Page 131 of Inked in Bloom
“Briar?” I call again, eyes snagging on the thick smear ofblood streaked across the collage wall leading toward his office. A crimson handprint wraps around the wood of the partially open door. I sprint through it, finding Briar with gauze shoved in his mouth, leaning against his desk.
“What happened?” Taking the gauze out of his mouth, I watch the labored rise and fall of his chest.
“You’re here,” he says, a bit dazed. His eyes flutter. There’s a gash on his side where his white T-shirt is torn open. Blood mottles the cotton.
“Where else would I be?” I grip his chin, wanting him to stay alert. “Dani told us what happened with Skylar at the cave. Did she do this to you?”
“No,” he rasps. I exhale in relief. Skylar’s choice to leave is surprising enough, but I want to believe I knew her, and I couldn’t imagine her hurting Briar even if his sister had broken her heart. “The other Storms— They did it when I brought her back here.”
“She’s here?” My attention snaps to the office’s entryway.
Briar shakes his head. “She’s at the Solstice Center.” He swallows, then glances down where I’ve rolled up his bloody shirt. “She wasn’t too happy I took her. The storms won’t be either...”
Sorrow sweeps through the bond, and my own meets it. Yes, Corrigan kept this secret and she went about dealing with her mate situation terribly, but I know she cares for Skylar. Maybe this Storm too. “What happens now?”
He inhales deeply. “I’m not sure. We can’t keep her here forever. It would be cruel, especially when her mate is out there?—”
“Her Storm mate,” I clarify, reaching for the healing balm on the floor as he nods in confirmation. “What about Corrigan?”
His face falls. “I truly don’t know.”
I dip some gauze in the balm and then press it against the gash. He hisses.
“Means it’s doing its job,” I tease before ripping another piece of gauze off the roll. His skin burns against my fingers as I continue to layer the strips until his wound is covered.
I’m so glad the girls are at their grandparents’. Seeing him like this would have terrified them.
The bleeding has fortunately stopped, and I’m relieved to see his immortal magic is coming back, albeit slowly.
I lift the back of my hand to his forehead. “Do you have a fever? Wait, do Blooms get fevers?”
“No.” His lavender stare holds mine, and he wraps his hand around my wrist, guiding my palm to his chest.
“What is it?” My voice is merely a whisper. I try to count in my head and slow my breathing, but I seem to have lost the numbers. I’ve never seen him look so intense.
The ball of his throat works. “I need to tell you something.”
Silence grows in the space between us.
I preemptively blink back tears. It’s been weeks since I’ve seen him, and after the night of Corrigan’s unexpected visit, I’ve practiced over and over what I’d say when he returned. Now I can’t recall any of it. I’m drowning in the seriousness of his tone and the quiver of his hand around mine.
Whatever thissomethingis, it’s bad.
“My sister may have the mark, but her connection to both of them has been severed,” Briar finally says. I open my mouth, trying to determine what to ask first but he continues before I can. “I didn’t want to believe it, but Fate confirmed it when I brought Skylar to her. Time can snip the bond.”
Our eyes both drop to where our hands hover above the inky foxglove and peony at his sternum.
The bond whirs round and round like a jump rope, waiting patiently for someone to join in and play. When Briar doesn’t leap in first, my stomach twists. “Are you saying the bond can be removed?”
His body tenses, but when I move to retreat, he takes my hands, brushing his lips over my knuckles. “I’m saying I love you, Monroe.”
The words should fill me with joy, relief, but his tone isn’t one of sweeping declarations.
It sounds more like a goodbye.
“I know we both believed this bond existed whether we wanted it to or not, but that’s no longer true.” Heat prickles behind my eyes, and I blink to no avail, unable to stop the tears. They slip past my defenses, streaking down my cheeks. “There is a way, if you want out. I’ve already asked Fate’s permission to open the veil briefly to take you back.”
“I—”
