Chapter 152

I sat in the center of our chamber, legs crossed, palms pressed flat against the cool stone floor, and I reached.

The blue bind was there. Familiar as my own heartbeat, pulsing in that space behind my eyes. I could feel it, could trace its edges with my consciousness, that connection tying me to my mates, making us one. And somewhere deeper, barely visible, the white bind shimmered. The healing power. The life giving force that had saved us all more than once.

But the third... the black bind remained elusive.

I pushed harder. Sweat beaded on my forehead, my breath coming in short gasps. The blackness should have been there, waiting. That power the voice had spoken of the ability to strengthen, to sever, to protect. But no matter how deep I reached, how desperately I stretched my consciousness into the void, I found nothing. Only emptiness. Only silence.

And the heat.

God, the heat.

It started in my core now, radiating outward like someone had lit a furnace in my womb. The thirst came with it, relentless, maddening. I had drunk three full jugs of water this morning alone, and still my tongue felt thick, still my throat burned. The meditating only made it worse. The stillness trapped the heat inside me, turning my body into an oven.

I gasped, breaking the pose, and leaned forward until my forehead touched the blessedly cool stone.

"Krys?"

Caelion was beside me in an instant, his hand cool against my fevered neck. "You’re burning up again."

"I can’t reach it," I whispered, my voice hoarse. "The black bind. It’s not there. Or I’m not... But I can’t concentrate enough to touch it."

He lifted me gently, carrying me to the furs, his expression troubled. "Don’t push yourself. The pregnancy... it’s changing things. The Mer child draws from you differently. Perhaps the binds respond differently too."

But I heard the worry beneath his words. The black bind was necessary; it supposed to be our protection. Our weapon against whoever the traitor was. And I couldn’t touch it.

---

The trips to the cave became our ritual.

Within a week, we were going nearly every day, sometimes twice. The cold water was the only thing that soothed the fire in my blood, that kept me sane when the heat became unbearable. Caelion never missed a trip. He was always there, always, his presence as constant as the tide. But we brought others too, rotating through my mates so no one felt excluded, so everyone shared in this strange, necessary visit that became my everyday routine.

Aureon came when he could, his white fur darkening with worry each time he saw me flushed and panting from the heat. He would stand at the pool’s edge, his massive arms crossed tight across his chest, his golden eyes tracking every movement I made. But when I finally waded into the frigid water and let out that moan of pure relief, when my body went limp with the pleasure of coolness after hours of burning, I would hear him exhale. A long, heavy sigh that seemed to come from deep in his chest, as if he had been holding his breath for hours and some of the tension would leave his shoulders. He never fully relaxed, not while I was in the water, but in those moments when he saw the pain leave my face, when he watched me float with actual peace in my expression, he would close his eyes and whisper something to the gods under his breath. A prayer of thanks, maybe. Or a plea that the relief would last.

Ravin sat guard with his quiet strength. He never said much during these trips, but his presence filled the cave like a warm blanket. He would position himself at the entrance, his lion’s form alert and watchful, his amber eyes scanning the jungle beyond for any threat. Sometimes I would catch him looking at me, his expression softening in that way that was only for me, and he would nod. Just a small dip of his chin, but it said everything. I am here. You are safe. I have you.

Leon spoke soft words of comfort. He would wade in with me and he would talk. About the children, about the weather, about memories of his childhood that made me smile despite the cold. His voice would echo off the cave walls, low and melodic, creating a cocoon of sound that wrapped around me.

Even Veylan came. He looked awkward most of the time, out of place in his own skin, his wolf nature making him restless. But he would stay beside me when he wasn’t spending time with Eryx, who he had been with more and more since they made that promise to try to get close again. He was giving me his undivided attention when he’s with me, and whatever is left, he would spend it with Eryx and trying to make both work.

But Caelion was always there. In the water with me, his scales brushing my legs, his hands supporting me. He never complained.

"The baby needs this," he would say, his hand on my stomach beneath the surface. "The cold. The water. It’s... it’s feeding somehow. Growing stronger."

I didn’t question it. I only knew that when I was submerged, the burning stopped. And that was enough.

---

The snakes grew.

It happened so gradually I almost didn’t notice, until one morning I woke to find Syren coiled beside my pillow, his head resting on my shoulder, and realized he was no longer the size of my finger. He was as thick as my wrist now, his emerald scales gleaming, his length enough to wrap twice around my arm.

They were all growing. Vaelis and Rhyzar explored the rafters with new confidence. Kaelor discovered he could push open doors with his nose. The girls no longer glow so I didn’t have to hide them from going outside no more. They were no longer fragile, no longer in danger of being crushed beneath a careless foot.

Not that my anxiety had vanished. I still counted them obsessively, still checked corners and under furs, still woke in the night to ensure all seven breathed. But the terror had softened into manageable worry. They were strong now. They would survive.

Levy helped, in her way. She had appointed herself their guardian, carrying them when they tired, speaking to them in that nonsense language only children and animals understand. She loved the dress I’d made her, a simple tunic of soft blue cloth, and she insisted on matching outfits for "her" snakes, little cloth bands I tied around their necks that she would check and adjust with maternal fussiness.

I’d made tops for the boys too, simple garments to protect their human skin from the sun. Atlas preened in his, turning this way and that to show off the stitching. Chase used his as a napkin. Jasper slept in his, as he slept in everything.

Reona visited often, her golden presence a comfort, her experience with children invaluable. She would sit for hours, holding the snakes, telling them stories in a soft voice that made them coil contentedly around her arms. "Beautiful," she would murmur. "Absolutely beautiful."

And then there were Ari and Aro.

They came with Reona now, old enough to shift, old enough to show the world what they would become. And when they did, when their small bodies contorted and grew into white furred, black striped tigers with eyes like molten gold, I caught my breath every time.

Miniature Aurins. Miniature Reonas. Perfect blends of their parents, fierce and regal even in their youth.

But Aro... Aro made my heart ache in a different way. It was purely the looks. When he was in his human form, when his small body stood on two legs with that shock of white hair falling across his forehead, he was Aureon made small. The same golden eyes, that particular shade of amber that caught the light like honey in the sun. The same cheekbones but round with childness, already promising the strong jaw that would come later. The same way he held his head, slightly lowered and watchful, the same furrow between his brows when he was thinking. Even the way his mouth curved was the same, that serious line that only softened into a smile when he was truly happy. When Aro walked across the room, when he sat with his legs crossed studying something with intense focus, when he turned those eyes on me, I saw Aureon. I saw the boy he must have been, he must have been so damn cute.

Was this how you looked? I would wonder, watching Aro play. Was you this cute?

---

The day it all changed started like any other.

We had returned from the cave, my skin still damp, my body finally cool enough to think. The children were playing in the yard, the snakes sunning themselves on warm stones, the house humming with the ordinary magic of our life.

Aureon came through the door, and I knew immediately something was wrong.

His eyes held a storm. He moved straight to Aurin, who had been visiting, and the two of them spoke in low voices that made the hair on my arms stand up.

"What is it?" I asked, approaching when their conversation broke.

Aureon turned to me, and I saw fear there. Real, genuine fear. "We found traces of the traitor," he said, his voice carefully controlled. "At the eastern border. The one who gave the tiger seal to the stonehorn."

I stared at him, my mind struggling to catch up. "You know who it is?"

"We found traces," he repeated, his jaw tightening. "But every time we get close, we lose the scent. Someone is covering the tracks."

Aurin’s voice was grim. "There must be a backer. Someone higher. Someone protecting the traitor or working with them."

I looked at my mate, my white tiger, my heart. "So You think there are multiple traitors?"

"It goes deeper," Aureon said slowly. "The traces we found point to one of the elders. But the way the scent disappears, just when we think we have them... there is someone else. Someone with enough influence to shield another."

He paused, and the silence that followed was heavy as stone.

"If there is a backer," he said slowly, "if this goes beyond one disgruntled elder and into something organized, then things are far more worrisome than we initially thought." He met my eyes, his own golden and terrified. "This is someone with power. Someone with access. Someone who could open the gates from within, who has already tried to hand us to our enemies, and who has the resources to hide their tracks even from me."

I felt the blood drain from my face. The heat in my core seemed to freeze, replaced by something colder. Dread.

"Who is protecting them?" I whispered.

"I don’t know yet," Aureon admitted. "But I will find out. Whoever they are. And when I do..." He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to.

The black bind suddenly seemed very far away. And more necessary than ever.