Two figures. Male and female. Their hands joined. And between them, a spiral of power that represented a mate bond.
TheCodexknew. It had always known.
And now it was trying to tell Muriel.
Brandon gathered her carefully, carrying her upstairs and laying her on the couch. He covered her with a soft throw and knelt beside her, holding her hand.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered. “I'm so sorry. I should have told you from the beginning. I should have?—”
Her eyes fluttered open. Unfocused at first, then gradually clearing.
“Brandon?” Her voice was hoarse.
“I'm here. You're safe.”
“It worked! TheCodexshowed me so much. The keepers. The hunts. The bonds.” She struggled to sit up, and he helped her, propping pillows behind her back. “Brandon, there was something about?—”
She stopped. Stared at him.
Really looked at him.
And he knew, with horrible certainty, that theCodexhad shown her everything.
“We’re connected by more than resonance, aren’t we?”
Brandon's throat closed. Forget three days. TheCodexhad its own timeline.
“Yes,” he said finally. “We are.”
The hurt that flashed across her face would haunt him for the rest of his life. And Brandon knew that whatever happened next, whatever he said, nothing would ever be the same between them again.
“What did you do to me?” she asked.
13
GOLDEN TONGUES AND EMPTY PROMISES
MURIEL
What didyou do to me?
The words hung heavy in the air between them. Muriel watched Brandon's face—those striking blue eyes that now held swirls of green she'd once attributed to resonance, the tension in his strong jaw, the way his hands clenched and released at his sides.
Her mind was still reeling from theCodex's vision. Images flickered through her consciousness—generations of women with her eyes, her magic, her face. Those subtle glows of magic around them, spiraling between keepers and their chosen protectors.
Bonds written in stars and sealed in blood.
Bonds exactly like the one she could nowseepulsing between her and Brandon.
And he had known.
“Muriel—” he started.
“Don't.” The word came out sharper than she'd intended, but she couldn't help it. Her chest felt tight. Her magic churned in the center of her being like boiling water about to overflow. “Don't lie to me. Not anymore.”
His face went pale. “I never lied to you.”
“No?” Her laugh was bitter. “What would you call it, then? You said the resonance binding would help cloak my magic. Help me learn control. You never said it would—” Her voice broke. She pressed her hands against her temples, trying to sort through the flood of information theCodexhad poured into her. “Do this.” She waved her hand back and forth between them. “What is this exactly?”