He felt more level-headed—and less hopeless—in the morning. He had been jumping to conclusions about his connection to Zach, he reasoned, and simply needed more information. He was tempted to skip classes for the day to have another go at the library, but he suspected that he lacked both the research skills and the access level to properly tackle a restricted topic like soul bonds. And besides, there was someone in his class he absolutely needed to talk to—Briam, the student with the fire drake familiar. Surely someone already soul-bonded to another being, even if it was to a magical animal instead of a human, could tell him more about those blasted things.
“I see your family has given you a fire drake of your own,” he said conversationally, sitting down beside Briam and ignoring the thr
