It makes me shiver. “I don’t need it.”
My father motions to Gerard. He sets the ring down carefully on the bed, then leaves. It sits there like an unspoken promise.
I know that little shard of Orb has thoughts. I felt the power of an Orb in my hands when I fired that Orb-Beam pistol. I both respect and fear the power of the Orbs.
“Natali – look at me.”
I can’t pull my eyes away from the ring for a moment. I only force them away at great effort – turning from the Orb and back to him.
Shifting my gaze was like trying to pull my hand out of a firm grip.
“Natali,” my father warns, “those three Aurelians are strangers. You don’t know what they’re capable of. I spoke with the Aurelian Law Enforcement Captain, and he’s been investigating Brennan and his triad for thirty years. Law Enforcement didn’t have hard proof, but they’d developed suspicions that the triad had done awful things to acquire Orb-material for their Empire.”
He leans forward.
“Those three are fanatics, Natali. They’d do anything for their species – even breaking their most sacred laws. The fact that they resorted to kidnapping you proves every last one of those allegations.”
I shake my head.
“They wouldn’t do…” I gulp, unable to even say the words. “They have a line even they won’t cross.” I struggle to find my thoughts.
“They’ve been suspected of breaking a man’s arm, Natali – a prospector who ended up in a hospital. Mysteriously, he also signed a deal with them that same day; providing them with mining rights.”
My father’s eyes narrow.
“That’s just the start. Now, they’ve kidnapped you. They aren’t monsters, Natali – they’re worse than that. They care about just one thing.”
I look at him. I have a new respect for my father. All this time, I’d thought he just wanted to be rich. Now, I see that he has foreseen the darkness of the approaching future, just like my triad spoke about.
I shudder, wondering if the allegations against Brennan, Otho, and Lazar could possibly be true. I’ve seen the darkness in Brennan’s soul – and I worry what they might be capable of.
“They’re smart, Natali,” my father warns. “They see the future, just like I do. So, I need you to ask them something – using the Bond, or telepathy, or whatever it is.”
I frown, but my father continues pressing me:
“Do they care about you, Natali? Or do they only want you because you can bear them sons?”
The coldness I felt looking at the Bond-Disrupter is nothing compared to the chill that finds me now.
That icy chill stems from my worst fear - that I’m truly nothing to those three warriors. That the only thing they care about is the Bond – and that if I became unBonded to them, they’d forget about me in an instant.
I hate that my father’s words ring true.
My father steps forward slowly. He picks up the Bond-Disrupter ring with reverence.
“I should have let you know sooner, Natali – about my plans for the future. About the war that’s coming. It’s just, you were always such an anxious child. You grew up, but that anxiety never left you. I didn’t want to burden you. I’ve never let you make your own decisions.”
He holds out the ring.
“But, finally, this one is yours.”
I swallow. My mouth is dry. “What if I don’t want to put the ring on?”
“I’m your father, but I don’t own you,” he admits. “I just want you to think freely. The Bond… It can corrupt your thoughts. It will pull you toward those three – but that’s not you. You need to make the decision without them. Make the choice for yourself, then put the ring on and see if you still feel the same way.”
He takes a deep breath.
“I know you can telepath to them. Just tell them you need a moment to think – and then, put it on.”
The Bond is always lurking in my mind. It’s a powerful force that can amplify any emotion. Logically, my father is right. I should make the choice with my own mind, not with the Bond corrupting my rationality.
Still, my gut told me that it was safe to be with those three Aurelians – and it’s also telling me that the ring on the bed is something I should be afraid of.
My father holds the ring before me.
“When I first heard about the kidnapping, I knew they might think you were Bonded to them. It was a feeling in my gut, so I had this shipped to me at great expense for this very situation.”
He points at the ring.
“I’m no longer in charge of you, Natali. Don’t let the Bond be.”
My father has been the one who’s designed my life ever since childhood. Now, he’s trusting me to make this monumental decision.
But is he?
If I decide to stay with these three Aurelians, will he really lobby for their freedom?
As I focus on the Bond in my mind, the power of it starts to grow. I feel it slowly building within my mind. As much as I hate to think of it, I know I need to put that ring on if I ever want to be able to make my own, logical choice.
“I need to think.”
I send the message out, and feel the twinge of anxiety it triggers.
“I’m putting on a Bond disrupter,” I warn my triad. “But it’s just temporary.”
I telepath that to all three members of my triad, and their auras turn to shock and confusion.
Before they can send me a message that will trigger the Bond again, I grab the ring my father brought me, and I slam it down around my index finger.
I thought I’d be ready for the Bond Disrupter, but I’m not – not even close.
As I pull
