MY SOULMATE

me like a tomb, its stones obedient to Pricina's whims. Walls of brick obstructed my path, confining me within four r

e color, although I could marginally reshape my body. Unlike me, Pricina could manipulate her own form and extend her dominion over the surrounding matter. Bran

every direction. Even miles away, I could discern the boundaries of my captivity. Even if I survived a fall from a window, endured the cold and the elements, I had no i

's chest. If consuming one of those stones granted me the pow

f his heart, I appropriated something that wasn't mine and absorbed it into myself. Did that mean I had taken it away from Christian, or did we both now

e uncertainty wei

t wish to commit something wrong within Christian's he

for me to ingest it. That was beyond Brandon's or Pricina's influence. The stone dictated that I was

enigmas like tidbits of a puzzle, an

t, was there any pu

*

owned figure enough to rouse him. I attempted to decipher the words inked on his neck in the third chamber. The letters etched on his skin elud

gma, and I was hesitant to complet

pressed my hands against the altar, which was

aken? I need to converse with you. I miss you, and it feel

over each of his eyes, perhaps thwarting his awakening

ashes fl

sti

uired—that I was meant to extra

ng the word "motion" inscribed on its underside. This time, I didn't attempt to resist. I placed it in my mo

t and mend the fractured bone in my forehead by piecing together the fragments. The realization dawned that Brandon and Pricina were unlikely to return, so the

s. Bone fragments, akin to puzzle pieces, floate

e remaining stones on Christian's body. One hundred and twenty-three re

onsumed had nestled upon his eye. His skin exuded warmth, and the

onsumed it. I perused the inscription on the reverse side of all the stones before ingesting them. They bor

pon its removal. However, he remained asleep. The last stone bore the word "bonded" on its underside. I slid it between my teeth.

s tantalizing. It ensnared me on every level. Removing and consuming the stones unveiled more of his perfectly sculpted body. When the stone touched my tongue, it metamorphosed into whatever I craved

r I needed to do? Or was it irrelevant, as

n on the altar opened his