Bound By The Past Novels & Stories

he annexed as we proceed to stride again. I stared at his back with adoration. I never thought it will be this fascinating that I can't take my eyes off of it. "Of course," I muttered in a low voice. "It is a maze and everything in it is its tricks to bewitch those who are losing their way." I never heard a single reply. It's already seen. An hour ago, that is actually what happened. But whatever the current situation is will never be the same as the past. It won't be balanced nor be collided. Present and past would fight each other as the future would merely be their witness.

Our love story was merely a pawn in a game that spanned generations, a game of power and control that threatened to consume us. At the heart of this web of deceit stood a figure from our past, someone we had believed to be long gone. Their return sent shockwaves through our lives, forcing us to confront the choices we had made and the consequences they had wrought. Adrian's jaw clenched with determination as he turned to me, his voice laced with conviction. "We can't let our past define us, Ava. We have to face it head-on, no matter how painful or dangerous it may be."

Bound not only by vows or duty, but something that ran deeper. Something that was more permanent. We were bound by blood. And lies.

he said, eyes burning with old certainty, “But what if the bloom is a parasite? A virus rewriting our minds? What if the Root-Sky Accord is an erasure of self?” I looked at him, seeing not an enemy but a reflection—a fear still rooted in the old world’s fracture. “Self is not erased,” I said, “It is expanded. The bloom does not overwrite memory. It enfolds it, grows from it.” “But at what cost?” he spat. “The cost is the fear of becoming more than you ever thought possible,” I replied. His silence was the only answer. The Boundless came to us next, the living bridges between worlds and times.

That I would eventually be repeating history, even though the present day has proven itself to be anything like that. “Looks like you are still tied down to the past,” Pularis then said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “I… thought I had gotten over it. That I was free from it all,” I admitted in shame. "It's not that you 'thought' you were free. It is more that it has not completely sunk into you that you are no longer under their control. That your past experience with them has been so deeply rooted into you, it still affects you like this."

"I just... I wanted to apologize." "For what?" His tone was clipped, guarded. "For judging you too harshly," I admitted. "I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I see now that it’s made you build walls around yourself. I just wanted to say that your past doesn’t have to define you, James. There’s more to life than pain and darkness. You just have to let yourself see it." He let out a bitter laugh. "Happiness? That’s a luxury I don’t have the time or energy to chase."

The kind only twins can share, whole conversations in a glance. “Well,” Brynne said quietly. “She is ours. Isn’t she.” I went still. “What do you mean?” Neither of them answered for a moment. “There’s no point hiding it anymore,” Brynne said. He crouched down so he was level with me, his blue eyes steady on mine. “When Blade bound himself to you, he didn’t just tie your lives. He opened you up to the bond. He can feel your past now. Your worries. Everything you’ve carried.”

Suki swallowed thickly, “You know why.” He huffed, “Of course I know why, but it doesn’t make it any better. Come on, Suki, we all know Rey is the better choice, so pick him already, before I decide to take you for myself.” His eyes darkened – truly darkened, as if the shadows had taken over and enhanced his rage. Her eyes widened, and her breathing stuttered, “Brendan, relax. You’ve been reliving all these dark moments of your past, reliving all the feelings and trauma.” She tried to push him back to make space between them, but he was locked in place.

We all knew that despite the love and unions within our individual couples, we’d need to unite as one to take on the future. Thank you for reading BOUND BY A PROMISE. If you haven't read NOW AND FOREVER, Dario and Catalina's story, or TILL DEATH DO US PART, Alejandro and Mia's story, I hope you will. The next book in the Brutal Vows series is QUEENS AND MONSTERS, Rei and Jasmine's story.