Valkhara
I felt them before I saw them.
The quiet of the forest snapped like a string pulled too tight. The pressure behind my eyes pulsed, the bond flaring to life again as two distinct threads yanked at my spine.
Azric.
Sevrin.
I stepped away from the cottage door, fingers twitching with leftover fire. The silence that had wrapped around me since Nyra's psychic mute potion was shattered just like that. The moment they got close, their emotions came with them.
Jealousy. Possession. Fury.
Need.
Gods, it hit me like smoke in my throat.
Nyra looked up from the table, still stirring her tea like she wasn't about to witness the supernatural equivalent of a pissing match.
"Uh-oh," she said. "Dickheads incoming."
I spun toward the clearing just as they stepped into view.
Azric came first, silent and sharp, violet eyes practically glowing in the shade. He was in black again—elegant, tailored, his hair tousled like he hadn't slept. Behind him came Sevrin, shirtless, furious, silver-blue eyes blazing like a storm.
Both of them stopped when they saw me.
Azric's jaw tightened.
Sevrin growled under his breath.
And then they moved.
"Don't even fucking think about it," I said, holding up a hand. Flame flickered across my knuckles.
Azric froze.
Sevrin didn't.
Until Nyra stepped between us.
"Whoa. No. Absolutely not. I don't care how ancient or mated or magically horny you are, this is my fucking house. No bond flare-ups. No dick swinging. No one is getting railed in my herb-scented cottage."
Sevrin blinked. "Excuse me?"
Nyra glared up at him like she wasn't five foot nothing. "You heard me, Dracula. Take the testosterone down twelve notches. You too, Pretty Eyes."
Azric raised a brow. "You're talking to me?"
"Yes. Both of you. No snarling. No grabbing. And if either of you tries to sniff her, I swear on my ancestors I will hex your balls off."
Sevrin looked ready to argue.
Azric looked amused.
I just leaned against the doorway and crossed my arms. "She's serious. And you should listen to her. She's got a spoon enchanted to detect bad decisions."
Nyra held it up. "And it's twitching."
Sevrin ran a hand down his face. "I came because I thought you were in danger."
Azric cut in smoothly. "We both felt the silence. It was... wrong."
"You felt the potion," I said. "It blocked the bond. That was the point."
Azric stepped forward, slowly now, like he didn't want to spook me. "You ran, Valkhara. After everything we—"
"Don't," I said, and the flame on my hand flared hotter.
He stopped.
Sevrin's voice was low. "You're ours. That bond—"
"Doesn't mean you own me," I snapped. "You don't get to decide where I go or who I run to. Not after what you both pulled."
Sevrin's nostrils flared, but Nyra cleared her throat.
"This is adorable," she said, "but if you're gonna have a supernatural lover's quarrel, take it to the woods. I have drying herbs in here."
Azric looked toward me, softer now. "Valkhara. We need to talk."
"Then talk," I said. "But no games. No touching. No flaring magic to prove a point. And for the love of every god in this forest, no marking me again."
Sevrin's mouth was a hard line, but he nodded. Azric gave the faintest smirk and stepped back respectfully.
Nyra handed me a dagger.
"What's this for?" I asked.
"In case someone decides to be stupid."
"You enchanted this too?"
"I don't trust men. Obviously."
Azric cleared his throat. "You're very… protective of her."
"I met her yesterday," Nyra said. "And I've already seen more of her blood and trauma than most people deserve in a lifetime. So yeah—I get a little twitchy when undead soulmates start sniffing around like rabid dogs."
"Point taken," Sevrin muttered.
I turned to them, bone-tired but not broken. "Why are you really here?"
Azric was first. "Because I felt you leave. I felt you break the bond with that potion. And it was unbearable."
Sevrin's voice followed. "Because I marked you. And when you disappeared, it felt like someone ripped the tether from my chest."
My throat tightened. "You didn't ask. You didn't wait. You just took."
"I couldn't stop," Sevrin said.
Azric's gaze flicked to my neck, then my thigh. "Neither could I."
Nyra coughed. Loudly. "Reminder: NO DICK ENERGY IN MY HOUSE."
A breeze blew past. Sharp. Cold.
The flames on my knuckles flared instinctively and the forest responded.
A branch snapped overhead. Leaves rustled with no wind. The ground shifted beneath my feet like the roots had stirred.
Everyone stilled.
Even Nyra.
Azric's eyes narrowed. "That wasn't you."
"No," I said slowly. "That was the forest."
Sevrin looked around, visibly tense. "What does it want?"
Nyra exhaled. "It doesn't want. It warns. You're on ancient ground. And if you piss her off…"
"What?" Sevrin asked.
"She bites," Nyra finished.
I looked at the two men in front of me. One who had tasted me. One who had claimed me. And both still burning with power and obsession they barely understood.
Behind me stood the only person who hadn't tried to take anything from me.
I squared my shoulders. "You wanted to know where I went? Here I am. But I'm not yours. Not yet. And not completely."
Azric's jaw flexed.
Sevrin nodded once.
And Nyra—my beautiful unhinged best friend raised her spoon like a sword and said:
"Cool. Now that we're all emotionally repressed and magically blue-balled, who wants tea?"