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.”
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.
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?”