(JASPER'S POV)
The tunnel was a throat — narrow, black, and breathing. We went in single file, heads bowed, hands on the walls. The smell was appalling. I'd forgotten how much I hated the air of this place, how it coated your tongue and stayed there, sweet and rotten, like a lie.
And Ethan, behind me, found the only thing he'd been thinking about since he heard the word.
"Jasper." His voice in the dark was hoarse. "You never answered me. What did you mean by 'your mate bond?' With — with Gilbert?"
I kept walking. The tunnel curved and I had to duck.
"Answer me."
"Gilbert is my fated mate," I said, into the dark. "The gods bound us. I don't know why, and I don't know why they were being kind, but that's the truth of it. It's how I found him. It's how I found all of you. It's how I'll track him in that palace, and it's the reason I'm standing in this tunnel instead of sitting at home waiting to die." I paused. "So yes. Ethan. That's what I meant."
