Page 109 of Heir of Broken Souls

His eyes shine. “Exactly.”

“You’re on, Holloway.”

My words are only half-hearted though. Why would I try to fight for a measly one time with him when I can fight for eternity?

Knox will always be mine and I will always be his.

We are two souls that are intertwined, our fates etched in the stars so thoroughly nothing but death could tear us apart. It’s why I’m so afraid of it, why I fear what it will do to us.

Marriage has never been something on my mind. Purely because I had never met anyone with true love in their heart for another. Not like the love that I have for him.

Maybe it’s preposterous to marry someone you haven’t proclaimed your love to.

But that’s the beauty of us.

Knox, this beautiful, kind, and gentle soul of a man, knows me so thoroughly that he dances around our proclamations because he knows the fear that lies within my heart.

But that’s the thing about true soul pairs.

It doesn’t join two souls. It reunites a love that has existed for eternity within the stars. You don’t have to sayI love youto each other because it is so painfully present in every interaction that you’d only be pointing out the obvious.

I don’t have to whisper those words—not yet—because Knox is the only person on this planet who truly knows me. He knows every intricate detail there is to me. He could draw every wrinkle, scar, and freckle on my body blindfolded. He could name all my greatest fears, those on the surface and those buried so deepIdon’t even know they exist.

We are not just lovers; we aren’t even just mates.

We are each other’s best friend.

And that is how I know he knows something is wrong.

He might not have seen the vision I received above the clouds—the vision that I’ve been sworn to secrecy to, even against my mate—but he wants me to know just how deeply he cares for me.

Because something must tell him we may not make it out alive tomorrow.

“Ready, Angel?”

Putting it all to the wayside, I grin. “Of course. Are we fighting dirty?”

A cunning smirk dances across his lips. “I have too much to lose not to.”

And then he moves.

I see it coming from a mile away. Knox spins on his heel and throws a dagger, bolstered by his air magic. Lifting my sword, I swipe the dagger to the side in the nick of time and lunge with my right foot, not at all surprised when Knox dodges my attack.

This is the problem with fighting a mate.

You know how they operate, how they think, and how they move.

Knox circles me, flipping the daggers in his hands and smirking coyly. Then he’s gone, teleporting, and before he can get the upper hand on me, I spin, my blade meeting his own. My steel meets his hit for hit as we both grunt and groan at the weight of our power.

On the next strike I kick out and hook my foot behind his knee and pull. I detangle myself a second before he stumbles and get behind him, but I gasp, shocked, as his hand latches onto my wrist and pulls me up and over the top of his shoulder.

He breaks my fall with a pocket of air before the wind gets knocked from me.

Golden tendrils fly for his arms and I pull, sending him spiraling across the top deck. I rise again and meet his sword as he teleports in front of my face.

“Clever little thing, aren’t you?”

A smirk dances across my lips as I lunge again, going for his open side, only for my hand to be slapped away by his own. My blade hitting the deck wipes the smile off my face.