Page 180 of The Soulbond and Her Beloved

Lord Vladya’s hands dropped, taking a step back as though struck. “I… I don’t believe that.”

“I see you with her. By the river,” Aekeira whispered. “You were lying together on the grass…”

“I. Do. Not. Believe. That,” he repeated, more firmly—though his voice wavered.

“Promise me… that if our bonding ritual does not work, you will not fall apart,” Aekeira mimicked the soft and melodic voice.

Gasps echoed through the room.

Lord Ottai. Morina. Even the Grand King himself.

Vladya paled, his lips parting in stunned disbelief.

A faint, sad smile brushed Aekeira’s lips. “And you shook your head and said,I can’t promise that, Tiara.”

“Holy lands of the bewildered…” Lady Morina breathed.

“And before the bonding ritual,” Aekeira continued. “She saidIt will destroy me if our bond fails, but what will kill me more is knowing it will annihilate you. I want to become one with you more than anything… but sometimes I wish we wouldn’t try. It’s better not to know. It’s—”

“It’s better not to try…” Lord Vladya finished in a whisper.

Aekeira nodded, blinking rapidly. “I didn’t see much else, but I’ve had the dream again and again. I should have told you sooner. I’m sorry, my Beloved.”

Emeriel could only stare, stunned.Aekeira… my sister… a reincarnation of Vladya’s bondmate?

“How is this…” Vladya was struggling to breathe evenly, his eyes jumping from Aekeira’s face to her swollen abdomen and back again. “How is thispossible?”

“You made it possible,” the Oracle said at last. “When you made the exchange.”

Vladya turned toward her slowly, eyes wide. “Hav’zie de Baah?”

“Hav’zie de Baah,” she repeated. “The spell worked, Great Lord Vladya. The chosen human female, Pandora, was meant to bear only one blessed child. That was her destiny. But your dark spell—woven from the ruins of a heart so broken even the gods averted their eyes—rewrotethat fate. It brought about... her.”

Soft gasps flared through the room again.

Vladya’s hand reached out, almost trembling, drawing Aekeira into his arms. He pressed a kiss to her forehead as if anchoring himself in the reality of her presence.

“Holy grails…” His powerful frame was visibly shaken.

“So perhaps.” The Oracle’s eyes twinkled through her frailty. “The next time you rail against the gods, you might be alittlegentler with your words.”

Vladya gave a breathy, stunned laugh. “Perhaps.” Then he turned his full attention to the woman in his arms. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

Aekeira’s eyes brimmed as she gave him a wobbly smile. “Three times.”

“Not nearly enough. I love you,” he stated, voice ringing true. “I love you so much, Aekeira Maranthine Evenstone. Thank you…thank youfor finding your way back to me.”

Emeriel slipped quietly into Daemonikai’s embrace, tears in her eyes as she smiled so hard her cheeks ached. Her heart full—overflowing—with wonder.

A love that defied time.

A soul that found its way home.

***

“Via zie eisïz, hé’xozad lah lah…”

The words came in a soft, ancient, dreadful way, like something pulled from a dream.

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