"You're collecting them," Reya hissed.
Kael sat on the edge of the bathing pool, soaked, shirtless, exhausted.
"I'm not trying to," he muttered.
"But they're responding. Liora's bonded. You felt it. And you didn't stop it."
He looked up. "Did you?"
That shut her up.
She knelt beside him, fingers brushing his skin like she hated herself for it.
"This shouldn't be happening. Bonds are sacred. Ritualized. Chosen. And you're pulling them in with nothing but—" she stopped, eyes flashing, "—desire."
Kael stood, water dripping down his chest. "Maybe that's my ritual."
Her hand slapped his face before she could think. Hard.
He didn't flinch.
She stared at him like he was fire she'd already touched once.
And now she couldn't stop burning.