Page 113 of Protect Me

A few minutes later, Adaya sits back from where she leans over my abdomen, tending to the healing cuts that make a jagged pattern across my skin.

“Everything seems to be healing nicely,” Adaya says.

“It’s that disgusting tea,” I tell her, earning a laugh.

“I’m glad you’re following my orders.”

She gathers up the wrappers from the fresh bandages she’s just used on me. I sit up, careful not to put too much weight on my hand since my elbow is still sore from my fall. That, along with my hip, is still tender, but thankfully, the fracture in my hip is slight and doesn’t require anything beyond taking it easy.

“Thanks, Adaya,” I tell her as she packs up and heads for the door. “For everything.”

“I’ll tell you what I told Duncan,” she says, “You three are lucky to have each other. The bond you share saved your life.”

“Bond?” I ask, confused. “You mean the one they share with each other?”

Her brows dip. “And the one they share with you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“They felt your distress,” she says, angling her head as she studies me. “Do you not realize that you share a mate bond with your men?”

“I...”

I blink, completely caught off guard by her words.

Mate bond?

“That’s not...” I shake my head. “We haven’t, uh, mated, in that way,” I say, stumbling over the words.

Have we?

Wouldn’t I know if they were my mates?

Her lips quirk up in amusement as she watches my expression. “That may be, but there’s a bond between you nonetheless.”

I open my mouth to argue and then decide it’s not worth spilling more of my sex life—not when I have a feeling Killian and Duncan can probably hear every word of this conversation anyway.

“Be well, Sway,” Adaya says, a gleam in her eye.

“You too,” I tell her as she lets herself out.

I brace myself, fully expecting Killian or Duncan to return with some comment or explanation about Adaya’s wild claim. But no one comes, and the longer I sit here, the more restless I become.

I didn’t agree to a mate bond, nor can I afford it. Not when I have no choice but to leave them all behind.

Finally, I realize sitting here in this room is only prolonging the inevitable. Every day that passes is another debt I owe D for letting me stay past my contract date, and now that he’s summoned me, I know I can’t put off the inevitable anymore. But I refuse to let this end on his terms.

Tossing back the covers, I make my way to Bracken’s closet where all my worldly possessions hang on very few hangers. After pulling on a shirt and pants, I snag a bag from the bottom of the closet that Bracken brought home with us last time we went to the carnival and stuff my remaining clothes inside.

If the Ringmaster intends to kick me out, I’ll take my leave standing on my own two feet and my chin held high. I might have come here broken and in a heap of mangled limbs, but I intend to walk out with my pride.

In the living room, Killian looks up from where he’s helping Duncan onto the couch. “Moving from a bed to the couch is not the kind of mobility I asked for,” Duncan grumbles.

My heart squeezes at the sight of them, but I shove away the emotion that bubbles up at the thought of saying goodbye.

Their gazes both lock onto the bag I carry.

“What’s going on?” Killian asks, his voice uncharacteristically cool.