Page 40 of The Soulbond and Her Beloved

The Oracle kept quiet.

Only after a long pause did she speak. “The world is not always as black and white as it seems, Grand King.”

Daemonikai rolled his eyes.

“I’m afraid this is where we part ways, Your Majesty,” the Oracle said as they reached the towering entrance gates of the fortress.

Daemonikai halted by her side. “Thank you for stopping by. And… for waking.”

The old woman inclined her head, her silvery hair catching the last rays of the light. She turned to leave, but hesitated.

“Her next heat is close,” she said suddenly, those black-and-gold eyes pinning his. “Very close. A mini-heat, but it may be as agonizing as a full one. If not more.”

Daemonikai tensed.Thathad been weighing on his mind too, more than he let on.

The thought of Emeriel suffering through somethingworsethan her full heat two years ago bothered him greatly..

The Oracle pinned him with a serious look. “Listen to her body. Notice even the smallest detail. Then listen to your own, and simply… be you. That is the only way you can help her.”

Committing those words to memory, his head bobbed once. “I shall heed your warnings.”

A rare flicker of empathy entered her ancient eyes. “I also apologize for the young princess you both lost,” she said quietly. “But who knows? The gods may smile upon you and bless you with another. If not now, then somewhere in the future.”

A daughter.

His child with Emeriel would have been...a girl.

It was a dagger to the chest.

Daemonikai looked away, willing the pain in his heart to subside.

The Oracle resumed her slow departure, and he watched her go, feeling a whirlwind of emotions.

But as she reached the edge of the courtyard, her voice carried back to him, slightly raised but still calm.

“And who said the soul exchange spell did not work, Great Grand King?” she said. “It did. Just… not in the way Vladya expected.He will understand with time.”

Daemonikai frowned.What?

Just wait a goddamn minute.

"What do you mean by—"

“And beware of the Vampire of Greyrock," she cut in, clearly a warning this time. "He is more dangerous than he seems.”

As soon as the words left her lips, she winced sharply, her hand flying to her temple as though struck by a sudden, searing pain.

Daemonikai didn’t need to ask—he knew exactly what was happening.

She had just spoken something sheshould not have said,andit hadhurt her.

His frown deepened. Why would she risk such pain just to give him a warning he already knew?

The Oracle had withheldso muchthroughout their conversation, choosing her words carefully… why go against her oath, wasting a warning on something so glaringly obvious?

Turning he walked back into the Citadel.

Vladya was already in his study, waiting. Restless, anxious, and brimming with impatience. He stood near the wooden desk, fingers tapping absently against the gilded edge of a book left open, though his eyes were fixed solely on the door.

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