Chapter 10: *CHAPTER 10*

Oh, God. Marriage ceremonies?! You have got to be kidding me.

My brain suddenly felt fuzzy. Maybe I’d hit my head harder than I’d thought and was having hallucinations. I liked that option much more than our current situation.

“Fucking hell,” Malcolm’s low curse broke the stunned horrified silence in the room.

“I’m not sure I understand,” Jenna crossed her arms over he bathrobe clad chest. Her eyes darted in a worried look between Malcolm and me.

Peter continued on, pursing his lips thoughtfully, “Bindings like this one used to be a common practice in Magi communities. You see when a couple believed themselves to be truly in love, they would want to Bind themselves together in a way more intimately than marriage. It was considered a 'step up' from being married--an even higher level of devotion."

"And what does that mean for these two?" Richard asked.

"To be honest, I'm not one hundred percent sure," Peter admitted, ”But I can assure you, I'm going to scour through my collections until I find an answer.”

Malcolm finally found his voice, though it was rougher than usual with his shock, "There is a way to break it though, right?"

"I'll do everything in my power to find one." Peter promised, though the doubtful look that flashed across his face didn’t leave me with as much confidence as I would like.

“And do you remember anything else about the Curse?” Richard asked, “What it entails?”

Peter dusted a piece of lint from the sleeve of his suit coat. The gesture seemed too casual--too normal—for a time like this, “If I’m remembering correctly, I believe that couples who go through this type of Binding grow a lot closer to each other--mentally, emotionally, even physically."

My legs wobbled a little as horror washed over me in waves. Closer? Mentally, emotionally, and physically? No. No way. This could not happening. This was not good. My eyes drifted to Malcolm against my will, only to find his eyes already on me.

The tight set of his expression told me he wasn’t any happier about this than I was. This...whatever this was--I refused to consider it a marriage— was a problem. More than a problem. What was it Peter had said? More intimate than marriage? What the hell was that supposed to mean? I felt sick to my stomach.

Peter spoke again, breaking the stare off between Malcolm and me, “I’m afraid I don’t know more than the basics on this Curse. As far as I know it’s been hundreds of years since the last one was performed. I’ll need to look into the records to see how the Bindings affected those involved.”

“And this…marriage,” Jenna said slowly, “It’s valid?”

“I don’t think it’s technically valid by law,” Peter answered, “but according to Magi tradition, it’s more than valid I would say. Like I said—Bindings were a step up from marriage. A far greater commitment.”

I didn’t hear much more of what they said after that, the ringing in my ears growing too loud for me to hear over. Peter left almost immediately after dropping that bomb on us, heading toward the front door with the promise to get back to us with any other information he could find on our Binding.

The room was uncomfortably silent in his wake.

Richard was the one to break the tense silence again, "Well, that was certainly unexpected."

Yeah, it was. Unexpectedly horrifying.

Jenna placed an arm around my shoulder, helping to lead me back toward the couch, "Here, Kassie, you look like you could use a seat."

"Thank you," I lowered my wobbling legs into the leather chair as Richard took his place back on the couch across from us. Malcolm was pacing along the back wall of the room like a caged animal, rubbing a hand roughly along the sharp angle of his jaw.

"We know that this is all new and strange for you Kassie," Jenna turned to me, eyes wide, pleading, “But I think it will be best if you stay with us for the time being. You'll be safer here until we can figure out how to reverse the Binding between you and Malcolm. We still don’t know exactly what this type of Binding will do to the two of you. It would be best to have you close in case there are any adverse reactions.”

There was something about the sincere, heart-felt look on Jenna's face. It was the same sincerity I saw Richard's kind eyes. The idea that these people had taken me to their home while I was unconscious and were asking me to stay should terrify me, but it didn’t.

I could hear the resignation in my voice as I asked, "How long will it take for us to research the Curse?"

Malcolm stopped his pacing, “I’m going to the archives first thing in the morning to research. Hopefully we’re able to find the information we need by then. I think it goes without saying that we can’t live like this.”

At least we could agree on something. I would do whatever it took to get the Binding between us broken.

Richard scratched at his beard, deep in thought, “I’ll go with you Malcolm. Between us and Peter, we should be able to find some solution to our problem.”

Three pairs of eyes landed on me with different levels of expectancy.

I wasn't sure if this was the smart thing to do, I was too tired. The throbbing in my head was making it too hard to think, my thoughts moving in slow disjointed panic-riddled zig zags.

I let out a heavy breath I hadn't been aware I was holding, "Okay, I'll stay. But only until we find the information we need.”

I really really hoped I didn’t come to regret this decision.