“I can't. Not yet.” Muriel shook her head. “I'll say something I'll regret.”
“Or something you won't regret but should,” Dani said wisely.
“Give yourself tonight,” Ana suggested. “Process everything. Sleep on it. Talk to him in the morning when you're calmer.”
“What if I'm still angry in the morning?”
“Then you'll be angry,” Jessie said with a shrug. “But at least you'll be thinking clearly.”
“For what it's worth,” Tedi said, her eyes swirling hypnotically, “I've seen how thiscouldhave gone. You might have discovered the bond during a crisis, without context or support, and you would've exploded and taken all of us with you. Like, literally.Boom. Crater where the estate used to be.”
Dani snorted. “Well, when you put it that way, finding out in a library doesn't seem so bad.”
“This?” Tedi continued, waving her hand around vaguely, encompassing all of them. “This is better. You have time. You have us. You have the choice of what to do next.”
“What did you see me choosing?” Muriel asked.
Tedi smiled. “That's not how it works. I see possibilities, not certainties. What you choose is completely up to you.”
Muriel looked around at the women who'd circled her with support. Women who—with the exception of Dani—had personal experience with mate bonds. She’d be a fool not to listen.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “For coming. For not judging. For just... being here.”
“That's what we do,” Dani said, raising an invisible glass. “SLUT club solidarity.”
Despite everything, Muriel laughed. It felt good.
“I need to sleep,” she said finally. “My brain is fried.”
“Go.” Ana said. “Rest. We'll keep Brandon away until you're ready.”
Muriel nodded, grateful. She wasn't ready to see him yet. Wasn't ready to face those blue eyes that now had flecks of green. But she was no longer as outraged as she had been.
Maybe tomorrow, she’d talk to him.
And maybe then, she'd decide what to do about this bond that tied her to a man who'd kept the truth from her—but who also, if the lore was true, loved her enough to die for her.
Just like her father had loved her mother.
TheCodexpulsed with warmth and something that felt strangely like approval.
“Get some rest,” Jessie said, hugging her tight. “Everything will be clearer in the morning.”
Muriel hoped she was right.
16
THE COST OF DISTRACTION
BRANDON
Brandon stoodin the doorway of Armand's study, reluctant to leave. The ancient vampire looked up from the text he was reading, one from Brandon’s personal stash, his expression sympathetic.
“She's asleep,” Armand said quietly.
“She’s okay, though?”
“Ana made sure she had everything she needed.”