Caspian's POV
I can't breathe.
There's a second heartbeat inside my chest impossible, wrong, not mine and it's syncing with my own rhythm like a drumbeat I can't escape.
The woman in red is still on the floor next to me. Our hands are somehow still locked together. When I try to pull away, pain shoots through my chest so sharp I gasp.
She gasps at the exact same moment.
Don't move! A security guard rushes over. Sir, are you hurt?
I The words stick in my throat because I don't know how to explain what just happened. Magic doesn't work like this. Explosions don't implode. And you definitely can't feel someone else's heartbeat inside your own body.
But I do. God help me, I do.
The woman's eyes snap to mine. They're green bright, furious green and filled with the same terror I feel.
What did you do to me? I demand.
What did I do? Her voice shakes. This is your building! Your magic protections!
My protections don't create I don't even have a word for this. Whatever this is!
More security arrives. Then Adrian, my head of security, pushing through the panicking crowd. His face goes pale when he sees us.
Boss, what happened?
I don't know. I try standing. My legs wobble but hold. The woman stands too we move at the exact same speed, like puppets on the same string.
When we're both upright, the pain in my chest eases slightly.
Someone get a doctor, Adrian barks into his radio. A magical one. Now.
The woman is staring at her hand the one that's not holding mine. She's trembling. Up close, I notice things I missed before: a small scar on her jaw, the way her red dress is expensive but not new, the desperate look in her eyes that says she's barely holding it together.
She looks like someone with nothing left to lose.
Dangerous.
Who are you? I ask quietly. Really.
She opens her mouth, but before she can answer, someone shouts from across the room.
Caspian! Step away from her!
My uncle's former business partner, Richard, is pointing at us like we're on fire. That woman just tried to kill you! I saw the magic signature she had explosives!
The security guards immediately reach for their weapons.
No! I don't know why I say it. Don't know why I step in front of her. But some instinct maybe the weird heartbeat connection makes me protect her.
Sir, if she's dangerous Adrian starts.
If she wanted me dead, I'd be dead. I glance back at the woman. Right?
She looks shocked that I'm defending her. Then her jaw tightens. Right.
Everyone back up, I order. Give us space.
They hesitate, but they obey. They always obey. That's what happens when you're Caspian Noir people do what you say even when you have no idea what you're doing.
The woman and I stand in a circle of cleared space. The gala has turned into chaos. Guests are evacuating. Servers are hiding. The orchestra stopped playing three minutes ago.
We need to try letting go, she says. Her voice is steadier now. On three?
Okay.
One. Two. Three.
We both release our grip at the same time.
The pain is instant and excruciating. Like someone reached into my chest and squeezed my heart with an iron fist. I hear myself scream. Hear her scream too.
We grab each other's hands again and the pain vanishes.
What the hell, she gasps.
Agreed.
A woman in a white coat runs into the ballroom. She's older, maybe sixty, with silver hair pulled into a bun. The magical doctor. She takes one look at us holding hands and goes completely still.
Oh no, she whispers.
Oh no? I repeat. What does 'oh no' mean?
The doctor approaches slowly, like we might explode again. She pulls out a small crystal and waves it over us. The crystal glows bright red, then splits into two connected pieces.
Her face goes gray.
Tell me what's happening, I demand. Now.
The doctor looks at me, then at the woman, then back at me. You've been bonded. A Blood Bond.
A what?
It's ancient magic. Extremely rare. It happens when two powerful magic users try to kill each other on sacred ground. She gestures at the floor, where the glowing symbols are still faintly visible. This building sits on an old ritual site. The magic reacted to your mutual intent to harm and... Bonded you.
The woman makes a choking sound. That's impossible. Blood Bonds are myths.
Clearly not. The doctor's voice is grim. Your hearts now beat as one. If you separate beyond approximately fifty feet, you'll both experience severe pain. If one of you dies... She pauses. Both of you die.
The words hit me like a physical blow.
If one dies, both die.
I'm connected to a woman who literally just tried to murder me. And now our lives are tied together.
How long? the woman asks. Her voice is barely a whisper. How long does it last?
The bond strengthens over sixty days. After that, it becomes permanent.
Permanent? I explode. You're telling me I'm stuck with I gesture at her. With an assassin for the rest of my life?
I'm not an assassin! she snaps back. I'm She stops. Bites her lip.
You're what?
She stares at me with those furious green eyes. And then she says the words that change everything:
I'm Elara Thorne.
The name punches through me like a bullet.
Thorne.
The family my uncle supposedly destroyed nine years ago. The family everyone said attacked us first. The family I was told deserved what happened.
I'm looking at a survivor.
And she just tried to kill me for revenge.
Your family I start.
Your family murdered mine. Her voice is ice and fire. My parents. My home. Everything. And you She looks like she wants to cry and scream at the same time. You get to live in your tower while I spent nine years sleeping in shelters and eating garbage.
Each word is a dagger. Because I can feel her now really feel her. Her rage. Her grief. Her pain. It's bleeding through whatever connection this bond created, pouring into my mind like poison.
And God help me, I believe every word.
I didn't know, I say quietly. I was at medical school when it happened. My uncle told me your family attacked first.
Liar.
I'm not lying. Through this bond can't you feel it? Can't you feel that I'm telling the truth?
She goes still. I see the moment she realizes I'm right. The bond works both ways. She can feel my emotions too.
Her confusion. My shock. Her hatred. My growing horror at what my family did.
The doctor clears her throat. We need to get you both to a secure location. Run more tests. Figure out if there's a way to break this.
Can you break it? Elara asks desperately.
I don't know. The doctor looks genuinely sorry. But I'll try.
Adrian appears at my shoulder. Boss, where do you want to go?
I look at Elara. She looks back at me. Two enemies bound together by ancient magic neither of us understands.
My penthouse, I say. We'll go to my penthouse.
I'm not going anywhere with you, Elara hisses.
You don't have a choice. I keep my voice calm even though inside I'm screaming. We're stuck together. So unless you want to spend the next sixty days standing in this ballroom, you're coming with me.
She opens her mouth to argue. Then winces as another wave of pain hits us both we've unconsciously moved too far apart.
When we step closer, the pain stops.
Fine, she says through gritted teeth. But the second we find a way to break this bond, I'm gone.
Trust me, I say. That's the first thing we agree on.
Adrian leads us toward the exit. The doctor follows, already making phone calls to specialists.
As we walk past the shattered remnants of the gala, past the terrified guests and the broken crystal glasses, I catch our reflection in a mirror.
A man in a black suit and a woman in a red dress. Holding hands like lovers.
Looking like enemies.
And bound together by a heartbeat that might just kill us both.
Elara must see it too because she whispers, I'm supposed to hate you.
You do hate me, I reply.
Then why can I feel what you're feeling?
I don't have an answer. Because through the bond, I can feel her too. Every emotion. Every thought.
And the worst part? Underneath all the rage and pain, there's something else.
Curiosity.
She wants to know the truth about what happened to her family.
And I'm terrified she's going to find it.