Page 156 of Unbound

"Right. So we're your fucking sheep. We're only allowed to die when it's under your command?" Raith asks.

Bastian straightens, looking at me instead of Raith. "Voss won't wait forever. I suggest you don't put it off for more than another day or two."

With that, he's gone, closing the door quietly behind him.

Raith and I stand in silence for a moment. Then he says, "You're not going to see Voss alone."

It's not a question, but I answer anyway. "No, I'm not. But I do need to see him. He may know something about the siphon—about why it attacked us. Why it was targeting you specifically."

"Yes," Raith agrees, his voice hard. But there's something I feel through the tether. I can feel him holding back. Desperately clinging to yet another secret. I can also feel why he clings to it so desperately. He's still trying to protect me.

I look up at him, studying his perfect, unfamiliar face.

"Let's train," I say, moving toward the door, determined to rebuild my strength. "We have a lot to prepare for."

More than he knows. More than either of us can imagine.

The tether throbs between us like a promise—or a warning. And through it, so faint I almost miss it, comes another fragment.

"Cannot lose her. Not when I've only just found her."

It's another thought from Raith. I'm starting to feel the difference between his thoughts and Typhon's already. Typhon's voice comes to my mind clear and loud. Raith's are whispers on the wind. So faint and weak I have to strain to hear them. I can't say if it's because he hasn't sworn oaths to me, too, or just because the tether is still so new and fresh.

But gods… what the hells have I done? I'm the one who swore oaths to him, so shouldn't he be hearing my thoughts and not the other way around?

"How do you know he's not hearing your thoughts, angry human?"

I glance sidelong at Raith as we leave his quarters. Frowning, I try to form a clear, loud thought and aim it in his direction. For some reason, I don't have any confidence it's going to work, so the thought I send is… poorly chosen.

"You're the best thing about this place, Raith."

Raith's eyes cut to me suddenly and he stops moving. My heart stops as well.

He cups my face with one hand, eyes seeming to devour me. "I want to hear it from your lips."

"W-what?"

"Say it out loud."

I swallow, cheeks burning as his fire flows through the place where he touches me, filling my body with delicious heat. "You're the best thing about this place, Raith."

His thumb brushes the line of my jaw and he leans forward. "Promise me something."

"Okay," I breathe.

He hesitates, fingertips still brushing my skin as his molten gold eyes fill with a depth I can't comprehend. "I've… lost people. Before I came here, I swore I wouldn't care like that again. If I let nobody in, they couldn't hurt me. But you didn't care, did you? You barged into my fucking heart uninvited, and now you're here." He takes my hand and presses my palm to his chest, eyes never leaving mine. "You're here, and I can't do a single fucking thing to stop it. So you will not let anything happen to yourself. You're going to live. You're going to thrive, or I'll never forgive you."

His pulse pounds through my palm, racing like he's in the middle of a sparring match. I feel like I can't breathe as I process his words. All I can do is nod, the faintest smile playing at my lips. "You're going to be mad at me if I die? Isn't that a strange threat?"

"Nessa. I'm serious. When I saw you in my bed these past few days, all I've been able to think about is what I'd do if I lost you. And… it's not something I can stand to think about. You have to protect yourself. No matter what. I've already made sure your friends understand."

"Wait… what does that mean?"

"I warned them I'd hold them responsible if anything happened to you."

"Raith. You can't threaten my friends."

"I already did."

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