Page 127 of Maksym

“The mate bond came after,” Lucia said. “Or perhaps it had been there, and neither of us had the sense to identify it before catastrophe.”

Doc’s mouth curved, but his jaw remained tight.

“That is also charitable,” he said.

Lucia looked at him with such fierce tenderness that I had to look down at my plate for a second.

Some intimacies felt too private even when they occurred three feet away.

Doc took over without being asked.

“I woke up wrong,” he said.

Lucia’s posture changed, but she did not stop him.

“Stronger. Faster. Bigger. Healing too fast. Hungry in ways I didn’t understand. My wolf was still there, but there was vampire blood in me, too. Lucia’s blood.” His hand slid from the back of her chair to her shoulder, thumb resting near the lace. “I knew I would’ve died without her. Hell, I did die for a few minutes. I also knew my choice had been taken from me.”

My throat tightened.

I understood that sentence so violently it almost hurt.

Maksym did not move beside me.

Doc’s eyes met mine. Blue, steady, tired in a way humor could not entirely hide.

“That made me angry,” he said. “Not because I didn’t want to live. I did. God help me, I wanted to live. But wanting to live doesn’t mean you wake up grateful for every piece of what survival costs.”

No one spoke. Not even Lucia.

“I took that anger out where I shouldn’t have,” Doc continued. “Not cruelly. I don’t think. But stubbornness can do damage without raising its voice. I fought the bond. Fought the title. Fought being pulled into vampire politics. Fought the part where everybody looked at us like we were either a miracle, an abomination, or a precedent they wanted killed before it complicated their paperwork.”

“That sounds familiar,” I said quietly.

His smile was brief and humorless. “Yeah. Supernatural bureaucracy has teeth.”

Lucia’s gaze sharpened at some memory beyond my reach.

“The Council scrutinized them,” Maksym said, voice low. “Many objected to what Lucia had created.”

“Not created,” Lucia said.

Maksym inclined his head. “Saved.”

Her hand found Doc’s and held it.

He continued, easier now and worse for it. “There was prejudice. From vampires who thought wolf blood diluted something sacred. From wolves who thought vampire blood contaminated the bond. From demons who were happy to exploit anything that weakened both sides. It fed a war already waiting for reasons.”

“The war that put my brother on the throne,” Lucia stated.

“Yes, by my father's appointment.”

He offered no further explanation, but it carried a field of bodies behind it.

Doc leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Before that ended, the previous vampire king and the demon king abducted me.”

The cheese in my mouth lost all flavor.

I set the plate down carefully.