The five who were never meant to love me
"What of it?"
Aurora reached inward, toward the warmth still humming beneath her skin, toward the bond that had ignited five times over on a single night that had changed everything. She thought of Damon's voice screaming her name against a barrier he couldn't break. She thought of Ryder's laughter, Kieran's quiet loyalty, Luca's careful calculations, Elias's hidden grief. Five threads, still connected, still pulling toward her even now, wherever they were.
"They're still bonded to me," she said. "You didn't take that."