Page 70 of A Bond in Flames

The gateway loomed ahead, and I had a rush of adrenaline. I was going to see my sister again. My heart filled with happiness, and there was no hiding it, but there was no denying how much I would miss Death while I was gone or how much I’d grown to care for him—more than I’d allowed myself to admit. But that still didn’t mean we were right for each other.

His hand still gripped mine as the gateway opened, holding me close to him, not wanting to let me go.

Jasmine was on the other side, Ren with her. I could see them, but they couldn’t see me yet; we weren’t close enough.

“Zinnia,” Death said, bringing my attention back to him. “You’ve seen a side of me that I’m not proud of, but know that I want you here with me more than anything—I need you to know that.” He smiled, and there was pain in his eyes. “And when the lunar month is over, I want you to return to me. Promise you’ll do that, love. Will you promise me that?”

I searched his eyes, the darkness swirling in the blue, as if he was barely holding the shadows at bay. “You know I will. We have a bargain.”

“You said if I truly loved you, I should let you go, that releasing you was the only way to save you,” he said, his thumb sliding over my cheek as he looked at me. “If that’s what I must do to prove it to you, then… Zinnia Thornheart, I release you from your bargain.”

My legs went weak. “You’re releasing me?” It was what I’d wanted for so long, what I’d asked for, but still, his words were like a dagger to my heart.

“After your month away, whether you return to me or not, the choice is yours, little witch.” The shadows swallowed more of his bright blue eyes. “But I’m begging you… choose me over everything and everyone, over a life with them, over the possibility of death here with me.” He pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “Choose me,” he said roughly, then released my hand and strode away.

I watched him go, unable to look away.

His cloak swirled around him, covering him as he walked, as his staff appeared in his hand, thumping on the ground with each step he took away from me, as he disappeared around the bend in the path.

It was harder than it should be to turn away. I looked at my sister, and goddess, my heart felt as if it were being torn in two.

Go. Leave.I snatched up my bags before I did something stupid, like go after him, and stepped through the gate and into Jazzy’s arms.

My sister squeezed me tight. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

I watched the gate close behind her, locking me out of Limbo, and the ache in my chest returned more painful than ever before.

What the hell was I going to do?

CHAPTER22

Zinnia

Home: Week One

As soon asI walked into the clubhouse, I was handed a drink. A moment later, the music was turned up, and my cousins swooped in, pulling me in for a round of tight hugs while Hemy got pats and treats and kisses.

My cousins had made sure I was walking into a party when I stepped into the room with Jazzy and Ren, and I needed that—anything to help me stop thinking about Death and what he’d said to me.

To stop me from focusing on the awful feeling of dread inside me that I couldn’t shake.

Everyone was here—all my cousins and their mates, Asher and a few more wolves from Draven’s pack, and all Bram’s brothers—and just for tonight, I was choosing oblivion with people I cared about. I’d think about the choice I had to make tomorrow or the next day. I had four weeks to think about it, four weeks away from Death and the choice he’d thrown at me before I left.

A full lunar month without his mood swings and demands, his unpredictable rages and unexplainable, hurtful anger.

Twenty-eight days without his growls or his kisses, without the feel of his arms around me or the devastating, swoony, and heart-stopping things he said to me, taking me by surprise.

I was jostled from the thoughts flying about my head by a pair of massive arms coming around me and lifting me off my feet before I was engulfed in the kind of hug that had the power to take all your worries away, at least for a little while. “Fucking good to see you, Zinny,” Relic said against my ear, holding me tight.

His heat seeped through me, and I hugged him back just as fiercely. “You too, my friend.”

He finally put me down, and I looked up into his handsome face. “You wanna get shit-faced?”

He grinned, flashing those white teeth and fangs. “I don’t get shit-faced, babe. Male as big as me, packing this much muscle, impossible.” He flexed and winked, and I burst out laughing. “But more than happy to drink you under the table, lightweight.”

“We’ll see who the lightweight is.” I gave him a shove toward one of the standing tables where Magnolia and Bram had wandered over to.

I curled my arm around Mags’s neck when I reached her and planted a kiss on her cheek. “You wanna try my new potion?” she said, sliding over a shot glass full of something purple.

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