Page 149 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
“Is that your way of saying I should?” I asked. He remained contemplative and quiet. “If Elias is to beat her, how do the mages get their revenge?”
Again, silence.
“Eiran,” I tried again.
“There is one other thing you must know before I send you back to your realm.” His brows drew together, marring his otherwise smooth forehead with lines. “You meant to give Brenton your blood to save him, but because mage blood runs inside you, you created a connection to his soul. He won’t understand that connection, but unlike sharing blood withyour mate, what he feels is not romantic or sexual. It is a familial bond, like . . . that of siblings.” He paused, angling his head to the side as he took me in.
My heart punched in my chest, and I bit down on my hesitant smile. Everything about magic was strange yet wonderful. Just as strange and wonderful as the bonds and connections fae formed with others.
“Brenton is like my brother now?”
“Yes, but it’s not that simple.” With his hands still laced at his bent knee, he leaned forward and rested his chin on his knee. “You unwittingly opened this connection with him, but since it is a one-sided bond, he has nowhere to channel it. This bond will spill out of him, seeking a way to connect with you, bit by bit, driving him mad until nothing is left. Leaving him untethered will ultimately kill him.”
“Is there anything I can do so that this bond connects with me?”
He pursed his lips together as the lines on his forehead deepened. “To complete the ritual so that you are both tied to each other, you must drink of Brenton’s blood. In doing so, you will not only be sharing your soul with Elias but with Brenton too. Do you understand what that would do to Elias? Fae are territorial creatures, especially when it comes to their soul-bound mate.”
“He’d be jealous,” I said. But he wouldn’t kill him. Would he?
“He very well could kill Brenton,” Eiran answered.
“You sent him back from death just for him to die an even worse death?” I asked. “What am I supposed to do?”
Not completing the ritual would slowly kill Brenton, but completing it meant hurting Elias and Elias potentially killingBrenton. He’d never forgive himself. I wasn’t sure any of his friends or I could move past such a thing.
“Eiran.” I heard the desperation in my voice.
“Some answers you must learn on your own.”
Chapter
Twenty-Six
ELIAS
I feltit the moment Teddy left this realm. It was as if she’d died.
With my blood roaring through my veins, I ran toward her. Toward Nalari and the Guardian Everly had been gifted. While Adela stood to meet me, Nalari and Teddy lay on the ground.
My magic reached Teddy before I could, and I found her heart beating, her lungs breathing. But she wasn’t in this realm. Neither was Nalari.
“Where are they?” I roared at Adela.
“In another realm, fighting the Guardian of Death to bring back your friend,” Adela replied, her tone impassive.
Terror slammed into me. I thrust my magic into the large gray dragon. She bared her teeth at me and growled.
“Bring them back,” I demanded.
“No.”
I yielded my sword, as did George and Everly. Ready to follow me, to fight, to kill.
I couldn’t lose Teddy. Couldn’t lose Nalari.
“Bring them back.”
From the snow-covered ground, Nalari shook her head and jumped to her feet, almost stepping on me as she looked around. Her roar made the ground tremble. Adela peered back at her, and I felt her surprise through the connection she kept open.
