Page 109 of Taken

“You’re… you’re Rossewyn? Like me?” The implications cascade through my mind, pieces clicking into terrible clarity. “That’s why they chose you. Why the binding worked so well. Why the ritual worked when I healed you.”

He nods, relief evident in his expression now that the truth is out. “My grandmother taught me a few basics before she died. Enough for me to recognize what you were, what you could do. When the Syndicate found me, I was working as a medic. They… convinced me to undergo the binding procedure. To become your handler.”

“Convinced you.” My voice hardens. “You mean forced you.”

“At first, yes.” His eyes hold mine, unflinching. “They threatened my family. Later… I stayed because of you. Because someone needed to safeguard the extractions, to minimize the damage. Because if it wasn’t me, it would have been someone who didn’t care if they broke you.”

The truth of it settles in my chest, neither comforting nor condemning. Just real.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, though I already know the answer.

“They were always listening. Always watching.” His hand reaches for mine, then stops, uncertain. “After a while, it seemed kinder not to tell you. What good would knowing do except add another loss to your burden?”

Anger flares, bright and unexpected. “So you decided for me. What I should know. What would hurt me. Just like them.”

“No.” The word comes sharp, passionate. “Never like them. I did what I could within impossible constraints. Every time I slipped you extra medication. Every time I filed falsified reports to give you recovery days. It was all a risk that could have ended with both of us facing execution.”

The anger drains as quickly as it came, leaving bone-deep weariness in its wake. How can I blame him for impossible choices, for navigating the same cage that held me, just from a different angle?

“Family,” I whisper, testing the word. After so long without connections, without belonging, the concept feels foreign. “I have family.”

“Had.” Hargen’s correction is gentle. “Everyone else is gone. It’s just us now.”

“And Elena,” I say firmly.

He nods. “And Elena.”

Another silence falls, but different this time. Charged with shared history, with blood connection that explains the strange resonance between us that transcended the artificial binding.

“The ritual changed things,” I say finally. “Between us. I felt it.”

“Yes.” His gaze doesn’t waver. “The binding. It’s… realigned itself. Balanced. No longer handler and asset, just…” He hesitates.

“Connected.” I finish for him. “But differently now.”

He nods, something easing in his expression. “I never wanted to be your jailer, Lila. I hope you know that.”

“I do.” And I mean it. “But I need to know something.”

“Anything.”

“The feelings I saw. During the ritual.” I force myself to meet his eyes. “Were they real? Or part of the binding?”

Color rises in his cheeks. “Real. Always real. I’ve been worried about you, Lila. Worried you’ll leap into something you don’t understand.” His gaze shifts to my neck. “But it seems I’m too late.”

Heat floods my face. “It’s complicated.”

“Isn’t everything?” His laugh holds no bitterness, just weary acceptance. “The way he looks at you… I’ve never seen a dragonso close to claiming. It’s rare, you know. Dragons and humans… witches or otherwise.”

My pulse quickens at his words. “What do you mean, claiming?”

“Dragons mate for life, Lila. When they find their true match, their fated mate, something instinctive takes over.” His eyes hold mine, no judgment in them. “The mark he left on you… It’s just the beginning.”

I touch the spot on my neck where Talon’s teeth had grazed, feeling a phantom tingle even though the visible mark has faded. “I barely know him.”

“Some connections transcend time.” Hargen’s smile is gentle, if sad. “You deserve happiness, Lila. Freedom to choose. That’s all I ever wanted for you.”

I squeeze his hand, surprised at how right it feels now that truth lies between us. Not the passionate spark I feel with Talon, but something equally valuable. Family. Blood. Connection to a past I thought lost forever.

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