Page 25 of V for Vilified
Unable to help himself, Cash lifted his chin and looked every bit the prim and proper princess she accused him of being. “You have some bloody nerve,” the big whiny baby next to me squawked.
What was I, a room decoration?
I sighed, glad that Kate was safely bundled away for the night. No one deserved to be caught up in this argument. Though most of it was escalated by the indignant Fae Karen next to me, Jo didn’t let any part of it die. She wanted to get under his skin. I shouldn’t have expected anything different.
I was glad to hear that the bond could be broken in the future, but from the way Cash was acting, it wasn’t going to be easy to do.
My eyes strayed to the door leading out to the hall, a few rooms away from my very human best friend kidnapped to another world.
Kate had been exhausted after everything, so as soon as Marius created the void haven, we all relaxed a little. I’d sent her off to bed an hour before, promising to join her later. Kate laughed it off, but I could see how afraid she was.
She didn’t want to be alone here.
She put on a strong act, but anyone would be overwhelmed and scared after being kidnapped by a powerful supernatural villain and imprisoned in a world they knew nothing about. It was only natural she’d want someone to cling to, and I’d damn well do my best to be there for her, crazy villains and their evil mastermind plans aside.
Time to tame the battling monsters in the room.
“Okay, guys. I know this is hard, but we’ll have to get along to get back home,” I asserted before we got any more off track. “Do you have any other ideas than bonding, Cash? If so, I’d like to hear them. If not, we’ll do the bond because I personally don’t want to go full psycho drunk on evil chaos magic, thanks. It’s not part of my ten-year plan.”
Finally looking at me, his cat eyes beamed a gorgeous shade of purple. “A bond is rather extreme, love. Even in this case. Breaking it could weaken your magic.”
Jo stayed silent, which confirmed what he said was true. She’d refute it if it wasn’t.
“Okay, cool. I’m willing to take that risk if it comes to it, but that’s not even close to what I’m worried about right now. I need to go back home before they think I’ve joined the villain team. No offense, but that’s not a look I want.”
Jo’s grin made my heart start in my chest, and Cash’s insanely gorgeous smile sent it right into a death sprint.
He brought my hand to his mouth and kissed it. “The she-devil is right. It’s the only option if we want to defeat the Nether Royals and Mistress Chaos in one fell swoop.”
“All of them at once?” I sent a quizzical look Jo’s direction.
She nodded. “If you want everyone back in the human world safe, she can’t be spared. She’ll need to die as soon as the Nether Royals breathe their last. She’s likely to expect it, so we’ll need to act quickly before she can escape. We’ll be too powerful for her to fight, and I’m one of few who knows what her powers are andhow to kill her,” she explained, her usual apathetic air dissolving to a deep, long-standing sadness. I was desperate to know, but I’d never put her on the spot. Especially not around Cash.
“So…”
Sighing melodramatically, Cash brushed back his hair with the hand not already holding mine. “So, dove, we’ll train you to protect your mind and…use our bond so that your abilities are stronger. I’ll call on the necessary favors in the meantime.”
“What about Lyra? Won’t she know I haven’t accessed the chaos or whatever? I’m not sure how that all works.”
Jo came over and sat next to me, giving Cash every reason to scowl at her. “It’ll be too late when she realizes. Magically bound Chaos Fae can’t access it. That includes mixed breeds. It’s why she and the others didn’t enter magical bonds to elevate their power like the Nether Royals. They’d lose access to their chaos magic, and it’d eventually drive those dependent on it insane. Well, the ones not already completely insane already.” Her eyes strayed as if she was speaking from experience.
I pointed to the rune on my neck, and she shook her head.
“That’s a different kind of bond. It doesn’t seem to affect our chaos. Unfortunately.”
“Fae magic is weird,” I mumbled, trying to digest it all.
Jo giggled so cutely it made the man next to me cringe and sink back in horror. The guy was so damn melodramatic.
“It really is,” Jo agreed after clearing her throat.
I absently rubbed the mark on my neck. “But wait, won’t she try to break the magical bond the minute she discovers it?”
Smirking, Jo winked at me. “She’ll try, but even she’s not that powerful. No Fae is. A bond can’t be broken by an outside party. It has to be broken by the ones who created it, and not one-sidedly. Both have to be open to severing the bond, or it can’t be broken by anything other than death.”
Made a girl wonder.
As if reading my mind, Jo barraged my weak will with an absolutely devilish look. “And yes, some resort to killing off their bonded to escape the magical contract of it.”
