Chapter 24 · And you threatened to rip my throat out if I didn't

"And you threatened to rip my throat out if I didn't."

"I was under pressure."

"You always are."

His thumb moved over the inside of my wrist. One slow pass over my pulse.

It wasn't soothing. It was a warning. He could feel how fast I was beating. He could feel every spike of pain moving through me.

"Stop reading me," I said.

"I'm not reading you."

"Then why do you know when it hurts?"

"Because I feel it too."

That shut me up.

The bond wasn't just a chain. It carried sensation. Memory. Fear.

And right then, beneath the heat of Julian's skin, I felt something small and sharp.

Not fear for himself.

Fear for me.

I almost pulled away.

Instead, I dug my fingers into the seal over his chest.

Julian's body went rigid. "What are you doing?"

"Finding the source."

"You said you'd need a stabilizer."

"I have one."

"What?"

"You."

"That's not funny."

"I wasn't joking."

The seal burned beneath my palm. It wasn't ink. It wasn't a scar. It was a lock made of living power, layered over his ribs and sternum.