She hadn't spoken to Devin since the grove.
And that silence was louder than any conversation could have been.
Elora sat beneath the edge of the veranda, knees pulled to her chest, the blanket draped over her shoulders catching the faint morning breeze. The warmth of his embrace still lingered in her skin, even if her mind fought to push it away. Not because she regretted it.
But because it scared her.
A partial bond. That was what Mira called it. And now that she knew, she could feel it—a delicate string tied from her heart to somewhere far away. Faint but real. A tug in her chest when he wasn't near. A phantom ache in her palms that remembered the shape of his hands.
Elora tried to meditate, tried to distract herself with chores, with patients, with books. But none of it silenced the awareness.
Of him.
She should stay away.
She had to.
And yet, when she closed her eyes, she saw his.
The knock on the front door was rushed, uneven.
Elora jumped to her feet, pulling the blanket tighter as she ran to open it.
Elora eyes lit in happiness.
Jessi.
She looked pale, trembling, her lips slightly blue.
Suddenly the smile disappeared from Elora's lips.
"I don't feel right," Jessi whispered.
"Jessi?"
Jessi fell forward
Elora caught her before she collapsed.
"Jessi!!" Elora yelled alerting Mira who rushed out.
As Mira's face landed on Jessi pale face, Mira breath broke.
---------
They laid her on the couch in the study, Mira already at her side, checking pulse and temperature, muttering under her breath. Elora stood frozen nearby, every part of her trembling.
Not Jessi.
Anyone but Jessi.
Her best friend. The girl who made her laugh when no one else could. Who never judged her for being strange. Who saw her, even before Elora knew what she was.
And now…
Elora saw the flicker in her eyes. The same twitching. The same shallow breaths.
"Ashbreath," Mira confirmed quietly.
Elora stumbled back, her hand over her mouth. "No."
Mira didn't speak.
"She was fine yesterday!"
Mira nodded slowly. "It moves in silence, Elora. By the time the symptoms show, it's already settled in."
Elora turned away, collapsing to her knees beside the fireplace, shaking. Tears dripped down her cheeks before she could stop them.
She pressed her palms to the floor. "I can't lose her. I can't lose anyone else."
Mira's voice was steady. "You won't."
Elora looked up, eyes red. "You said that before."
Mira met her gaze. And this time, there was no evasion. "I've started something. A plan. Dangerous, but it might give us what we need."
Elora leaned forward. "Tell me."
"No."
"Mira—"
"You'll know when the time comes. But you must trust me."
Elora gritted her teeth. "You're asking me to sit here and watch her die."
"I'm telling you," Mira said softly, "Jessi has time. I wouldn't say it if I wasn't sure."
Elora's hands trembled. "But how much time?"
"Enough for me to act," Mira said. "Enough for you to hold on."
Elora closed her eyes, fighting back another wave of sobs.
Because if she lost Jessi, she knew that bond in her chest wouldn't be the only thing that broke.
_______________________
Devin hadn't seen Elora in two days—not properly.
Not since Mira told him to stay away.
But he felt her. The thread connecting them wasn't easily silenced. Every time the wind shifted through the trees, every time frost kissed his palms without warning, he knew. Somewhere near, Elora was aching.
And tonight… it pulsed with urgency.
The same pain but worse struck his chest.
He knew it was Elora's emotions.
What happened?
______
He found himself unable to stop walking again—not toward her house, but just close enough. Down the crooked trail that ran past the withering hawthorn trees, past the edge of the herb fields Mira tended in secret. He stayed hidden behind a stand of dry-barked rowans, watching the quiet cottage cloaked in moonlight.
He told himself it was just to make sure she was safe.
But that wasn't true.
He wanted to see her.
Just once.
The house was dim, lanterns flickering through the fogged windows. Then—movement. The door opened. A figure stumbled inside, carried between Mira and Elora.
Devin's chest tightened.
Who was that?
Was It another victim of a plague? judging from the intense pain in his chest it must be someone close to Elora or Mira.
He pressed his back against the tree and closed his eyes, feeling the cold rise through his boots, the ache lodge itself under his ribs. He had promised Mira he would stay away. That he would watch from the sidelines. That his presence would do more harm than good.
But every time Elora was dragged deeper into this nightmare, a part of him—the part Mira warned him to suppress—wanted to tear the whole town apart to protect her.
He made research about the link.
It said that a partial bond is fragile and too sensitive which explained why he continuously felt Elora's pain.
He also read about nullification of a partial bond.
It was possible but had a side effect, it might create a crack and make a source venerable to usual things like dark energy.
He would never considered nullifying the bond but he wasn't sure if Elora felt the same.
A partial bond if agreed by two parties can be completed into a full bond.
That way feeling Elora's emotions would be bearable.
_______________
Later that night, back at the estate, Devin sat in the frost-laced conservatory, watching moonlight shatter against the glass.
And above all… of the burning pressure in his chest when Elora cried in his arms.
It was more than sympathy.
More than care.
He was beginning to understand the bond Mira had spoken of.
And it terrified him.
Because if it was real—and it broke—he wasn't sure either of them would recover.
"Yo! " A voice called out
Elias, ofcourse