Dark Matter

by Christie Rich

  Tabitha shook her head warily. “Would it have been easier if a stranger stood here before you?” she asked.

  But Taveon was a stranger to me. I had only dealt with him momentarily back at school. He bowed low before me, mimicking the first time I met him. Somehow the gesture didn’t seem as meaningful as it probably should have. He was as distant as he had always been.

  I shook my head firmly. “I will not be bound to someone else’s bondmate.”

  Taveon laughed. “Jessica was given to another.”

  “But…” I eyed him up and down, trying to ignore his dashing good looks. His deep brown eyes met mine and stayed there. I couldn’t read him at all.

  He was coldhearted. That was all there was to it. How could he do such a thing? He’d been all over Jessica when he brought her here. I had just assumed he had been bound to her. I wasn’t sure I was ready to be connected to him in any manner. Thinking about Jett was bad enough, but at least I understood where he was coming from now.

  “Have you chosen one of them then,” asked Tabitha hopefully.

  I glanced at each lord, my heart racing in my chest. My hands felt cold and clammy. With a tiny smile, I hid them in the folds of my skirt.

  For a moment I considered just getting it over with. Heath was a good option. I was still stunned that he might actually love me. Should I take a chance with him? But what if I was wrong? It wasn’t as if I could just divorce him.

  The feelings I’d had for him on the island were easy to recall. My longing notwithstanding, if I was sure of one thing, I couldn’t allow myself to trust my emotions. I had similar recollections with Luke and Zach if I was being fair.

  Until my family was safe and the Order dealt with, I had to keep my options open even though it pained me to do it.

  “You have all really agreed to do this?” I asked looking for some sign of dissention among them. Each man was as serious as a person could get, wearing stony expressions that left no question to their answer. I swallowed hard and squared my shoulders. “Well, then, boys…which of you wants to go first?”