Page 60 of Twisted Ties
Winnie strokes Pip’s ears, considering her answer. “Are we talking about Stone here?” she says.
“I just want to know. Is that normal? To be with one person, and still have feelings for someone else? Or am I a giant bitch?”
“You’re not a bitch, Rhi. Everyone finds Stone hot. Even those of us in relationships. Even those of us with really, really hot fated mates.”
“Hmmm,” I say, sinking down onto the floor beside her. Iconsider telling her about the sensations in my stomach. I consider telling her about what happened with Tristan. But I’m still not sure I didn’t imagine it all. Or misread the sensations. Or misinterpreted what happened.
I go to stroke Pip’s head, but he jerks it away and turns his back on me. “He’s really good at holding a grudge,” I say.
“No, I think he just loves me more than you now.”
“I thought you hated having a pig around.”
“We bonded while you were in hospital.”
“Be careful, you’ll end up with a name like mine.”
“Can’t be any worse than metal mouth. Or bean pole.”
I laugh. “I’ve never heard anyone call you that.”
“They used to. Then they found you to pick on instead.”
“Terrific.”
I groan, and tip my head back onto the bed behind me. “Do you think there is magic to stop me feeling this way?”
“About Stone?”
“About Azlan. I want him here so badly I could scratch my own eyes out.”
“Was there anything in those articles?”
“No. I’d bet there’d be something in those library books though. Because I don’t see how I’m meant to function like this and some clever magical must have come up with a solution.”
“Maybe,” Winnie says skeptically.
I jump to my feet. I bet those books would have some explanation about my encounter with Tristan too. About why the bond in my core hums sometimes when Azlan is nowhere to be seen.
“I’m going to see if the books are back, and if they’re not, try and find out who took them. Wanna come, Pip?”
He snorts dismissively.
“He’s my baby now,” Winnie says, bending down to kiss him.
“Humph,” I say, stomping out of the room.
The long summer nights have passed now, and though the air is warm, the grounds are dark, the path barely lit by floating bulbs along their edges, the full moon hidden behind whispery clouds. Behind the dorm building, the forest is eerily quiet, not even the wind whistles in the leaves, and the crunch of gravel under my feet sounds especially loud, the pounds of my heart in my chest even louder.
Is that the bond too? Sending my heart erratic?
The sound grows louder, the hook twisting and turning in my gut, and I consider reaching into my pocket and dialing Azlan’s number. Or could I reach him through the bond? Beg him to come.
My ears fill with the pounding. Like a drum.
Thud thud thud.
Then, too late, I realize it isn’t my heart at all. That thud, that pound, it’s not coming from my chest, it’s coming from the path behind me.
