The Elf Witch |Book 1|

Chapter 11

Despite Ara's claim otherwise that day, Imani was perfectly capable of making friends. Doing so in Stralas seemed like a colossal mistake, though.

"I'll do what I need to do to stay alive above all. I'll have to figure out everything else as I go, Meira." Imani said, trying to soften her tone. "I promise to find someone to feed, but I'm not there to make friends."

"What about him? He's real and could help you—and us. Do you have any idea who he is?"

A twinge of horrible happiness sparked to life inside Imani. For once, she had something her sister wanted. She hated herself for the feeling and shoved it down. If Meira ever learned what she did to him,

Imani didn't think her sister would ever understand—or forgive her.

Thinking about how to respond, Imani clenched and unclenched her fist a few times.

"No," she lied.

"Strange he didn't say anything when it burned," her sister murmured, studying the brands again. "Since your magic was bound, did it keep him from feeling the burn?"

"It's more likely he did feel it and does not want it." Malis was probably too busy protecting his cock while Ara hexed him to notice the brand burning. When he did, he hadn't been interested, and Ara had been right—he did try to kill her.

Meira gave her a look that said, don't be so wretched. "How could he not want you, liebe? There must be a good explanation for keeping him from you."

"Besides, we'd both be killed if anyone knew the truth about our breeds." Imani said flatly. "I'd say that's a good enough reason for him to stay away."

And he was a sadistic monster who deserved to die—which Imani had been more than delighted to help him do.

"I'm sure it's difficult to be separated now that you can feel the bond." Her eyes softened with sympathy.

Her grandmother still had access to her tether bond even in death. But unlike Imani, they had completed the bindings. Drawing her awareness inward, Imani searched for it. Magic fluttered inside her chest and sent pleasurable shivers through her. It was still there. Separate, but a part of her. Someone else's essence had buried and twined itself through her own.

Yet a feeling of wrongness also swept through Imani at the idea of a bond with Malis. She briefly wondered how someone might cut a tether from their soul once it was already there.

Almost as soon as the thought entered her mind, her body rejected it. Stifling a gasp, a powerful rush of rage and fear surged. It demanded this precious part of her be protected with terrifying ferocity.

Her shoulders slumped in defeat. She'd likely die if anyone tried removing it. Imani had no idea such a permanent thing fused itself to a person when the tether sigils branded the skin. Or was it from consuming him at the end? Either way, she wanted nothing to do with it.

At least he was dead.

Aralana's words came back to her again. That man will be the last person to love you.

"I'm sure he will find you soon. He's your tether. A mate whose heart is the same Fabric as yours," Meira assured her.

"Not everyone mates with their tether. Elven children can still be born to high bred chosen pairs."

Even Imani didn't believe those words, although they were technically accurate.

Infertility had plagued their kind the most. Outside the Draswood, there weren't any high-bred elves to meet and mate with. Mixed pairs had even fewer chances of conceiving unless heartmates like their grandparents.