Page 6 of Power of Five
“You’ve not stopped to talk to one in just as long,” said Tye. “Someone needs to keep this quint—”
River’s hand shot out to grip Tye’s wrist. Hard. “Not. Her. She is a mortal, Tye, a female mortal. The magic’s call to her was a mistake. Our priority is to break the bond before it gets her killed. Understand?”
“I’m not going to rut with her, River.” Tye twisted his hand from River’s grip. “But you’ve no call to be an asshole to her either. Lera is one of us now. One of the quint. Don’t tell me you don’t feel it, that your soul doesn’t twist when she comes close.”
River’s nostrils flared. “It doesn’t.”
“Liar.”
“It isn’t real,” River forced out finally, his jaw tightening. The horse beneath him danced, sensing his agitation. River sighed and patted the horse’s neck until the animal calmed down. “The feeling... the need, it’s nothing but the work of magic. The mortal is nothing to me, nothing to us. Once the magic is severed—”
“Not real?” Tye said harshly. “These feelings are born of the same magic that shattered us after Kai’s loss. Or is thatnot realas well?” It was a low blow, even for Tye.
River’s fist flew at Tye’s jaw, but Tye didn’t bother blocking the assault. It pissed River off royally when someone failed to defend himself, and right now River deserved a bit of misery. Maybe it would force the male’s head from his ass, though that might be too optimistic an outlook.
River blamed himself for the death of Shade’s twin, for the pain that made Shade retreat into his wolf for a decade now. None of them could lift their heads after it happened, but Tye thought River and Shade had suffered the most. It was hard to tell with Coal, who buried everything so deep you’d need to slice him open just to find a feeling. The quint were brothers in all but blood, and they’d spilled enough of that together that it was likely mixed by now too.
Lifting his chin, Tye let the blood from his newly split lip dribble onto his chin. “Feeling better?”
“Itisjust the magic, Tye,” River said stubbornly, kicking his horse into a gallop. “Once the bond is severed, releasing her will not affect you... us... the same way. It will not be like losing Kai all over again.”
No, losing Lera would not be like losing Kai, Tye thought. It would be worse.
