Teak swallowed, looking down at her lap for a moment. “No strenuous exercise. I’m sorry. Walking and stretching only for now. Your body might appear fine, but you need to very carefully monitor yourself for a little while to make sure your symptoms are getting better instead of worse. Of course, if we knew who your mate was, you could simply complete the bond and you would heal much faster.”
“What if I don’t want to complete a bond?”
The nurses all stiffened, glancing at each other. One of them diverted his attention to Teak. “She’s clear to go tonight. Should we inform her father?”
Teak waved her hand. “I’ve been in touch with him. I’ll inform him.”
The nurses quickly scrambled out of the room, and Isobel sighed, sitting up straight and crossing her legs, examining the bandages on her arms. She was so dizzy, so tired already. “What did my father say?” She fiddled with the bandages, not having the heart to look up at Teak as she asked the question.
She wasn’t surprised to wake up and find her father missing.
“He asked if you were fit to return to a full filming schedule,” Teak replied firmly, a hint of emotion catching in her voice, which she cleared her throat to cover. “He was called away for work, but he wants you up and running as soon as possible. He’s asked for me to arrange extensive physiotherapy and counselling to minimise the damage.”
Isobel scoffed, glancing back up. “And my other question?”
Teak stiffened, shifting in her chair. “What if you don’t want to complete a bond?”
Isobel nodded, waiting.
“Well …” Teak blew out a heavy breath. “I’m not sure you’ll have a choice. That’s the storyline Ironside is chasing. They’re very impatient to find your mate, though the Alphas are, admittedly, providing plenty of entertainment in the interim.”
“We’re very entertaining,” Theodore agreed, but his usual charming tone was dulled, his voice carrying a subtle strain of some kind.
“But you aren’t her mate,” Teak said, digging into the inside pocket of her jacket.
Isobel watched the other woman’s hand, throwing her walls down with a wince and reaching out carefully to test Teak’s emotion. Suspicion. She sipped at it, drawing it in as slowly as she could. It was painful. The effort to use her ability and the concentration required for her to wield it with so much control was almost too much. She could feel her energy slipping away with every second, but she refused to go any faster. If Teak felt her intrusion, she would do far more harm than good.
Teak pulled out a little torch and Isobel pretended not to notice it. Even Theodore seemed to be pretending not to notice it. She could feel most of his muscles against her back, shoulders and arms, and he kept his entire body deliberately relaxed, curved around her in a calm, loose way. Apparently, both of them had been thinking of the possibility that Teak might try to test Theodore’s eyes at some point. They were both prepared … but a few minutes of preparation didn’t really amount to much.
“If Isobel was my mate, she would be wearing my mark all over her body,” Theodore drawled, tightening his arms around her.
She kept siphoning off Teak’s suspicion, one tiny drop at a time, hoping the other woman wouldn’t notice … but it was hard to concentrate because Theodore was once again proving himself a phenomenal actor. He had inserted just enough gravelly possession into his voice, twisting it with the right amount of torment and longing. And then he gave a small, self-aware laugh, making Teak blink at him. He was probably giving her a beautiful, perfect, heartbreaking smile. She was probably questioning everything she thought she knew about the world and falling under his spell just like everyone else did.
Her grip on the torch loosened, and she smiled back at him, mirroring whatever heartbreaking expression he wore, her eyes flitting over his face. “She’ll never forget what you’re doing for her.” She tried to console him gently. “What all of you are doing for her. Right, Isobel?”
Theodore brushed his cheek against Isobel’s, folding his legs and wrapping strong arms around her middle until she was lifted fully onto his lap. “But especially me, right, Isobel?” He nuzzled near her ear. “I’m your favourite, aren’t I?”
He was probably trying to remind Teak that there were four other Alphas all acting as surrogates, so Theodore couldn’t possibly be her mate. Apparently, a true mate couldn’t stand other people touching the person that belonged to them. But whatever his game was, it was short-circuiting her brain. She melted in his arms, the tremble easing from her limbs.
“You’re very good at that,” Teak noticed, watching Isobel turn into a puddle.
“But not good enough to be the real deal,” he returned with a forced casual tone, trying—and failing—to mask the hint of agony that rode his voice.
Jeez. Talk about laying it on thick.
And … Teak was eating it right up. She surreptitiously slid the torch away, her other hand twitching like she wanted to reach out to him. The woman was one big, bleeding heart. Isobel very carefully, very slowly slid her wall back up, cutting herself off from Teak before she could pass out.
“Um …” Isobel interrupted before they could devolve into sobbing and wiping each other’s tears. “Is there anything else, or would it be okay if I go now? I want to walk out of here while I can still walk.”
2
Sigma Sponge
Isobel wiped her sweaty hands on her shorts, staring at the door to Dorm A. Kilian had left clothes and toiletries in her hospital room—she knew it was him, because they carried his earthy bergamot and bark scent. After showering, washing her hair, and dressing in small cotton shorts and a long-sleeved sweatshirt, she felt much more like herself. Even if the sweatshirt was Kilian’s.
There was a light sheen of perspiration dotting her skin from the slow, easy walk to Dorm A, even though Theodore had ambled along beside her slower than she had ever seen him walk before. Whenever she tried to speed up, he had touched her elbow to slow her down again, completely ignoring the students who stopped in their tracks at the sight of them, phones whipping up to snap pictures. She didn’t catch any of their whispered words, but the Vermont attack—as Teak had put it—was probably big news. Bonded people were important to the Gifted, and Isobel had never even heard of a bond infraction or soul infraction before, let alone known of it happening in the time she had been alive. Granted, her only source of gossip had been the human news, and they didn’t particularly bother with what happened in the settlements, only what happened at Ironside.
Theodore looked down at her, not pushing her to enter the dorm. “Doing okay, Illy?”
She turned her head up to him, her lips curving, her smile tremulous. “Nope.”
His expression was drawn, his Alpha ring shrinking to a thin, gold line. He was holding back so much emotion and he was so good at it, but now that they were alone and there were no cameras watching, she could see the cracks. She could feel them, too. His energy was sneaking out like a whip to crack lightly against her skin. It was sharp, electric, and restless. She rarely felt Theodore’s power like a physical force, likely because he had spent his entire life trying to escape it.