Page 124 of Unveiled

But the vow echoes.

Connor snarled. “You touched our minds.”

We touched the bond.

The bond holds both.

As it did before.

As it will again.

Adrian lifted his head. “Connor, it’s okay. I think they’re trying to help.”

Connor tightened his arms around Adrian. “Doesn’t feel like help.”

Xiathen approached slowly. “The Wood is ancient. It does not understand you as individuals. Only as Valours.”

Adrian exhaled in a huff. “What does it want?”

The forest answered. Strengthen. Fortify. Anchor. The vow must grow.

Connor stiffened. “It’s not asking for more vows.”

“No,” Xiathen said quietly. “It’s asking for resonance.”

Adrian blinked. “Resonance?”

Xiathen nodded. “The First Two’s vow created a resonance powerful enough to seal the rend when combined with their love, their trust, their unity.”

Connor frowned. “Are you saying we need to deepen it?”

“Yes.”

Connor swallowed hard. “How?”

Xiathen hesitated.

The trees answered instead.

Touch. Trust. Merge power. Intention. Fear. Strength.

Two voices. One vow. One heartbeat. One body.

Adrian felt heat rush to his face. “Are they suggesting… Surely they don’t mean us to have sex out here, in the open?”

“The Wood seeks a unified resonance,” Xiathen said. “Something only two souls with a true bond can create.”

Adrian whispered, “And we’re supposed to have sex?”

Connor gave a chuckle. “I don’t think that was the intention. Although if it helps, I’m more than willing.” He glanced at Xiathen. “Without the audience, of course.”

“Or give something,” Xiathen murmured, “that only the other can receive.”

Adrian looked at Connor and raised an eyebrow. “That sounds like sex to me.”

Connor laughed. “You have a one-track mind. Xiathen, please put my man here out of his misery and be clear about the expectations.”

The forest dimmed, waiting. Listening.