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“What happens when a wizard mates with a woman?”
“Well, he Calls to her. Meaning that he speaks ritual words offering his eternal vow. If she wishes to accept, she Binds to him by speaking ritual words in return. Once they’re mated, if she’s human, she assumes a magical lifespan equal to her mate’s, which can be up to a thousand years.”
A whole millennium? I’d say that’s rubbish, but his face doesn’t show even a bit of mirth. “You’re serious. If a wizard mates, does he…love her?”
“Always. Forever. Above everything and everyone else.”
“Auropha was your?—”
“Yes.” His face tightens with grief. “Or she would have been once she’d grown. Another decade, and I would have Called to her.”
My heart breaks for him. “I’m so sorry. How many years did you wait?”
He flashes me a sad smile full of memories and regrets. “Fifteen. Since the day she was born. Damnedest thing. I kissed the tears from her infant face, and…suddenly she had my heart. I would have done anything to protect her.”
“But you never touched her?”
“Sexually, no. She was far too young. A child. But I knew. As Auropha grew up, she knew as well. We’d begun to talk about our lives together… We both looked forward to the day she was old enough to mate.”
The poor man. He loved her deeply, and he never had the opportunity to make her his. “But you had to power your magic with others while?—”
“Yes, or I wouldn’t be here.”
“Of course. But wasn’t Auropha hurt by your infidelity?”
“It’s not like that for magickind. Unless one is mated, powering up with varied partners is normal, encouraged even. For us, exchanging one lover for another is a bit like deciding to eat a sandwich one day and pizza the next.”
If the energy derived from sex is life sustaining, I suppose that makes sense. But the concept is so foreign…
“I’m sorry you and Auropha never got to… Is it possible you’ll find another mate someday?”
“It’s not impossible, but highly unlikely.”
“So…a mated wizard can find another woman, then choose her instead?”
“Only in rare instances, mostly when the mating is motivated by something other than instinct, like a political match. In those circumstances, if a wizard meets his true, fated mate…it can happen. But if he’s following his heart when he enters the mate bond, he is hers forever.”
“He can’t…cheat?”
Tynan flashes me a rare smile. “Impossible.”
I nearly sigh with relief, then catch myself. Ronan has never kissed me, and given the hundreds—maybe thousands—of women he’s shagged, if he hasn’t yet found his mate, he’s unlikely to press his lips to mine and decide I’m “the one.”
“Interesting, but Ronan merely wants to make me one among his long list of conquests.”
“I wouldn’t be too certain. I overheard him. Bits, mind you, but he favored you far above another perfectly acceptable female.”
“Because I’ve said ‘no’ each time he’s tried to seduce me.”
“I might have agreed, except he said you were like a fever to him.”
“Lust.” I shrug.
“That’s true for humans. But wizards often begin to sense their mates even before a taste. A fever is a good description.”
My heart nearly stops. I grip the bar to steady myself. Ronan wasn’t feeding me a line? Is there any chance I could be more to him than a potential conquest? “Are you certain?”
“Quite. I remember my fever for Auropha well.” Depositing a few bills on the bar, Tynan stands. “Good night.”
