The warmth from his body bled over to mine as he sat down beside me, and he squeezed my hand lightly, not realizing the impact that small gesture had on me.

It was an utterly foreign sensation; a strange and somewhat unpleasant feeling began to flutter in my chest. I quickly realized it was panic. When was the last time anyone had held my hand like this? Had my father? My mother? Kris always went for a hug.

“You are going to be okay,” Vlad said.

The way he spoke made it seem like he knew I would be okay. And for some reason, I believed him. My panic subsided, and instead, calm washed over me. We stayed quiet for a long while, my mind combing over the events and emotions I’d experienced since arriving at Court, which seemed like eons ago now. It was almost as if my brain had rebooted.

“Vlad,” I said. “Do you know if it’s possible not to have a soul-mate bond?”

He looked at me with a funny expression, like I’d just asked the strangest question in the universe, and perhaps I had. In the Hellenicus’s universe, anyway.

He chose his words carefully. “We’re all taught about how special the bond is.” He tried not to sound patronizing. “How magical the experience is and how we should be grateful for this gift that the gods have given us.”

“There isn’t a way.” I sounded dejected.

“I didn’t say that. There’s this—”

His phone rang, keeping him from going any further. He answered the call and quickly ended it with, “We’ll be there soon.” He slid his phone into his pocket and stood. “That was Adrian. We should get going. They’re already there.”

Vlad walked back to the bathroom to put his towel away. I tried my best to stifle a groan. I was so damn close to the answers that I needed. What bad timing! Now I was back to square one.

But a second later my annoyance turned to delight as I realized that he had confirmed one thing: there really was a way to avoid having a soul mate. I just had to find out how.

Chapter Thirteen

The second we got out of the Hyped and into the street, I jumped back to our unfinished conversation. I was grateful that we walked to Royal Bar. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to be in any vehicles without being reminded of both Bryan and Carlo. “What were you saying about the soul-mate bond?” The frustration was apparent in my voice. I wasn’t sure if I would get another chance to speak to Vlad alone again this evening once we were at Royal Bar.