Severed Read online

  “Wait a minute—you severed your bond?” The Earth girl frowned at us. “I’ve never heard of that before. I mean, I don’t know much about your people but don’t you guys bond for life?”

  “A bond between Denarin males is…complicated,” I said in a low voice. “Normally you can’t break it. But we found a way.”

  “Oh you did, did you?” Grav’s eyes narrowed even more. “And what way was that? Did you sacrifice this little female’s health so the two of you could get free of each other?”

  “Of course not!” Lucian exclaimed. “We would never hurt Rylee—we love her!”

  “You mean I love her,” I snapped. “You’re already bonded to another male and having the time of your life with the female your mother picked out for you!”

  “What?” He shook his head, looking genuinely confused. “What are you talking about? I’m not bonded to anyone!”

  “You deny it?” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “You’re telling me you’re not already psy-bonded to Hylorn and looking to get life-bonded to a female you both care for?”

  “Of course I deny it!” he snarled. “I haven’t seen Hylorn or anyone else in the past week. I’ve been holed up alone in my apartment feeling like shit because you severed our bond!”

  “Stop lying!” I shouted. My hands balled into fists and I longed to punch him in his stupid, lying face. “Your own mother called to tell me all about how fucking happy you are now that Rylee and I are out of your life!”

  “My…my mother?” His voice faltered and he put a hand to his head. “She said all that?”

  “Guess she just couldn’t resist rubbing it in,” I said bitterly. “She went on and fucking on about how happy you are now.”

  “She lied.” His voice was cold and flat. “She lied to you.”

  “Oh, so being with Hylorn and having the ‘perfect female’ isn’t making you happy?” I demanded sarcastically. “I’m so sorry for you, Lucian. What a fucking disappointment.”

  “No, I mean she lied about everything.” Lucian sounded stunned, as though he was discovering some great treachery he still couldn’t quite believe. “She lied about Hylorn and the female and about me being mated to them. And she lied back at my apartment when she said she wanted to throw a party for me to introduce you and Rylee as my bond-mates. It was a set-up all along—an excuse to bring Hylorn back into my life and let you see us together.”

  “Well that part of it worked, anyway,” I said sharply. “Seeing the two of you heart-pledging—”

  “He pledged to me!” Lucian snapped. “And I did not return his pledge. Because it wouldn’t be right—not when I was already pledged to you and Rylee.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Nothing is right anymore without the two of you.”

  I stared at him, wanting to believe but not sure if I could.

  “So that scene with Hylorn in the food prep area was—?

  “A trap planned by my mother,” he said dully. “And you and I both fell directly into it.”

  “But she came to me afterwards,” I protested. “She said you truly cared for Hylorn. And told me—”

  “That if you cared about me you’d let me go because you’d only drag me down and ruin my life, right?” he finished for me.

  “How—?” I began.

  “How do I know what she said? Because it’s the same exact thing she said to Hylorn when she separated the two of us so many years ago.” His voice was little more than a whisper. “How could I not see this? How could I let her ruin my chances for happiness and drive away the people I loved again?”

  I didn’t know what to say. The pain on his face was real—as real as the pain in my heart now that I understood what had happened.

  “It’s not your fault,” I said in a low voice. “I should have listened to your explanation about you and Hylorn instead of losing my temper. I should have given myself time to cool down before using the Claw to sever our bond and demanding you do the same.”

  “The Claw?” Grav, the big Braxian demanded. He and his mate Leah had been standing back, watching quietly as Lucian and I argued and shouted and finally came to the truth. But now he stepped forward, a frown on his face. “What the fuck is this ‘Claw’ you two are talking about?”

  “It is an instrument we found in a sacred place on our own planet,” Lucian explained icily. “We were led there by a prophesy of one of the Wave-Dwellers.”

  “Wave-Dwellers?” Leah shook her head. “Who are they?”

  “One of the Twelve Peoples,” Grav told her. “They live in the seas of Denaris and have the lower half of a sea creature when they’re in the water. But when they come up on land, they’re able to change their appearance and look completely, uh, normal. Or at least, like the rest of us—with legs and everything.”

  Her face brightened. “Mermaids? You’re saying there are real, actual mermaids on Denaris?”

  “Dunno what mermaids are but sure,” her mate growled. “But listen, I’m more interested in the ‘Claw’ these two used to sever their bond.” He nodded at Lucian and me. “If it’s what I think it is…” He shook his head. “It could be bad fuckin’ news.”

  “I have it with me,” I said.

  “You brought it with you?” Lucian gave me an incredulous look.

  “Thought we might need it. I don’t know.” I shrugged defensively.

  “Get it,” Grav demanded. “I need to see it.”

  I went back to Lucian’s ship and rummaged in my pack. The golden Claw was wrapped in a shirt and I unrolled it carefully, not wanting to be stuck by it again. It’s four, wickedly sharp tips were stained maroon from my blood and Lucian’s and I was struck again by how evil the thing felt in my hand.

  Carrying it away from my body, I brought it back to the AMI.

  “Here.” I held it out to Grav.

  “What is that? It looks like some kind of weird golden backscratcher!” Leah put out a hand but Grav quickly pushed it away.

  “Don’t touch, baby—that thing is fuckin’ dangerous,” he growled. He glared at me. “Do you know what you have there? It’s a Goddess-damned Braxian soul-devourer.”

  “The Claw is Braxian?” I frowned at the dried blood on its tips. “You’re sure?”

  “Sure I’m fuckin’ sure,” he growled. “They’ve been outlawed on my home planet for over a thousand years but you still see them pop up from time to time—usually after they fucked some poor bastard to the Frozen Hells and back.”

  “What…” Lucian cleared his throat. “What are the side effects of a ‘soul-devourer then? We only used it to sever our bond.”

  “Yeah, it’ll sever a bond all right—by taking a bite out of your fuckin’ soul,” Grav said, frowning. “And leaving you in crippling pain afterwards.”

  “I haven’t experienced any pain,” Lucian protested.

  “Me either,” I said.

  “It looks like Rylee is, though.” Leah’s voice was soft and worried.

  I looked over her head at the AMI lightscreen where Rylee was still curled in a ball and bit back a curse. Could it be that the pain which should rightfully have come to Lucian and me after severing our bond had landed on her instead? A wave of guilt and horror so deep it threatened to drown me washed over me. What had we done to the female we both loved?

  One look at Lucian’s face let me know he was feeling the same.

  “But…how could this happen?” he demanded. “We followed the instructions—Drace and I both marked ourselves, over our hearts.”

  “Yeah? And what about Rylee—did you use the soul-devourer on her too?” Grav demanded.

  “Well…no,” I said. “We didn’t think it was necessary. It was just Lucian and I wanting to sever our bond. So Rylee—”

  “Is the one who wound up getting the pain all three of you should have shared,” Grav finished. “Goddess-damn it! Do you realize what you’ve done? Rylee still has a part of her bond to both of you because she wasn’t marked by the soul-devourer. And because she’s the o