Because I could feel him.
The familiarity of his magic.
The hint of an ocean kiss.
The faint memory of several sleepless nights.
I turned slowly, already knowing whom I’d face—the white-haired male from my dreams. “You’re not real,” I whispered.
He stood leaning against a tree, his silver-blue eyes glinting with amusement. “We’ve had this discussion before, little star. And I suggested you reconsider that thought.”
I stepped backward into Shade, begging him with my mind to whisk us away from here, but other than place his hands possessively on my hips, he did nothing.
“Why are you here?” I asked, terrified of the answer, praying he said anything other than what I feared.
“Because this was where Shadow and I promised to meet for the exchange,” he replied, killing all my hopes.
How could you? I asked Shade. But our link remained closed, the willow stump doing the one thing he told me not to do only minutes earlier—he shut me out.
Zeph! I called, quickly opening another channel.
Silence.
But not in the same way as Shade’s.
Zeph felt… unconscious.
“What did you do?” I asked, shivering uncontrollably despite the warm sun overhead. “What did you do, Shade?”
“What fate required me to do,” he replied against my ear, his lips brushing my temple. “I warned you that you would hate me. Now you know why.”
“Because you’re working with him?” But I didn’t even really know what that meant. This male had attacked the Academy, seduced me in my dreams, tried to trap me in the village, and now stared at me with almost illicit intent. “Who are you?” I asked him. “Why are you doing this?”
“I’m Zakkai,” he replied. “As to why I’m doing this, well…” He smiled, pushing off the tree to saunter toward me.
Shade held me in place when I tried to step to the side.
Energy kissed my fingertips as my powers ignited in automatic defense, only a wave of Zakkai’s hand calmed my power. I pulled out my wand to try again, and he smiled fondly at the item.
“Ah, I’ve been looking for that,” he murmured, plucking it easily from my palm and twirling it between his fingers. “I should have known those figments at AcaWard would give it to you.” He chuckled and canted his head to the side, his silver-blue eyes holding mine as he slid the wand under his cloak. “Thank you for keeping my wand warm for me.”
“Your wand?” I repeated, my mouth dry.
His lips curled again, causing little dimples to appear at the edges. “Yes, sweet star. My wand.”
“I-I don’t understand,” I whispered. “How?”
He reached out to tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear, then stepped into my personal space, trapping me between them, with Zakkai in front of me and Shade behind me. “Close your eyes,” he whispered.
I didn’t want to obey him, but my eyelids slipped shut as if he’d drawn them down with a spell. And then I felt him in my mind, untwisting a strand of magic that led to the root of my mate bonds.
One that finally allowed me to understand and see the connection at the end.
The missing link I’d failed to comprehend all this time.
The real reason I had access to Quandary Blood abilities.
It was never my parents or my own heritage or my lineage.