Valkhara
"Alright, filthy goddess," Nyra said, standing over me like a judgmental older sister who had seen way too much, hands on her hips, curls half-tied and mood set to not in my house. "Before you step one foot inside my cottage, you are taking your cum-covered, feral-marked ass to the river."
I blinked up at her from the grass, still wrapped in my shitty cloak and trauma. "You're serious."
"Dead. You are not leaking vampire spunk on my sofa. I may be morally flexible, but I draw the line at bonding fluid stains."
I groaned. "I just had two mating orgasms in one afternoon. Well I had more orgasms than that actually..." I said with a smirk feeling my mood lighten just a little bit.
"First of all, it shows. You look like a religious experience. Second, quit rubbing that shit in. I haven't been properly fucked in.. well who knows.. Third, no offense, babe you reek of magical dick and trauma. Go rinse your sins."
I blinked at her. "The river's freezing."
She shrugged. "It's enchanted. Won't turn your nips to ice shards. Plus I can feel the fire under your skin so use it and move it."
I staggered to my feet with all the grace of someone who'd been fucked against a tree by a vampire with rage issues. My thighs ached. My hips were bruised. There was definitely blood on my ribs, and I was still so slick between my legs I could feel the air catch on it as I walked.
"I can't believe this is my life," I muttered.
"Believe it," Nyra said, tossing me a cloth. "Scrub well. The aura stench of post-mating bond sex will cling if you don't."
"I hate you."
"No you don't. You need me. Now go. If I find a mating mark glowing on my dishes tomorrow, I'm hexing your ovaries."
The river was just as she said enchanted and warm. Steam curled off the surface like it knew how wrecked I was. I slid in slow, letting the water ease over my skin, washing away blood, sweat, and… whatever the hell Sevrin left inside me.
My thighs burned. My chest ached. And my mind gods, my mind felt fractured.
Three threads still tugged at my spine.
Azric. Sevrin. And the third.
I didn't even know him, and still his whispers lingered like smoke under my skin.
I dipped under the water. Held my breath.
Just one fucking minute of peace. That's all I needed.
Nyra was waiting on the bank when I returned, sitting on a rock with a smirk and a steaming potion bottle.
"This'll shut the voices up," she said. "Temporary psychic mute. Blocks incoming and outgoing thought magic."
"You just had this lying around?"
"I invented it for my ex. He was telepathic. Couldn't even fart in peace."
I downed it in two gulps. It hit my chest like melted iron, thick and slow but gods, the quiet afterward was instant. The pressure in my skull dulled to silence.
No voices.
No bond.
Just… me.
I swayed. Nyra caught me by the elbow and handed over a long shirt that smelled like lavender and peppermint oil.
"Put that on. You're staying the night."
I blinked. "I am?"
"Unless you wanna wander back into Bonded Vampire Thunderdome while dripping their DNA, yeah. You're staying here. My cottage, my rules. Don't shed, bleed, or cum on anything sacred."
Inside, her place was cozy and chaotic. Shelves of bottles and herbs lined the walls. There were three cats. None of them had names she admitted to. A pile of books leaned dangerously on a rickety table.
She shoved me toward the bed.
"Sleep. Don't drool. Don't summon dark spirits. And do not kill me in my sleep."
"I won't."
"Swear it?"
And gods help me, I meant it.
Without thinking, I reached into my cloak, pulled out the blade I kept tucked into my thigh strap, and sliced my palm open.
Nyra's eyes bulged. "What the fuck are you doing?!"
"I swear on blood," I said quietly. "I'll never hurt you."
The blood dripped onto her floor.
And the air changed.
Thicker. Heavier. Electric.
I felt it snap into place like a chain coiling around my ribcage and hers. A tether.
Not just a promise.
A binding.
Magic lit under my skin, crawling over my wound. Her gasp wasn't subtle.
"Oh my gods. You bloodbound it."
I froze. "What?"
"You made it real. That oath? That's magically sealed now. You're literally connected to me."
I staggered back. "I didn't mean—"
"Bitch," she said, backing up, eyes wide. "Are you out here blood-binding random besties now?"
"I—fuck."
I hadn't realized. I didn't know.
Sevrin's power.
It had changed me.
Because I bled.
And I made a vow.
And now it was law.
I collapsed onto her bed, shaking. "I didn't mean to."
Nyra exhaled and flopped down next to me, staring at the ceiling.
"Well, guess what. I'm your magical ride-or-die now. You bleed, I burn."
I laughed, choked, broken, but real. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I mean, I didn't plan on becoming the emotional support witch for the Queen of Feral Threesomes, but here we are."
I smiled. "You're insane."
"And you're a hot mess."
She nudged me. "Now scoot over and don't murder me in your sleep."
"I swore I wouldn't."
"Yeah. And you meant it a little too hard."
"yeah yeah, don't hex me or some weird shit in my sleep either please."
I felt the bed shake as Nyra giggled.
"Go to freaking sleep."