Chapter 22 THE BOY'S JEALOUSY

Chapter 22 THE BOY'S JEALOUSY
CHAPTER 022: THE BOYS' JEALOUSY

The moment I stepped into the common room all the four of them were waiting.

Kieran is pacing. Back and forth like something caged. His hands keep curling into fists and his eyes flash gold every few seconds.

Alaric leans against the far wall with his arms crossed. His face could be carved from ice.

Cassian sits on the arm of a chair, flames dancing between his fingers without him seeming to notice.

Zev stands by the window. Still. Watching.

They all turn when I walk in.

"Where have you been?" Kieran demands.

"With Morgana."

His jaw clenches so hard I hear his teeth grind. "For three hours."

"She needed to talk."

"She tried to kill you," he growls. "Twice."

"And now we're bonded," I snap back. "I don't get to pretend she doesn't exist. If I don't figure out how to work with her we're both dead."

Kieran stops pacing and turns to face me fully. "You can't trust her."

"I don't have a choice."

"You always have a choice."

"Not this time."

Alaric pushes off the wall. His movements are too smooth. Too controlled. "The bond is dangerous Thalira."

"You think I don't know that?"

"I think you're not seeing what it's doing to you." His voice is calm but there's something sharp underneath. "It's changing you."

"How?"

Cassian stands. The flames in his hands flicker out. "You're feeling her emotions. Her pain. Her fear. That's going to mess with your head."

"I can handle it."

"Can you?" Zev finally speaks. His voice is quiet but it cuts through everything else. "Because from where we're standing it looks like you're drowning and pretending you can breathe."

My chest tightens. "I'm fine."

"You're not," Kieran says. He takes a step closer. "We can all see it. You're different since the bond happened."

"Different how?"

"Softer." He spits the word like it's poison. "You're making excuses for her. Defending her. She's in your head Thalira and you're letting her stay there."

"She's not in my head. The bond just lets me feel what she's feeling."

"And that doesn't scare you?" Alaric asks.

"Of course it scares me," I shout. "Everything about this scares me. But what am I supposed to do? Lock her up and ignore her while the Hollow King uses her like a puppet?"

"Yes," Kieran snaps. "Exactly that."

I stare at him. "You can't be serious."

"I am." He moves closer until we're almost touching. "She's dangerous. The bond makes you vulnerable. If she turns on you again you won't see it coming because you'll be too busy feeling sorry for her."

"I'm not feeling sorry for her."

"Then what are you feeling?"

I open my mouth. Close it. Because I don't know how to explain it.

Through the bond I feel Morgana's fear. Her shame. The years of loneliness that drove her to make a deal with something she didn't understand.

And underneath all of that there's this desperate hope that maybe she doesn't have to be alone anymore.

I feel all of it like it's mine.

"I'm feeling what she feels," I say quietly. "And it's not what you think."

"Then tell us," Cassian says.

"She's scared. She's been manipulated for years by someone who promised her things he never intended to give. And now she's trapped between him and me and she doesn't know which one is going to kill her first."

"Good," Kieran says. "Let her be scared."

"That's cruel."

"That's survival."

I take a step back. "I'm not you Kieran. I don't leave people behind."

The words come out harder than I meant them to.

Kieran flinches like I slapped him. Pain flashes across his face so fast I almost miss it.

"That's not fair," he says. His voice is barely above a whisper. "I never left you behind. You died. I tried to stop it and I couldn't."

Guilt crashes into me. "Kieran I didn't mean—"

"Forget it." He turns away.

Alaric's voice cuts in cold and sharp. "This bond is tearing you apart Thalira. And you're letting it."

I spin to face him. "What do you want me to do? Be heartless like you?"

His eyes flash red. For a second he looks more vampire than man. "I'm not heartless. I'm practical. There's a difference."

"Is there?"

"Yes." He takes a step forward. "Because being practical means I'm still here. Still functional. You're falling apart and pretending you're fine."

"I am fine."

"You're not," Cassian says. He moves between me and Alaric before things can get worse. "And fighting about it won't help."

"Then what will?" I ask. My voice cracks.

Zev finally moves from the window. "She's already made her choice. We either support her or lose her."

The room goes silent.

Kieran won't look at me. Alaric's jaw is tight. Cassian looks torn between wanting to hug me and wanting to shake me.

And Zev just watches with those too knowing eyes.

I feel tears sting but I refuse to let them fall. "I need air."

I turn and walk out before any of them can stop me.

The hallway is empty. My footsteps echo too loud.

I make it halfway down the corridor before my legs give out. I press my back against the wall and slide down until I'm sitting on the floor.

My hands are shaking.

Through the bond I feel Morgana. She's in her room. Awake. Scared.

She felt everything that just happened. Every word. Every emotion.

I'm sorry, I think at her.

Her response comes back soft and guilty. Don't be. They're right to hate me.

They don't hate you.

They should.

I close my eyes and press my palms against them. This is too much. The bond. The boys. The Hollow King planting something inside us that's growing every hour.

Three days. Maybe less.

Footsteps approach.

I look up expecting one of the boys but it's Sofia.

She sits beside me without asking. For a minute neither of us speaks.

"You look like hell," she finally says.

"Feel like it too."

"The boys?"

I nod.

"They're idiots," she says. "But they care about you. They're just bad at showing it."

"Kieran thinks I'm making a mistake."

"Kieran thinks everything is a mistake unless he's the one making the decision." She bumps my shoulder with hers. "But he's not wrong about the bond being dangerous."

"I know."

"Do you?" She turns to look at me. "Because from where I'm sitting it looks like you're carrying two people's emotions and pretending it's not crushing you."

"I don't have a choice Sofia. If I push her away the Hollow King wins. He uses her against me and we both die."

"And if you don't push her away?"

"Then maybe we figure out how to stop him together."

She's quiet for a moment. Then, "You really think she can be trusted?"

"I think she's as trapped as I am. And I think if we don't help each other we're both going to end up dead or worse."

"Worse how?"

I press a hand to my chest where the mark burns. "He planted something in us. A seed. It's growing. In three days he'll be able to take complete control of both of us."

Sofia goes pale. "Can you remove it?"

"I don't know. We're trying to figure that out."

"We?"

"Me and Morgana."

She stares at me for a long moment. Then she stands and holds out her hand. "Then let's go figure it out."

"The boys—"

"Can get over themselves." She pulls me to my feet. "You're doing what you think is right. That's all anyone can ask."

We start walking back toward Morgana's room. The guards nod when they see me. They're used to me coming and going now.

I push the door open.

Morgana is sitting on the floor with her back against the bed. She looks up when I enter and something like relief crosses her face.

"You came back," she says.

"Where else would I go?"

Sofia steps in behind me. Morgana tenses.

"It's okay," I say. "She's helping."

Morgana relaxes slightly. "I felt what happened with the boys."

"I know."

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing." I sit across from her. "We have three days to figure out how to remove whatever the Hollow King planted in us. That's what matters right now."

She nods. "I've been thinking about it. There might be a way."

"What way?"

"The bond connects us. If we can use it to share pain we might be able to use it to share power too."

"Share power how?"

"Your time magic." She looks at me. "If you can stop time you might be able to freeze the seed before it fully takes root."

Sofia frowns. "But won't that freeze both of you?"

"Not if she's selective," Morgana says. "If she can target just the seed and not us then maybe it'll work."

"That's a lot of maybes," I say.

"It's the only option we have."

I look at Sofia. She shrugs. "Worth trying."

I take a breath. "Okay. Let's try."

Morgana reaches out and takes my hand. The bond flares between us.

I close my eyes and reach for my time magic. It's there humming under my skin.

I push it toward the seed I can feel growing in my chest.

For a second nothing happens.

Then everything stops.

Not the world. Just the seed.

I feel it freeze. Feel the roots stop spreading.

But then something pushes back.

The Hollow King.

His presence slams into me through the bond. Into both of us.

Morgana screams.

Sofia shouts my name.

And the last thing I see before the darkness takes me is the Hollow King's face smiling.

"Nice try, daughter. But you can't fight me from inside my own trap.”