Isobel rocked in Theodore’s hold, her arms crossed over her chest as she tried to swallow down the pain. It seemed unbelievable that all this feeling had been held back by a chain. A chain that had seemed at least somewhat ordinary until Maya had cut it.
Her fingers shook violently as she gathered up the rest of the metal, holding it out to the Guardian. It felt cold and heavy, like all the magic had escaped from it to burrow into the short length wrapping her wrist, leaving only plain, expired gold behind. Maya took it hesitantly, relaxing only when it did her no harm as she turned and poured it into the small bag that Sophia held open.
“If there’s anything you want to know about the soul artefacts or if any more of them appear …” Maya backed toward the door, arching a brow in an expression resembling surprise as Kalen easily stepped out of her way. “I live in the small residence behind the chapel. You can also find me in the chapel in the mornings.”
Isobel nodded. It was all she could manage.
“I will inform the nurses that she is awake. You should have a few minutes,” Maya added, aiming the statement at Kalen before she ushered her children out ahead of her.
Sophia popped back into the opening before Kalen could shut the door, her mahogany eyes lighter than her mother’s, her Delta rank ring making them appear a tarnished bronze. “Or me,” she said to Isobel. “You can come talk to me if you ever get sick of these Ironside posers. See-ya.” She gave a weird, dorky salute before disappearing.
Kalen snapped the door shut, leaning against it again as his eyes settled back onto Isobel with a heavy weight. The lighter, translucent hue of his gaze dripped into molten gold, simmering with fierce intelligence. He had the eyes of a predator, always scanning for weaknesses in the flimsy disguises people wore, digging out chinks and dints until all their efforts to appear perfect were in vain, leaving behind only primal fear for what he might do with what he discovered about them.
The only thing was … he didn’t quite have that effect on her.
Everything about him that had made him seem so intimidating now made her feel safe. He was a victim of this situation as much as she was, but he had protected her at every turn. He had saved her life.
“You took me to the trail?” she asked, her voice muted by the pain that still thrummed through her. “Where is my light?”
He dipped his head, nodding once. “Cian told me to put all the strings back inside you. I did what I could and then I took you back to the fire trail. I couldn’t heal you completely. Too many people had already seen your wounds. I just healed them enough that the light strings were hidden again. They were already searching the mountain when I got there so I had to leave you pretty far out from the trail. I stayed with you as long as I could. The officials searched the trail and Eve’s house for your threads but then decided they must have disappeared when you teleported.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He didn’t ask what had happened at Eve’s house. None of them did. She glanced at Niko, who was still staring at the chain on her wrist, his expression now arranged into mild curiosity.
“I didn’t … the bond didn’t …” She struggled to put it into words.
“Cian, Oscar, and Kilian were all too far away from you when you were cut,” Kalen answered. “You’re still only half bonded.”
Theodore was keeping himself under control despite the utter turmoil that was trying to hammer into her body from his direction. He was drowning out the emotions of everyone else in the room, and there were too many competing thoughts and feelings for her to even attempt to decipher them with how scattered she already was. One of his hands stroked lightly up and down her spine, as the other wrapped around her legs, keeping her balled up against his chest.
Kalen eventually stepped away from the door, tilting his head like he could hear something on the other side. “You’ll want your space to process all of this,” he said. A statement, not a question. She wouldn’t have thought Kalen knew her that well, but he seemed to understand that she preferred to process things on her own, in her own way. “But we should have a meeting with everyone as soon as possible. Can you manage?” He fished a set of contacts out of his pocket and handed them to her.
She had a feeling he wasn’t asking after her health. He was wondering if she was ready to face all of them after finding out that they were all her mates.
After kissing Sato, even if she had been under the influence of the glowing chains.
After snuggling all over Kalen in his bed, even though she had been under the influence of the beautiful light patterns beneath his skin.
Especially after she wondered if the bond really was influencing her, or if it simply lowered her inhibitions.
And Eve … and the strings …
“I’ll come as soon as I’m released,” she promised, extracting one of the contacts and tipping her head back to drop it into her eye.
“They’ll likely release you tonight.” Kalen held out his hand for the contact case and she dropped it into his palm. He returned it to his pocket and jerked his chin at Niko. “So we’ll do dinner, and then nobody will make you sleep in their room. I promise.”
An empty laugh bubbled up in her throat, and she easily swallowed it down, nodding as they left the room. Only thirty seconds later, the nurses came in, holding charts and headed by Teak.
“Isobel.” Teak sounded relieved and overwhelmed, her smile shaky as she stood beside the bed, her hands fidgeting like she didn’t know what to do with them before she settled a palm on Isobel’s shoulder.
Theodore shifted so that none of Teak’s fingers touched his chest, his nose brushing once against the side of Isobel’s neck, sampling what was probably a harried, pained scent.
“Hey,” Isobel greeted weakly. “Thanks for giving me all these surrogates.”
Teak smirked. “Don’t think I could take them away if I tried. You have a very special bond with your friends.”
Isobel stiffened, watching as the other woman retreated, quickly consulting with the nurses.
“She didn’t mean it like that,” Theodore whispered, his breath misting over her ear.
She shivered, turning slightly to face him, but almost as soon as their eyes connected, he nudged her back to face the front. Something had been off in his expression, but he hadn’t given her enough time to examine it.
The nurses didn’t seem to want or need Theodore to move as they examined Isobel, though they were careful not to touch him in any way. The more they skirted around him, the more confused Isobel grew, and eventually, Teak seemed to notice.
She gave Isobel an understanding smile. “It’s important to treat surrogates like real mates, especially in times like these.”
“Oh.” Isobel didn’t understand at all.
“People hate to have their mate touched in front of them,” Teak specified. “Or not in front of them. At all, basically.”
“Oh,” she repeated.
Theodore scoffed out a soft laugh behind her. “You have upwards of five surrogates and understand exactly zero rules.”
“There are rules?” she asked as the nurses took her blood pressure. “Is five too many? It seems too many.”