“I'm not talking about the bond,” she said as she stood and glided toward him. “In my vision, I saw Muriel consumed by power she couldn't control. Power amplified by a bond she wasn’t aware of, destroying her and everything in its path.”
Ice flooded his veins. “When?”
“I don't know. Visions don't come with timestamps.” Tedi's jaw tightened. “But I do know what triggers it. Muriel discovers the truth during a moment of crisis. It makes her feel betrayed and powerless. And, since her magic is tied to emotion, she can't control what happens next. It’s catastrophic.”
Brandon's mind raced. “If I tell her now?—”
“She'll be hurt,” Tedi finished. “And really, really angry. But she'll have time to process it before the crisis hits, so she won’t be caught unaware and panic.”
“Or she'll leave.”
“Maybe.” Tedi agreed. “But in every timeline where you wait too long, it ends badly. At least this way, you have a chance.”
Heavy silence followed her prophetic words.
Telling Muriel would shatter her trust but keeping the secret might destroy her. Destroy them.
Rock, meet hard place.
“I wouldn’t be telling you this if there was no hope,” Tedi said quietly. “You were there for me when I first came to Mythic. Let me be here for you now.”
The words squeezed his chest. “Tedi?—”
“Three days,” she said firmly. “I'm giving you three days to tell her. After that,Iwill, because she deserves to know the truth, even if it's painful.”
His magic flared in protest—protective instinct and possessive need tangled together. But beneath that, in the place where his conscience lived, he knew Tedi was right.
“Three days,” he agreed.
Tedi's expression softened. “Trust in the bond. Fate knows what it’s doing. It’s when we ignore what it’s trying to tell us that we get into trouble.”
She looked at Kristoff then, who smiled wryly. From what Brandon remembered, Kristoff had done everything he could to deny his mate bond with Tedi and it had had nearly disastrous consequences.
“And who knows? Maybe she'll surprise you.” Just that quickly, Tedi’s expression cleared and she was wandering over to the new display of crystals. “Ooo, are those new?”
Kristoff watched her, smiled indulgently, then said to Brandon, “Well, that went well.”
Brandon's laugh was bitter. “Yeah, let’s go with that.”
Kristoff shrugged. “I know what a new mate bondfeels like. I went through my own crisis with Tedi not that long ago, although our roles were reversed. I believed my intense attraction to her was the result of a spell she’d cast on me.” He smiled wryly at the memory.
Brandon winced and sank into his chair, exhaustion washing over him. “Ouch.”
“Yes. It went about as well as you'd expect. She was furious.”
“How did you fix it?”
“Time. Honesty. And groveling. Lots of groveling.” Kristoff moved to the window, his reflection showing in the glass. “Also accepting that she needed space to process everything without me hovering once I removed my head from my ass. That was the hardest part.”
“I don’t have much time,” Brandon muttered.
“Then you'd better make it count.” Kristoff turned back. “My unsolicited advice? Don't waste it preparing your defense. Spend it showing her why you are worth keeping, with or without the bond.” He paused. “And Brandon? When you do tell her, don't try to justify it. Just apologize, explain, and let her feel what she needs to feel. She's your mate. She’ll come around.”
“And if she doesn't?”
Kristoff's smile was sharp, knowing. “Then you'll spend however long it takes proving you're worthy of her trust. That's what mates do.”
Jason glidedin just as Kristoff and Tedi were leaving.