The Bound (Ascension #2)(20)

“Tell me you’re back for good.” He reached out for her hand.

Cyrene didn’t want to be here for this. It was so clear that Ceis’f loved Avoca. It was almost painful to witness.

“I—” Avoca began.

He cut her off as he pulled her hard against him.

“Are you…okay?” Avoca asked.

“I am now,” he whispered.

Cyrene felt the swell of Avoca’s powers as her emotions hit her head-on.

Avoca hadn’t known that he loved her. She hadn’t even thought that he would have missed her.

“I’ll, uh…give you two a minute,” Cyrene said.

She tried to slip by them, but Avoca grasped her arm.

“Wait…” Avoca looked at Ceis’f and then back at Cyrene, torn. “Just a minute.”

Cyrene nodded and then darted down the hallway. She turned the corner and pressed her back against the wall, breathing heavily. They had a lead on a possible Doma in Aurum, but the last thing she wanted to do was pull those two apart. She cared too much about Avoca to do that to her.

A part of her thought about slipping out the back while they had their moment, but the way their powers were connected, Avoca would know. She would be able to track Cyrene. It had come in handy when they were separated on a mission, but now, it felt intrusive. She felt intrusive.

Avoca’s and Ceis’f’s voices carried down the hall, and Cyrene peeked around the corner. Ceis’f’s arms were in the air, and he seemed to be trying to make his point. Avoca pointed down the hallway, and Cyrene heard his reaction to whatever Avoca had said about Cyrene.

“You’re choosing her over me?”

“It’s not a choice!” Avoca yelled back.

“So, it was never me?”

“Why does this have to be an argument?”

“Because I’ve loved you my entire life, and watching you walk away nearly killed me!”

Avoca took a step back, shocked by his honesty. Leifs weren’t a particularly affectionate bunch. It made this all the more difficult for Avoca.

“Tell me you feel the same, Ava.”

Avoca sighed and cast her eyes toward Cyrene. Avoca’s eyes pleaded with her for an answer that Cyrene didn’t have. Avoca would have to decide for herself.

“Matters of the heart cannot interfere when you have a higher calling.”

Ceis’f balked at her clipped tone. His eyes shot down the hallway where Avoca was still looking, unable to meet his eyes. And then he was barreling toward Cyrene. She stepped out from behind the wall and awaited his anger. He engaged her, but she sidestepped him.

She didn’t want to hurt Ceis’f. Avoca was already hurting him.

He rounded on her and came at her again, but Avoca was there to block his attack. She grasped his arm and twisted it behind his back in a painful hold.

“You dishonor me,” she spat.

Avoca released him and shoved him back. Her insult crumpled his features. Honor was all they had.

“We have no future,” Avoca continued. Her voice trembled on the last word, and Cyrene reached out for her. “You choose to cower behind these walls, like everyone else, when we are needed out there. I have no place here. No place with you.”



Cyrene looked up just in time to raise her sword to block the assault from her attacker. She didn’t know what had made her think of Ceis’f, but she needed to keep her head in the present.

Steel screeched in the night air as she met her opponent over and over. Her foe was fierce, well trained, and deadly. She could already feel how sluggish her movements were and wondered where Avoca was. She always flanked Cyrene’s right side, but they had been separated.

Cyrene could use the bond to find out where she was, but even that amount of magic would be painful to conjure up at this point. She needed to conserve her energy. That might be the only thing to stop the enemy from getting through the front line.

Cyrene feinted right, rolled to the ground, and popped back up to slash at the man again. He parried her advance, and with his extra strength, he shoved her backward. She stumbled over a fallen body and toppled over. Her shoulder hit the ground with a disgusting crunch. She released a high-pitched scream.

Another time, when her magic was not depleted, her injuries would have healed unbelievably fast, but now, she couldn’t even count that her shattered shoulder would mend enough for her to hold her weapon.

The man thrust forward for a death kill, and with her last whisper of energy, she batted the blade aside with her powers. That was it. That was all she’d had.

His eyes enlarged, and she used his hesitation to move back to her feet. She switched the blade to her left hand. She was glad for the hours of practice she’d had with it. She would never be a master, but at least she was proficient.

He assessed her with fear that she might be able to produce more magic to stop him. Lucky for him, she was out. Her best chance would be to turn and run, like a coward. Or maybe she had a will to live rather than to be run through by her enemy.

Cyrene heard her name being carried on the wind, and then Avoca jumped in front of her, as if appearing from thin air. A loud thwack sounded. Avoca collapsed to the ground an arrow protruding from her chest.

“No!” Cyrene screamed.

Cyrene dropped to her knees by Avoca. Blood was bubbling up between her lips, and she coughed.