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’Tis not me I am concerned for. “Had I known the risk of mating with her… It is expected—even honorable—to kill in battle. But to die from absence of affection seems intolerably cruel. I sought not to do her harm.”
“Don’t give up.”
“I cannot until she takes her dying breath.”
Bram claps me on the back. “Good man. Let’s get this laggagh stone off her wrist immediately.”
My niggling doubts resurface. I grab the wizard before he uncuffs her. “You are certain the bracelet harms her?”
If she is Morgana, this alone prevents her from cursing me again.
“Quite,” Millie answers. “For her, the bracelet is a manacle trying to light up all of London using only her energy. It’s draining her system.”
“How do we know she is not Morgana?”
Millie frowns. “Her signature says she is Le Fay—quite the miracle, but—”
“If the woman in your bed was Morgana”—Bram cut in—“she’d still have days, perhaps weeks, of power under her skin. The laggagh stone blocks her from performing magic, but a witch of her strength would still be cursing, baiting, and mocking you, not near death.”
And my mate has worn the bracelet for scarcely twelve hours.
If the unconscious woman is Olivia, I have taken her innocence and made a dire mistake destined to cost my mate her life. “No chance she is Morgana reborn?”
The little witch scoffs. “Morgana was in exile even before I was born. She would be hundreds of years beyond the average magical lifespan, so she’s likely moved on to her nextlife. The only way she could return is through exceptionally powerful magic no one has seen in… well, since my Uncle Merlin.”
Millie presses a palm to Olivia’s forehead, then another to her heart. She frowns, then takes my mate’s hand and scans her magical signature with a deepening scowl. “She’s a descendant through Morgana’s son, not Morgana herself. In time, she will prove very powerful. But now, she is a normal, underage witchling.”
Guilt besieges me. “Fuck.”
“Maybe you need each other,” Bram suggests. “A Le Fay descendant might be able to undo your curse.”
Before my recklessness kills her?
Millie lays a soft hand on my arm. “Heart magic is my specialty, not future telling. But this girl… I can feel that she’s destined for importance. For greatness. She must be kept alive at all costs.”
I whirl on Bram. “My curse… You know it has denied me for centuries.”
He nods. “There is, perhaps, another way of keeping Olivia alive.”
“Aye?”
“To sever your connection with her would end her dependence on you.”
“What mean you?”
“Mate breaking,” Millie answers. “It’s rare, because we believe mates are fated. Once a pair mates, their lives become entwined. Since they need each other’s energy and pleasure, their life spans become similar. Mated pairs often have many happy centuries together. A Call is rarely issued without knowing the one they ask is their true love. And Calls are not answered unless—”
“Do you speak of magical…divorce?”
“Precisely.” Bram sighs. “With strings.”
Naturally. “Such as?”
“Mate breaking is long and painful for both parties. Excruciating if the bond is deep. Afterward, Olivia will not remember you. A witch’s mind is wiped clean so she can eventually take another mate and reproduce.”
Nay. I will never allow that.
Millie goes on as if I have not a violent urge to shut her up. “But she will always feel the pain of loss without understanding why. Her grief will linger—unless you meet again. Then her memories could return and endanger her. So if you break this bond, you must go far away and never come back.”
