Page 66 of Twisted Bonds
As their breathing evens out into the steady rhythm of sleep, I disentangle myself with the gentlest of movements. A glance at their entwined forms tells a story of unity and newfound tenderness; I leave them wrapped in the echo of our shared bliss.
Silently, I pad through the shadowed hallways, following the tug of Callum’s intense presence. The bond pulls me onward until I find him, sitting alone in the private study where Tairyn and I spent the night playing chess, staring into the flickering embers of a dying fire. Evidence of the earlier violence, red blood against the white floor, is gone.
“Can’t sleep?” My voice cuts through the silence, and he doesn’t startle—Callum never does.
“Too much noise in my head,” he admits without looking up. “And not all of is mine.”
A stab of guilt darts through me. I didn’t even consider him before running off with Sunder and Bobble. I glance at the floor, heat burning my chest.
“Want to talk about it?” I settle beside him, close but not touching.
He scoffs lightly, the sound carrying a hint of bitterness. “You don’t like sharing,” I venture, already knowing it’s more complex than that.
“No, I don’t.” Finally turning to meet my gaze, there’s a defensiveness to his words. “And I don’t trust them. Any of them. Bobble, he’s mostly fine, I suppose. But Sunder? He’s a storm I can’t predict. And Tairyn is worse.”
I nod, a small part of me aching for the discord in our harmony. “I understand. They’re strangers, but please try to give them a chance. Do you trust me?”
As I stare into his eyes, the intensity between us burning bright, images of him hovering over me flash into my mind. It's too far away now, too distant.
“Completely.” His voice is flat, but there’s an undercurrent of something else—a protective fervor.
“Even if you don’t trust them, trust me,” I say softly, reaching out to brush a lock of sandy hair from his eyes. “Change isn’t always a bad thing.”
“Maybe,” he concedes, and there’s a ghost of a smile on his lips. “But Sunder…I don’t think I could ever trust someone that explosive. And don’t even get me started on Tairyn. Seeing you protect him after everything he’s done, Mira. It felt like a betrayal.”
He looks away, unwilling to meet my eye. “You’re not wrong. Tairyn is a bastard. But I’ve seen different sides to him too. It’s hard to explain. I… Maybe I just have a soft spot for bastards.”
I force a huff of laughter at my own joke, but it lands on deaf ears. My face falls, and I don’t know how to make things right. With Callum. With Tairyn. Getting Sunder to agree to Cor’than. This is a fucking mess.
I drop my head into my hands, taking a deep breath to still the stirring thoughts of inadequacy. Someone else would know what to do. How to bring them together. Lisa would know how to bring peace.
Then Callum’s hand in on my back, in a small comforting gesture. “We’ll get through it,” he says with the surety only Callum can muster.
But what if we don’t get through it? What if Callum can’t find his place with me here? What if he decides to leave after we deal with Yurghen, assuming we’re successful?
As if reading my thoughts, his hands rub up and down my back as he says, “I’m not going anywhere, Mira. I’m here as long as you’ll have me.”
thirty-two
Bobble
Sunlight filters through the high windows, casting golden beams that wash over the cold stones of the top floor of Tairyn’s mountain fortress. I prowl along the corridors, my small orange paws soundless against the floor. Besides mapping out this maze of a place in my head, I like the thrill of sneaking around. Mira’s bond echoes faintly within me, a rhythmic guide as I weave through the shadowy halls.
I’m more than just a cat, but I’m not sure Callum or Tairyn see me that way.
Tairyn is at best dismissive. I don’t know if he’s said a single word directly to me, now that I think of it. Callum, although seems fine, isn’t much better. The scar across his face makes him look intimidating, especially when combined with his aloof nature. He’s just standoffish, I suppose.
But that doesn’t matter.
We’re all shards of the same soul. Pieces of the puzzle needed to complete Mira. And to do that, we need to work together. Today my goal is to make a connection with each of them.
The first one I find is Callum, strolling aimlessly down a long gallery. His sandy blonde hair catches the light as he moves, stopping now and then to peer at the paintings hung on the walls. Each step he takes seems deliberate, burdened with thoughts too heavy for words. My bond is primarily to Mira, but I can faintly sense the other Shards she’s bonded. Sunder is down on a lower level, exerting himself, probably training.
I watch from the shadowed entryway as he pauses to inspect a painting of a woman surrounded by an enemy army at the center of a small village. She’s cut the head off a general, waving it to the threatening army and brandishing a sword in the other as if to say, Come any closer and I’ll gut you all. Inside my mind, I smirk. It reminds me of Mira when she was cornered. I doubt she’d agree with that assessment, though. I need to make her see herself the way I do. But that’s something I’ll chip away. It’ll take time. Maybe the rest of our time together.
Callum leans in to examine the brush strokes on the hands of the enemy general. After a moment, he nods in appreciation and moves to the next painting before leaning in to inspect it.
She said he was studying in Azuryn before the Fourth found him. I wonder…