Chapter 2 The Hollow Bond

The moon hung like a broken coin over Valedusk Hollow-waning, watchful, and wrong.

Marielle Wynter sat in the ancient stone garden behind the manor, her knees tucked to her chest, her fingers tight around the velvet ribbon Liora had slipped her the night before. A ribbon drenched in sage and moonflower oil. A ribbon Liora swore had once wrapped around Mari's true bond.

"She marked you with it when you were six," Liora had whispered. "I saw it in my dream. The real bond. Hidden. Cursed."

Mari couldn't breathe.

Kael Draven had kissed her palm earlier that day with the detached affection of a man sealing a business deal. He'd been flawless, as always-coat crisp, words measured, smile carved in polished ice. And yet her soul had felt no pull. No flare. No tremor.

But the ribbon trembled in her hands now.

A breeze passed over her skin, stirring the air in a strange hush. Behind her, the garden gate creaked.

"Mari?"

She turned sharply.

It was Thorne.

Again.

Twice in one day-after five years without a whisper.

He stood half in shadow, moonlight softening the hard lines of his frame. His dark hair fell loosely over his brow, wind-tossed, untamed. His eyes... gods, his eyes.

They caught the light like wildfire on oil.

She rose slowly. "You shouldn't be here."

"Funny," he murmured. "I've been told that most of my life."

Mari stared at him-at the broadness of his shoulders, the faint scar above his left brow, the mark on his neck peeking just above his collar.

That mark. Her heart thudded.

"You shouldn't have come back," she whispered.

"Then why do you look like you remember me?"

"I don't."

"You do."

His voice was too steady. Too knowing.

And suddenly, it felt like something inside her wanted to shatter-a wall long cracked, now trembling.

She pressed the ribbon into her pocket, fists clenched. "You left."

"I was sent away."

"For what? Being rogue-born?"

"For being marked."

Her breath caught. "What?"

"I was eight. Your father summoned the Tribunal. Said I was a danger. They didn't care about the truth. They saw the mark, and they called it a threat. But you... you came to the woods that night."

Mari flinched. The memory bloomed suddenly-muddy feet, a child's voice, hands grasped through thorns.

"'Don't be afraid,'" he said, quoting her exactly. "'You're not a monster.'"

She turned away. "That was a long time ago."

"And yet," he murmured, "here we are."

The gate slammed behind them-hard, fast. Thorne tensed.

Mari reached for the latch. It didn't budge.

They were locked in.

She turned slowly. The garden air had thickened, pulsing. Her skin prickled. The scent of burning wax and iron filled the night.

"Mari," Thorne said lowly, stepping in front of her.

A figure stepped from the hedge: Elder Corvin.

His robes shimmered faintly with spellthread, his expression carved in silver fury.

"You," he growled to Thorne, "will regret trespassing."

"I'm not here for you."

"You're not welcome here."

Thorne didn't move. Didn't flinch. "Neither was truth. But it came anyway."

Corvin flicked a hand. The ground beneath them trembled faintly.

"Mari," he said, ignoring Thorne, "your presence in this garden at this hour violates the sacred Accord of Bonding. A bride seen in the company of a known exile on the Eve of Pledge is-"

"I'm not pledged yet," Mari snapped.

Corvin's eyes narrowed. "But you will be."

"Will I?" Her voice was sharp now, and rising. "Because the bond I feel when Kael touches me-it's numb. Cold. Hollow. And yet when he-"

She stopped herself.

Thorne stood still. Silent. But the heat from his body reached her like a tide.

"Interesting," Corvin said coolly. "Has the curse begun to break?"

Mari froze.

"What curse?" she demanded.

Corvin smiled. "The one your mother never told you about. The one I enforced. For your protection, of course. It's the only reason you've been able to ignore that soul-shiver when your true bond stands too near."

"No," she whispered.

"You think we didn't see it?" Corvin stepped closer. "Two children marked by moonfire-do you know what that means? It would've changed everything. Ruined everything. You were chosen for Kael. Carefully. Correctly."

"By who?"

"By the gods."

"By you," Thorne cut in, voice dark. "You rigged it."

Corvin's eyes flashed. "And I'd do it again. Love is weakness. Legacy is power. And you were never worthy of her."

The words struck like knives-but Thorne didn't move. His gaze slid to Mari, firelight softening.

"Don't let them choose for you," he said.

Mari's breath trembled. Something hot stirred behind her ribs. Something old. Something hers.

She grabbed the ribbon from her pocket. It glowed faintly now-threads of moonlight spinning from its weave.

Corvin hissed. "Put that away!"

"What is this?" she demanded.

"The original mark," Thorne said. "Your true bond was sealed with it. They buried it. But it's waking up."

Corvin raised a hand. "Not if I silence it again."

Magic flared.

A pulse of iron and darklight swept toward her-but Thorne moved first. He caught Mari in his arms, spun her behind him. The magic struck his shoulder, searing flesh.

He groaned-but stayed standing.

Mari screamed. "Stop!"

And the ribbon-still clenched in her fist-ignited.

Not in flame.

In memory.

The world tilted.

Suddenly, she was seven again-standing in moonlight with a boy in torn clothes, clutching her hand, swearing never to let go. A mark burned between them. Something sacred. Something infinite.

She gasped.

Back in the garden, her knees hit the earth. Her body shook. But the truth-

The truth roared.

It had always been Thorne.

Her mate.

Her real mate.

Corvin swore. "Damn it."

A scream echoed in the wind. Not Mari's.

Liora.

Mari staggered to her feet.

"Liora's in the temple," she gasped. "They're forcing the seer's binding-"

Thorne took her hand.

"I'll get you out."

But Corvin laughed-low and cold.

"You think I'd let either of you walk out now?"

He raised both hands.

Runes bloomed in the air.

And the moon overhead-what little was left of it-shattered.

Just for a second.

Just long enough for Mari to feel her soul snap.