Page 256 of Primal Bonds

Shrugging out of the backpack, he took a deep breath and tried again. The third try, he almost made it, his fingers just six inches from the top. He tried to scramble the last few inches, but the wall was too smooth. He slid back to the floor, losing a couple of buttons off his shirt in the process.

He tried again. And again, until he was bent over, hands on his thighs, sucking in oxygen.

Mind over matter.

He eyed the wall. Sindre had stolen his Gift, but as a former wayfarer who could make himself virtually invisible, Fane knew something about illusions himself.

As he’d told Marjani, they only worked if the viewer believed in them.

He heard the murmur of voices and stilled. Marjani and Sindre.

No fucking way.

She’s mine, you bastard. My mate. My beautiful cat.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. Sindre was messing with his head.

Forget him. Think about Marjani instead. Focus on the mate bond—you can use it to get to her.

Warmth filled his chest, and he felt a strong but invisible thread connecting him to his mate. He straightened his spine and stared at the wall in the direction the thread seemed to be coming from. Was that an opening?

It disappeared.

Don’t fight it. His strength was going with the flow. He needed to remember that.

He grabbed the backpack and let his gaze soften and relax. Yes. There.

Keeping that soft, hazy focus, he walked through the wall.

Marjani glared at the ice fae king. “What do you mean, that wasn’t part of the bargain?”

His chiseled lips curved. “The two of you solving the maze together. I don’t recall promising that.”

Marjani replayed the wording of the bargain in her mind. He was right. All he’d said was that both she and Fane had to escape the castle by dawn. Nothing in the bargain said they had to do it together.

Thrice-damned fucking fae.

Her growl actually had him backing up a step, but he recovered quickly.

“What would you give me for this, I wonder?” He raised a hand. Dangling from his fingers was the substitute quartz; the one Blaer had stolen from Marjani.

She swiped at it, just to throw him off.

“No, Marjani, mín.” He closed his fingers around the milky chunk of rock. “I think I’ll hang onto it for now.”

She shrugged. “You do that.”

The fae king eyed her. “I thought you earth fada needed your quartz.”

“We do. But I can get by without it.” She looked at the quartz in his hand as she spoke, so it was perfectly true. She could get by without that quartz.

Her own quartz was hidden against her side, her fingers holding it loosely so her hand appeared empty. Thank the gods Fane had suggested the substitution.

“Where did you get it, anyway?” she asked. “I thought it was lost.”

“This?” The king tossed the milky quartz lightly into the air by its leather thong, catching it on the way down. “Lady Blaer gave it to me in return for shortening the period of her banishment. She tells me I can use it to control you.” He gave it a squeeze. “Is that true?”

She met his eyes. “No.”

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