Page 11 of These Fractured Bonds

Instead, he said, “Close your eyes.”

Yareli did so.

“You might feel a pinch.”

Sure enough, as soon as he said it, a sharp pain hit her, like a band-aid being ripped off.

“You can open your eyes now.” August’s voice was quiet as if he were a defendant awaiting judgment, and Yareli was the judge.

She opened her eyes slowly, blinking at his true appearance. Gone was his shoulder-length hair, replaced by short hair, and hazel eyes that favored green more than brown stared at her. His face was more conventionally attractive—a strong, defined jawline, a long, straight nose, and groomed eyebrows. To her relief, his lips had remained the same—pink and plump. She lingered on them, and he coughed, scratching the back of his head.Oops.

Embarrassed, she changed the subject. “So, I’m guessing that paper you mentioned wasn’t written.”

He grimaced. “It was a lie.”

Yareli’s breath caught. Lies were common, normal; they were uttered every day for different reasons. However, she hadn’t contemplated the possibility of August lying toher. She had instinctively trusted him from the moment he had offered her the seat next to him in English 101.

She pursed her lips, disgruntled, and asked, “Care to tell me what you were doing that gave you an injury like that one?”

“I was on a mission in my realm,” he said.

She didn’t fail to notice his tense grip on his cup. He wasn’t telling her everything, but she decided to let it go. She couldn’t pry open a clam if it didn’t want to. It was much too violent; she wouldn’t like it done to her.

“Realm? What’s it like?”

His grip didn’t loosen; in fact, it seemed to tighten. “Izmari. It’s an island only accessible via portals located in specific locations on Earth.”

That explained the blue portal that the other strangers had disappeared into.

“I’m assuming Enchanted Brew is a portal hub.”

“Yes.”

A nagging thought scratched at the back of her mind, begging to be let into the forefront. She hesitated; the words were slow to form.

“Did you… set up this job for me?”

Guilt flashed on his face, drawing all of his features inward into a pinched expression.So he had. The easy interview, the perfect hours, the generous wage… It all fell into place. August had done that for her.

“Thank you.”

He looked down at his cup. “It was nothing.”

But it wasn’t nothing. It meant everything to her; her bubble, insulating her from troubles at home, had been kept from bursting because of the job he created for her.

“How do you know the owner of this place? Did you know about thebloodcontract?” she asked, saying the second question in a quiet, low, conspiratorial tone.

The tips of August’s pointed ears went pink. “I… am the owner.”

Her cheeks burned, their color matching his ears. “Oh…”

Then, because she might as well stick the landing, she asked, “What the hell was that? Signing in blood!”

“Your blood was necessary to add you to the wards so you could come and go freely. I was,” he said, clearing his throat, “the man in the pointed hat. I had to physically open the wards when you entered and exited.”

An awkward silence ensued, in which Yareli took a sip of her now-cold hot chocolate, then another. Had he noticed her discomfort around his disguise?

“That makes sense,” she finally said.