Page 51 of The Bound Blood
Kael’s magic spikes behind me—cool, sharp, and dangerous. I don’t even have to look at him to know his wings are just barely restrained, his jaw locked tight.
“Let them try,” he says, voice low and full of that veiled threat only Kael can deliver without raising it.
Nolan clears his throat and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. “It’s not that. Professor Marris pulled me aside—she said they’re not planning to bind you again.”
I blink. “Then what do they want?”
Nolan shakes his head. “She didn’t say exactly. Just that there’s… another reason. And that it would be better if you came willingly.”
A bitter laugh slips out before I can stop it. “Oh, well then. That makes itsocomforting.”
Kael takes a step forward, his body angling toward mine like he’s ready to shield me with all six feet of his unreadable, lethal calm. “They don’t get to ask anything of her.”
Tamsin scoffs. “Well, that ship may have already sailed. Word’s gotten out. About everything. The Council’s scramble tocover their asses is gonna be entertaining, but you better believe they’ll want you center stage to prove theymeantwell.”
“They didn’t,” I say, voice tight. “They left me in a cell and tried to erase who I am.”
“You fucked up that plan nicely,” Tamsin says proudly, flopping into Kael’s single chair like she owns the place. “Ten points to Team Lindsay.”
The corner of Kael’s mouth twitches, just barely, but his eyes are still hard. Focused on the door like he’s waiting for another knock. Another threat.
I swallow hard, pulse picking up again. “So what am I supposed to do? March back in there and thank them for not screwing me over a second time?”
Raiden shakes his head. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. But the longer we delay, the more they’ll try to control the narrative. Professor Marris thinks it would help if you showed strength.”
“They’ll spin it either way,” Kael mutters. “That’s what cowards in power do.”
I meet his gaze then, and for a second, I forget we’re not still tangled together in his bed. That I’m supposed to be furious, confused, on edge—and not slightly undone by the way he’s still standing there as though he’d fight the world to keep me safe.
“Then maybe we make our own narrative,” I say slowly, heat curling in my chest. “Maybe we show them that trying to bind me was their first mistake.”
Kael’s eyes darken, something fierce and quiet settling in. “I’ll stand with you.”
Raiden and Nolan both nod.
Tamsin grins. “Damn right we will.”
TWENTY-TWO
LINDSAY
Tamsin riflesthrough Kael’s sparse wardrobe like she owns the place, muttering to herself. “No offense to our broody demon prince, but his color palette screams ‘funeral guest with secrets.’”
Kael doesn’t comment. He just leans against the wall near his desk, arms crossed, watching the chaos unfold like it’s mildly inconvenient. Raiden sits on the edge of the bed, tense, as if he’s still expecting the Council to burst in. Nolan’s pacing—half-worried, half-analyzing. Probably forming an exit strategy in his head, just in case.
And I’m feeling slightly uncomfortable at the fact that all three of the guys I’m definitely attracted to are here together again, working to protect me, and I look like I haven’t had a proper shower in a week. Which honestly, I haven’t. So there’s that. I shift on my feet and wrap my arms around my waist.
I will not think about the fact that I probably stink, and Kael had to sleep in the same bed as me, not even that, but I was in his arms. I let out a soft groan and turn away from the three of them to focus on Tamsin.
“What are you doing?”
“Uh, attempting to find you new clothes, but he literally has nothing that would be fitting for a council visit,” she says lookingover at me from his dresser now. “And he’s like a foot taller than you, so the pants would be way too big anyway.”
I hazard a glance at Kael, and he’s shaking his head, his eyes on my best friend. “Why don’t you go get her something that would be more fitting?” he suggests drily.
Tamsin gasps like she’s just been accused of fashion crimes. “Excuseme, shadow daddy, but I amverygood at improvising under pressure. Remember the time I snuck into House Solara’s masquerade with nothing but a spool of illusion thread and half a bottle of sparkle tonic? I lookedamazing.”
Kael’s brow lifts. “Didn’t that end with two arrests and a banned artifact investigation?”
