“Yes, it would solve several problems,” Aflora agreed as she stood on shaking legs.
“And create a thousand more,” I inserted, folding my arms.
Kols gave me a look I knew well. The one that told me he was up to something. Then he returned his focus to Aflora. “Can you undo the Earth Fae bond?” he asked, the question making me realize his intent.
He wanted to test her resolve and see how far she’d go.
Which meant he didn’t actually want to dismantle the bond.
Thank fuck for that.
We didn’t go through all this bullshit just to undo it.
The bonds existed for a reason. If Aflora fractured our ties, she’d implode, and none of us would allow that to happen to her. She belonged to us. End of discussion.
“Um.” She winced, causing me to narrow my gaze. That, right there, told me she didn’t actually want to do this. Something else was driving her to suggest this insanity. “I’m not sure, but I’m going to try.”
“No, you’re not,” I replied, done with this conversation. “You’re not going to do anything.”
“Again, that’s not for you to decide,” she bit back.
I grabbed the back of her neck and tugged her to me. “You’re upset. I get it. You don’t trust us. Fine. But those are not reasons to break a blood vow. Relationships require work. And I’ll be damned if I let you just Quandary-magic your way out of this, pixie flower.”
She pressed her palms against my chest and tried to shove me away. “Don’t touch me.”
“Too late.” I clamped my opposite arm around her lower back. “You’re angry. You think we betrayed you, but everything we’ve done is to protect you.”
She huffed a laugh, her nails digging into my button-down shirt. “Right.”
“Do you think I liked seeing them take you away?” I asked her. “It wasn’t my recording that landed you behind bars, Aflora. I did what I could to protect you.”
“You mean you did what you could to protect you and Kols,” she corrected. “Without the collar, the Council would have sensed our connection. So don’t lie to me and pretend it had anything to do with me, because I know it didn’t. You will always look out for Kols first and foremost. Now I’m suggesting we find a way to free you both so you can go back to guarding him without me being in the way.”
“The collar protected you as well,” I pointed out.
“But it wasn’t me you meant to protect,” she tossed back. “Stop toying with me, Zeph. This whole thing is a big mistake. I’ll figure out how to undo it, and we’ll go our separate ways.”
“What about your balance?” Kols asked, confirming my earlier assessment. He wanted to test her resolve and see if she’d truly thought this through. “Our biting you is what helped you stop imploding the other night. If you remove the bonds, you risk imploding again.”
“Exactly,” I agreed.
“So put me out in the middle of the LethaForest and let me explode,” she retorted. “I mean, really, it’s not like you care, right?” She tried to extract herself from my hold again, but I didn’t budge.
“Stop telling us how we feel, Aflora,” I chastised her, annoyed by her inaccurate assessments.
Her blue eyes rolled in response, causing me to tighten my grip on her neck. “Let. Go.” She uttered the words through her clenched jaw.
So I uttered one back at her. “No.”
Power flickered through her, and I welcomed the fight, but Kols chose that moment to speak again. “I would care.” The soft words had me glancing at him. “I would care a great deal, actually.”
Aflora snorted. “Sure. Is that why you spent the last few days humping your way around the Human Realm?”
Ah. There it is—the real reason she’s suggesting this.
She was hurt, not just by our perceived betrayal but also
by Kols’s notorious behavior. He realized it at the same moment, his nostrils flaring as his golden irises pulsated.