Page 97 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

“Your beast was too similar to Seb’s. It was wrong. You don’t have an aura, even now, despite repeated and impressive magic use. You kept getting books from the library about shape-thieves.” Gareth stepped around a chair and reached behind himself.

I pulled my knife and sank into a defensive position. “I didn’t know.”

“Put that down, Azriel.” He drew a knife of his own. His was a hunting knife, sharp and deadly. “You’re only going to make it worse for yourself.”

“So I’m just supposed to let you kill me without a fight?” My voice shook. So did my hand. I’d faced death enough times since I was brought here, but no, it was something else. I didn’t want Gareth to kill me. Beyond just the ‘I don’t want to die,’ I especially didn’t want him to kill me.

Even now, knowing what he was going to do to me, I still felt this pull toward him. I wanted to drop the knife and wrap myself in his arms. I’d been trying to deny it, but I couldn’t. I felt the same mate-bond with Gareth as I did to Jasper and Seb.

“I hoped that I wouldn’t know when you figured it out,” I whispered. “I hoped that I wouldn’t see you coming.”

He lunged, swiping at me. I tried to parry, but my hand slipped. I knew the mistake instantly and tried to correct, but he disarmed me, grabbed me by the waist and threw me up against the wall. He pinned me in place and put his knife to my throat. I pressed myself back as far as I could, but there was nowhere to escape the sharp blade.

Gareth’s expression was black. He was usually so lackadaisical that it made him terrifying. I reached for his wrist, but his free hand pinned both of mine over my head. Our bodies were pressed tightly together, so tight I felt his heart reverberating in my chest. It pounded as wildly as my own did.

“I have the proof now. They know, too. They’ll back me up.” Something shifted slightly in his expression. “Is this why you seduced them? Because you knew I was onto you?”

“No. I told you the truth after you caught me with Jasper. I never expected to survive this place. I just wanted…” I trailed off, averting my eyes. I didn’t want to look at him anymore. I didn’t want to feel these things. “I didn’t kill your mother.”

Gareth let out a soft snarl. “No, you didn’t. But you’re still a shape-thief. I swore to destroy your kind. You’re the last one.”

His hand shook. I could feel the blade trembling against my skin. Was he hesitating? I kept my gaze averted.

“It doesn’t matter,” he murmured. “Doesn’t matter that you didn’t know. It just means that you haven’t dissolved into it yet. You’re better off dying now, before you lose yourself. It’s inevitable for shape-thieves. Makes sense why Jasper and Seb were both so obsessed with you. You stole their mate-bonds.”

“I didn’t—”

“Not on purpose, maybe.” Gareth nudged my chin with his knuckles, making me look back at him. The hardness in his face was slipping. He was fighting himself. I searched his eyes and found conflict in them. Why? Was it the bond between us, too? “Shape-thieves don’t have true mates. They only steal the bond from others.”

I swallowed. “Who did I steal it from, then? Who is Jasper’s true mate? The one that would be executed if the courts found out about her? And what about Seb’s true mate, who Flora will likely poison as soon as they’re married?”

Gareth growled. His knee pressed harder into my hip, keeping me even more firmly in place. “Stop talking. You’ve made them obsessed with you, but it doesn’t matter. Once they have time to process it all, they’ll forgive me. They’ll understand.”

“You still owe me a debt,” I whispered.

Gareth let out a shaky breath.

“You were the one that insisted that I take it. So now you have to pay me back.” I pulled one hand free from him. He let me. I reached into the top of my tunic and clumsily unpinned the amber brooch I still kept with me. “I want you to fix this and give it to Silas and Freta.”

“And that’s the payment you want?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

I started to shake my head, only to be reminded of why that was a bad idea. “No. That’s my final request. My payment is for you to take care of them. Help them survive this place or get them out. They don’t know what I am.” My voice cracked as his face blurred. Hot tears slipped down my cheeks. “Please, don’t let them die here.”

A solid thud came on the door. I gasped and Gareth twisted. I knocked his hand aside as another thud came. The door burst open as Gareth wheeled on me. I kneed him between the legs and shoved him away. He gasped, bending double as he clutched the knife in one hand, my brooch in the other.

Jasper and Seb both stumbled into the room. When they saw the knife in Gareth’s head, they let out twin shouts and charged. Gareth wheeled again, reaching to grab me, but my tunic tore. I kicked him again, in the shin this time. He overcorrected and I darted away.

“Get back—” Gareth started, but before he could finish, Jasper and Seb attacked him. They held him off as I rushed away.

I didn’t know where I was going. My head rushed with thoughts and adrenaline speared through my body. I wasn’t sure where I’d gone or how long it had been before Freta and Silas found me. I had stopped running, and had instead started wandering around aimlessly. My chest felt too tight and my body burned.

“Z?” Silas strode toward me, then stopped when I flinched.

“What happened?” Freta grabbed my shoulders and looked over me. She touched the tear in my tunic. “Z? What happened?”

“I…” I didn’t have the words for it all. What happened between Seb and me had been so beautiful, then everything went to shit. How long before Gareth convinced Jasper and Seb to turn me over to the faculty? Or would he do what I asked, and get me when I didn’t see him coming? I shuddered.

Freta’s breathing grew harsh. “Z, what did they do to you?”