Page 118 of These Fractured Bonds

“Ready?” he asked.

She swallowed, at a loss for words, and nodded. He tightened his grip, and her eyes fluttered shut, shivers running down her spine. It took everything in her to hold back her groan. He lowered her into the hot spring; the water level rose to her collarbone, but his hands remained on her.

“Do you feel better now?”

His unexpected question brought her out of her reverie. She had long since exited the “overthinking” train car, her focus stolen by Leo and their—what she’d classify as—date.

She answered honestly. “I do.”

His smile was gentle, and he let go of her then. “Have you ever been in a hot spring before?”

“It’s my first time.”

“We have one in the Earth Court’s mansion. My grandfather had it built for my grandmother in the likeness of this one. My mother used to take my sister and me all the time when we were young, but nothing beats the real thing.”

She followed him toward a seating area that resembled carved stone steps more than seats, but they sat anyway.

He sat next to her, leaning back onto a step. “At that time, this future was inconceivable. Endrim, you see, was off at school, so it was only my father, mother, and my sister.”

Yareli hesitated before asking, “Is Endrim…”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “He’s my half-brother, born to my father’s first wife. She died a few decades after his birth, right around when my father sired my older sister, Agatha, with my mother.”

That explained the drastic difference in appearances between the two.

“Do you think that’s why he hates you?”

“Perhaps, but he’s also fundamentally a shit person.” He snorted. “I’ll be glad to be rid of him after we deal with Tuom.”

When she looked at him in alarm, he added, “I’ll do it after we return you home.”

“So, you think it’s okay to want to kill them?”

“Hmm.” He dropped his head back slightly. “Are you afraid?”

“Afraid?”

“Do you fear what you desire?”

His words were shockingly reminiscent of what Weni had asked her, and she was taken aback. He turned to look at her, his gray eyes dull in the dim lighting, and she squirmed under their intensity.

“What is it that you want, Reli?”

“I…”

She thought about it, weighing her options once again, and maybe it was the famed healing of hot springs, but the answer came to her like the sure beat of a bird’s wings. It was the warmth of a mother’s embrace, the quiet support of a father, and the random calls from a brother. She wanted to be free of her torment, free of her anger, free ofTuom. Once he died, she would return home and trust Augrys and them to figure their shit out.

“I want to go home.”

She didn’t need power; she needed her family—trauma and all.

“Go home and live a long life. Maybe after all this is over, I’ll visit you.”

Her eyes watered, feeling a burst of warmth in her chest. She reached out and took hold of his face in her palms. She rubbed her thumbs across his face, enjoying the feel of his day-old stubble.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Then, tired of waiting for him to do it, she kissed him.