The Gathering of Masters: The Bond Once Severed Book 1

20. A Confrontation

The dawn light streamed into the room, and Natalia turned restlessly. She remained between sleep and awake when she saw Lukas by the window.

"I have found it. I have escaped," he declared. The lack of shadow falling on the floor before him the only indicated that his form had not fully solidified. His control had returned. He projected with his mind but had not transported his corporal self to the room. "Your Master has adjusted the barrier for me, so I am not using as much power to be here as I thought I would." Natalia lit up with joy and reached to wake Raja, wanting to share it with him.

"Let him sleep." Lukas' harsh tone gave Natalia pause, her hand stopped mid-motion, and she laid it back on her lap, giving Lukas her full attention. "He will wake soon enough. I see he is keeping you close to him." Anger flared in his eyes as he glanced between Raja and Natalia. "You have bonded with him."

"Yes." She regretted Lukas finding out this way. She wanted to tell him herself, to explain what had happened, though Natalia still didn't understand the bond she had formed with her former husband's mate.

"I felt the bond as I was pulling power from Raj. I did not understand what I felt at first. When I had time to analyze it, the bond was clear." Lukas ran his hand through his short hair, bringing Natalia's attention to the contrast between his current form and what he presented in Mindspace. The avatar he projected into the Vale, was it his proper form? His chiseled face remained as handsome as she remembered but now held so much more darkness. This difference provided another reminder of how much distance stood between when they had been in love and the present.

Natalia stood to close the gap between them and continue the conversation further away from the bed. Not that physical distance was likely to matter, but she wanted Raja to continue sleeping. "We did not bond purposefully; I don't know how it happened." Natalia suppressed her ambiguity and anger at the bond. She knew this upset Raja the most and would likely wake him. "I did not desire it."

"Another forced bond?" His anger flared again, and she saw Raja stir. He must have felt Lukas's rage through his connection with Lukas.

"No, not forced, just unexpected," Natalia answered quickly and reached out for the semi-solid form, pulling back before her hand passed through Lukas' face. "You say you are free? Are you safe?"

"For now, I am both." Lukas turned away from Natalia and glanced out the window. She wondered how much he could see. "Are you happy?"

The question surprised Natalia. Was she? "I don't know, I am not unhappy, but I am not sure what to feel now. Everything is different."

"Everything is different," Lukas repeated and looked back at Natalia. "I do not understand how our bond was broken. How did the Queen find it?"

"She did not. It was done later, after your rescue, to save you by a Fire witch of great power." She felt his anger rise again. Even without the bond, she could still sense his feelings so clearly. "Don't be angry. She was kind to me in her way. She did what I could not bring myself to do but knew should be done. I knew you survived and escaped, which I would never have learned otherwise."

"Then, Raja would have known," he snapped, his voice tight.

"Yes, I knew." Raja's voice caused Natalia to flinch, but Lukas remained unperturbed.

"You knew she lived," Lukas accused with a scowl and clenched his fists, prompting Natalia to take a step back. "You hid her from me."

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"I," Raja paused and sat up, looking from Lukas to Natalia with more emotion than Natalia had ever seen pouring out of his eyes before he put his head in his hand. Regret was the feeling Natalia felt the most, traveling through their connection and fear. "I did not want you to find out this way."