“She said that they’re all moving here,” he said without raising his eyes. “We’re going to clean up the other houses on the property. We’ll be stronger this way. The Klovoda has been hiding away in a shell for too long, allowing Weston to take the lead. Change has been a long time in coming, but now it’s here and things are going to start moving very fast.”
He finally lifted his eyes. I could feel his hesitation. Maybe he was talking about more than just the Klovoda. Things had changed with the five of us, too. The bonding had brought it all about, and it seemed to be on a landslide now, building up emotions and consequences at a rapid pace.
“I’m here,” I found myself saying. “Forget the bond. I’m here for you, Miro. We all are. Until the day we die, we’ll be here to support you. No more running away.” The hand on my hip flexed slightly, so Silas obviously knew that I was talking about him with that last statement, but I kept my eyes on Quillan, needing him to understand. “A lot will change, but that won’t. From now until the end, it’s just us. Us five. We have our own problems, but if the most powerful man in the Zev world couldn’t break us apart, then maybe our chances aren’t so bad after all.”
His head fell to the side, his lips tilted into a half-smile as he assessed me. I hadn’t clarified our relationship—it wasn’t simply up to me—but I had given him something else. Assurance. Assurance that I would be with him, with all of them, no matter what that meant. I would be with them even if they decided to live normal lives, with wives and girlfriends and children. I would be with them even if it broke my heart, because I had to do what was best for them.
Because…
Shit.
I loved them.