“I… I don’t know, Gallus. We were having so much fun at the marketplace, and then she told me to get a dress, and…” Her face grows pale. “I only left her alone for a moment, but when I came out of the changing room she was gone.”
Sarah sits there, trembling. I know she’s not telling me something.
“Speak, now.”
In trembling hands, Sarah holds something up.
“She left this.”
In her palms is the sapphire necklace I myself had clasped around Mia’s slender throat. Sarah hands it to me, and I remember the moment I placed it on Mia’s neck. In that moment, I’d known I had to protect Mia. It was a feeling that ran deeper than mere protectiveness, though. I felt like I owned her… But, at the same time, that she owned some part of me – as though we were linked forever together.
Now I know why.
We’re Bonded.
I can’t be certain, most Aurelians would say. Not until I’ve taken her – not until I’ve joined with her in the ecstasy of mating
But I know the truth. I don’t need to mate with her to know that we’re Bonded together. It just feels so… right.
And if I’m wrong? If I finally claim her – Gods, if we ever find her again – and the Bond doesn’t activate the moment I fill her with my seed?
Fuck the Bond.
I’ll be with her, Mia, no matter what. No other woman can smell so right and not be meant for me. No other woman can life me up so easily. I’ve always felt strong and capable, but I’ve been mortal my whole life.
Mia makes me feel like a God.
I take the necklace from Sarah’s trembling hands and clench it in my fist. Then, suddenly I rip it, sapphires scattering across the floor.
How foolish I was, to give Mia a necklace just like all the others in our harem. How foolish I was to allow her to think we considered her just another woman.
“We’re going to find her.”
Sarah shakes her head.
“I… I don’t know, Gallus. She told me she has a really bad past. It’s like… it’s like she’s running from something.” Then, her eyes lift. I look at Sarah’s face and it strikes me how beautiful she is – and yet how the beauty that had once inspired such lust in me now triggers nothing.
Mia has eclipsed her, and all other women.
Sarah warns: “Whatever Mia’s running from, I have a feeling she’s running right back to it.”
I take a deep breath
Every instinct tells me to turn and stride from this room – to not pause until I’m on the trail of Mia, and whatever she’s running from.
But, instead, I pause and sit down next to Sarah on her bed. I lift my arm, and she slips her head beneath it. For a moment, I holding her head against my chest.
I no longer feel anything sexual towards this woman, no matter how young and beautiful she is. However, I still owe her, and I want to keep her safe and nurtured. I hate to see any woman I am responsible for in pain.
“I will find her,” I stroke Sarah’s blond hair. “I promise you that.”
The door bursts open. Cyrus stares at me in shock.
“She stole from us.”
Sarah and I both look up, and the look on our face is as if Mia had just slapped us.
15
Mia
One week later.
I’m holed up in the corner, while Darr looks suspiciously around. He’s always suspicious lately. It’s like there’s a cloud hanging over his head.
“They never reported you.”
“What?”
Darr’s eyes narrow.
“Those haughty Aurelian bastards didn’t report you, Mia. They never told the Royal Guard they’d been robbed.”
I gulp.
“T-They’re so rich, Darr. Maybe they didn’t even notice what I stole.”
“Bullshit!” Darr’s big fist cracks into his palm. “They know – and there’s increased Royal Guard presence in all sectors. I don’t like it. Something doesn’t add up.”
Then, Darr turns to me. His lips pull back, showing his brown, mismatched teeth.
“In the last jobs, with those Sector 2 families, they reported a thief, dressed as a maid. Nothing specific enough to identify you, but enough that we had to space out the jobs. But this? I don’t get it. The Aurelians didn’t report you…” He snarls. “It makes me wonder what’s going on.”
It makes me wonder, too.
“They’re rich, Darr,” I warn. “Maybe they don’t use the police to get justice.”
That’s a fear that’s been lurking in me, this entire past week: That the Aurelians would send private investigators after me, rather than the Royal Guard.
Darr was a little too loud in welcoming me back to The Stag, and the way the Aurelians throw around money, it wouldn’t be hard to get some of those loose lips around here flapping.
“My connections aren’t turning up anything. You sure you didn’t run into any… problems during the job?”
“No, Darr, I swear it! They barely looked at me!” I snorted. “They have so many women, and all of them more beautiful than I am. I’m surprise they noticed me at all.” I found it difficult to make eye contact with him. “I found the watches, got to the market, and escaped.”
Darr searches my eyes for any trace of a lie. Finding nothing, he nods – apparently satisfied… for now.
“Good.”
Darr pauses. Then, he reaches into his pocket, and reluctantly pulls out a hefty wad of bills. “Here’s your cut from the job, by the way.”
“Gods! Don’t go flashing that around!” My eyes widen as I pocket the bills. This is more money than I made from my last three jobs.
Darr grins and places a hand on my head – like he’s petting a fucking dog or something.
“You don’t have to worry about anything, as long as you have me – and you’ll always have me.” His words might be meant to reassure me on the surface, but I catch the veiled threat beneath them.
I realize with newfound urgency
