In the Veins of the Drowning(81)

“Magic.”

Theodore’s brows lowered in question.

“Magic,” I repeated. The thought of it sent a sick feeling racing through me. “I was going to have to use a spell to break our bond in the first place. I can use a spell to find her. One to unbind us, and one to end her completely.”

Tension began to build in his body and his fingers gripped my hair frustratedly. “No. One spell is entirely different from three, Imogen. You know what magic does—you’ve seen Rohana.”

“She’s used magic for hundreds of years. Three spells won’t—”

“No.”

“If Eusia remains tied to me, then the Sirens continue to die,” I said. He pressed his forehead to mine. “If Eusia and I remain tied to one another, then you and I…” I swallowed back the rest of the thought.

Theodore gave me a searching look. “Then you and I what?” There was panic behind the heat in his eyes. I felt it too. The outside world was coming for us with a chisel and hammer, ready to knock us apart, to crack us to dusty pieces. In a breath, we locked in a frantic kiss, both of us desperate from fear. He tugged at my hair, baring my neck to him. “You and I what?”

“Nothing.”

He used his other hand to reach between us and spread my legs. He caressed me until I was slick and gasping. “Tell me.”

“It’s impossible.” The blood bond I shared with Eusia was not the only thing that would keep Theodore and me apart. But the contracts and the marriage and the prophecy all fled my mind as he settled his hips above mine, positioning himself.

He looked at me like I were as precious and faceted as a jewel. “You think we’re impossible?” My fingers bit into his shoulders as he filled me in one frenetic, claiming thrust. I moaned and his lips met mine. He tried to beat back the terror of what we faced with that kiss. His lips were scorching, purifying, but a darkness lurked at the edges of my mind. It pressed against my flushed skin—a threat cold as death. “You’re already mine, Imogen,” he said against my cheek. “Mine.”

The rising sun gently lit the lines of his muscled body. It filled his eyes. I tried to lose myself in him. Tried to let his words settle over me like it was our very own prophecy, like it was a blessing.

Through our heavy breaths came a clicking sound. We froze. The lock I’d turned over last night was being undone by its key. The door flew open just as Theodore pulled away and jerked the blanket up and over our naked bodies.

Lachlan strode in, eyes on us for a second before he looked straight down to the ground with a curse on his lips. Beyond the threshold, Agatha stood frozen out in the hall, hands at her cheeks in mortification.

“Out,” Theodore bellowed.

“I’m sorry. I am.” Lachlan dropped to a knee, awkward gaze stuck on the ornate rug. His voice was flat, but I didn’t miss the downturn of his mouth, the harshness of his words. “The empress is up and in a piss-poor mood that you never returned to the engagement party last night. She’s insisting that you accommodate her and the princess’s ceremony on the beach. They want the wedding and the war blessed today.”

Theodore’s gaze on Lachlan smoldered like embers. His fist turned white where he held the blanket around us. I set a mollifying hand to the middle of his chest and his heart raged beneath it.

“Lachlan.” My voice quivered with embarrassment. “Leave. Please. We’ll be right out.”

He dipped his chin and rose in flinty silence. “Lady Imogen.” He spoke my name with unsettling formality. “You spent the night doing exactly the opposite of what you told me you would.”

Theodore’s eyes flashed. “Get out.”

Agatha cursed at Lachlan from the threshold, but Lachlan ignored her and met Theodore’s glare. “As your commander and right hand, it is my responsibility to advise you. After the Obelian ceremony, it’s best that you and Imogen follow through with the severance.”

“I’m the fucking king—”

“If you refuse, I will set the severance to a vote with the council.”

“The council has no say in my personal affairs.”

“No, but your blood bond is, for all intents and purposes, the catalyst of this war. And it has the potential to create more problems with the empress.” He tipped his chin up in a challenge. “We have a say when your personal affairs compromise the kingdom.”

Agatha’s voice was unfathomable. “Lachlan.” His head snapped in her direction, an incredulous look straining his face. She shook her head, brown eyes wide and wounded. “You cannot force them. You cannot do to them what was done to us.”

Lachlan’s mouth fell open. “Agatha.” His voice turned imploring. “Agatha, this is different.” The way Agatha shut herself away, so thoroughly and efficiently, made Lachlan rear back. “Agatha—” He rushed after her, slamming the door behind him.

Everything was crumbling. Theodore and I lay twisted in the blankets, silent and stunned. His eyes fell shut as he pulled away from me and moved to the edge of the bed. His strong shoulders stooped. Guilt rose in me like bile. I understood so keenly now why Theodore had not been able to abide my lack of duty, my selfishness, and my cowardice. They were calamitous, and he had fallen headfirst into their depths.

The blood bond in my stomach rioted like I’d disobeyed it. I had caused him harm. My gaze slid to the severing draught on the side table, next to my ring. “Theo,” I whispered. “There was another line to the prophecy that I didn’t… I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. The last line was ‘What they have made will decimate the order of all things.’” Theodore didn’t move. “What Ligea and Nemea have made—me. I will ruin everything… I already have—”