Page 113 of A Baron of Bonds

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My sobs came without invitation or welcome as I reached for him, falling into his chest, unable to do anything but cry there.

He wrapped his arms around me, and as my body shook against him, my mind whirled with all the pain Heimlen had put him through. I could face my own hurt. I could manage my own wrath and hatred for that man, but I could not take Rev from his. I could never protect him from those feelings of betrayal, and so, I felt I could never be the rock he needed.

“What’s all this?” He tucked some of my loosened hair behind my ear. “Your emotions are something to be studied. They’re changing so rapidly.”

I laughed into his chest, breathing in his warmth. “I can’t seem to help it. I just…” I squeezed my eyes shut and drowned out Heimlen from my thoughts. “I’m just…Rev, I’m so thankful for you. Please tell me you know that. I don’t say it enough—not nearly enough.” I pressed my lips back to his and pulled away to whisper, “I’m so thankful you found me.”

His smile was brilliant, an utter perfectionist ode to all that was beautiful in a man, his now dark blue eyes looking at me like I was the absolute answer to everything.

“We deserve each other, remember? You live, I live.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and shuddered as I inhaled, forcing my body to calm. I nodded, running my fingers through his black waves. “You breathe, I breathe, Rev.” I smiled above his lips chuckling as I whispered, “A fuckinglifeline.”

Chapter 49

Rev

We spenta week searching the books in Heimlen’s study before we moved on to the books in the library. We’d found nothing. Not a single hint at how we could possibly cure a disease created from the Blight.

Pompeii grew worse daily, though I could see him fighting. He could still use his magic, and I wondered what kind of conduit he would have become if he had ever trained.

So far, Lia had not taken ill, though she was the one to initially bring food to Pompeii before his illness had gotten worse. Just as I predicted, neither Karus or I had been affected. Talon and Ilyenna showed no sign of illness either, though they insisted they hadn’t done more than leave soup on Pompeii’s table when they saw he’d been sleeping.

Philius continued to sulk in his room, and Karus was sure to be the one to bring him food and tell him that she was still well.

I had tried several different spells of healing for Pompeii with no change in his condition. I wrote to Clairannia, hoping there was something she knew, something she could tell me to try.

Karus pushed for Viridis.

She did so subtly, mentioning the idea of bringing it back every so often in our search. She’d insist that it might stillhold the key to curing this illness, just as Heimlen had once discovered something there.

“The books in Viridis are mostly ruined,” I reminded her for what I was sure was the tenth time that day.

“Mostlyruined is notallruined. We could go together. We could head straight to the medicus section and grab what we can and run.” She held a stack of books in our current library to her chest, chewing her bottom lip.

I pulled on the back of my neck, tossing a book to the chair I’d been sitting in for hours. “Think about what you’re saying for a moment. You want to return to the place where a version of the Blight grows that we know very little about. A version of the Blight that has infected Pompeii, who’s been fighting it for more than a week now. The last time you were there, it came for you. I had to stop our excursions to retrieve books from Viridis because the Blight almost took Clairannia. It’s toodangerous, Karus. We need to keep searching and wait for Clairannia to write back.”

“But the spell, Rev. We can at least trySimulair Solumand?—”

“And what? Put some pillows down to break your fall when I have to knock you to the ground again?”

She glared my way, setting her stack of books down and storming to me. “You could do it then. You could use the spell. I’ll use Cosensian Magic to help. But this,”—she gestured to the walls lined with bookcases—“this is not working. There’s nothing here. Heimlen found his cure in Viridis, and it might still be there, waiting for us to find it, too.” She crossed her arms at her chest. “It’s the best bet we’ve got.”

I exhaled long and hard through my teeth. “Alright. We’ll practice today. Maybe we’ll hear from Clairannia and get some options to try from her. But let’s get on the same page here.” I pulled her body to mine, leaning back against the desk behind me. “You should not attempt that spell again. It’s not just aboutthe fact that you can’t seem to break it. It’s also about how you lost your memories because of it. That’s not worth the risk and Pompeii would agree.”

She placed her hand on my chest and held the other in the air. “I promise not to use the spell without speaking to you first, Baron Revich. As your channeler in training, you can trust my word.”

Her eyes glinted in amusement, and I bent forward to kiss her forehead. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

I heldan orb of blue light above my hands, glancing at seven of the people who relied on me.

Karus and I agreed that because it had been over a week since the infection had started and no one else had contracted the illness, we could release the Fortress lockdown.

Each of the channelers sat on the fallen trunk of a dead tree covered in moss and lichen. They looked relieved to be out of their rooms.

“When you channel your magic for a specific spell enhancement,” I began, my gaze flicking to each one of them, “it’s essential you know exactly what you’re trying to produce. Any wavering of any kind in your motivation can cause unforeseen results from your power.”

“Like that time Talon tried to call an owl to perch on his arm and the owl dropped a dead quiphit on his head instead?” Rell giggled, elbowing her sister who laughed, both of them watching Talon for a rise.