconds from trying to get up and walk again.
“You don’t see that?” I gesture weakly between the two beds.
“Seewhat?”
I swallow, unsure how to even explain it. “There’s…something glowing. Magic. Between her and Raiden. Golden, and it’s—it’s damaged. Like it’s barely holding on.”
Tamsin’s brows knit together, skepticism flashing across her face. “You hit your head harder than they thought, huh?”
“I’m serious. I think it’s their tether.”
She glances toward Lindsay and then toward Raiden’s unmoving form. “Tethers are personal, Nolan. You can’t see them unless they’reyours—and even then, only if the bond is strong enough. That’s basic arcane theory.”
“Iknowthat,” I snap, though the room spins again with the effort. “But Iseeit. Right now.”
“Okay,” she says slowly, setting her mug back down. “Humor me. What does it look like?”
“Gold,” I murmur. “Frayed at the edges. Flickering like it’s about to break. But not broken. Still holding on.”
Tamsin looks at me like I’ve grown a second head. “That’s not possible. You're still out of it.”
And yet it is. Because it’sright there.
I stare at the tether, at the way it pulses with every shallow breath Lindsay takes. The golden light flickers faintly in the ward-glow, dancing across the stone floor between her bed and Raiden’s. It casts soft, strange shadows on the sheets, like it’s alive and struggling to stay tethered to both of them.
My gaze shifts.
Raiden lies on the far bed, half-curled and tense even in unconsciousness. One of his tails twitches, then another, sparks snapping in the air like distant lightning. The air smells faintly of ozone and singed fabric. His chest rises and falls in a shallow, uneven rhythm—magic crackling through him like it’s waiting for something to strike.
“Has he woken up?”
Tamsin follows my gaze as she picks up her mug again and takes a sip before putting it back down. The clink echoes a little too loudly in the quiet. “No. The only one that came out of it quickly was Kael.”
The name makes something coil tight in my stomach.
“Where is he?”
She shrugs, but there’s an edge in her voice. “He left. After he stood next to Lindsay’s bed like he was debating whether or not to kidnap her. I was ready to stop him, though.”
“I don’t trust him,” I mutter.
