"The bond is a chain, yes, but one forged of fire, not iron. You can run from it, deny it, curse it, but in the end, it always pulls you home."
For hours, it had been filled with the sound of voices: Taemin's teasing, Juno's grumbling, Nyra's gentle fussing, Kael's sharp tongue, Riven's laughter. For a brief span of time, I had almost forgotten that everything had shifted and that the ground beneath my feet had cracked open and swallowed me whole.
Now it was just after Taemin fell asleep, and I moved to my chambers and sat on the edge of the bed, hands braced against my knees, staring at the floor as if it held the answers I had been searching for all my life. But all I saw were shadows stretching long in the candlelight, curling like claws that reached for me.
Taemin's words still rang in my head.
Her suffering.
Her laughter despite it.
Her knowing smirk when I confessed about Alaric.
