"Hey! I was trying to make sure you were completely on board."
“Well, I am, so catch up here. Now I’ve gotta bite you and then repair myself and—”
“Technically the bond is supposed to be created during sex, so this will probably hurt,” I explained. I hated to cause him pain.
"Except I’m a freaking spirit angel, of course I can wield spirit magic."
Against all odds, I laughed. "Says the guy who hasno ideawhat he’s talking about."
"I do! Maybe! Don’t doubt me."
"I wouldn’t dare,” I promised. “Can I do anything to help?"
“I just need you,” Max said. “Kiss me."
That I could definitely do.
We kissed and kissed. Mouths falling open and tongues rushing to meet each other, desperate and clumsy in our haste. Mate bonds were supposed to be created during passionate moments, when people were lost in their feelings, so I thought about all the love I felt for him and kissed him with everything I had.
Did it work? Nothing feels different. No, it totally worked. But why do I feel the same? Are you there? Where are you?
“I’m right here,” I breathed, then pressed our mouths together again. Not sure whether I said it out loud or not.
Had Max been speakingintomy mind? Wow, the supernatural community would love to know that was possible and not just an ancient rumor but maybe Max was a special case.
It takes one to know one,he thought. Then,oh, no wonder this feels about the same.This bond is new, but he’s been part of me for a while.
God, I loved when he unexpectedly said the sweetest things.
I’ll fix up my body. You take care of the rest.
Alright… how exactly did I do that? As soon as I wondered, I sensed the intruding magic in him.Uh, shoo?It began slipping away. That easy? Oh. With Max, the bad magic was crackling static electricity like a forcefield. But I was able to touch it and wipe it away.
We were mates. Together, we’d be just fine.
24.Nice to Meet Me
Max
When I burned and came close to exploding, I saw things. Visions of the past and future. There was a comfort in them. Not just for the glimpses of answers to questions I struggled with but the idea that there was already a future out there where everything worked out. That all I had to do was believe in it and find how to get there.
I recognized one place in my visions.
The last time we came here, Lysander dropped me off. This time he walked hand in hand with me. Frost also accompanied us. We might not have much in common, but if we were the only angels on Earth, that linked us together. Maybe we’d find more common ground one day.
Frost viewed the parking lot skeptically, searching for a reason for our visit just like I did once before.
"I had no idea what I was looking for when I came to this spot.” I spoke as the three of us worked our way closer to the building. “I thought I’d find people or answers. But now I know why I wasn’t strong enough to escape the Brokers or expel their magic. My answers were here, just not how I expected them."
With the intruding magic removed, my spirit was stabilizing. This was how I’d been before the Brokers captured me. However, I wasn’t entirely complete, not yet.
Looking around, an ordinary parking lot and closed down seafood restaurant greeted me. But now I felt this buzzing, something calling to me.
"This was the first place on Earth I visited. We landed here.” Looking at it from a new perspective it wasn’t much. But back then, “A forgotten place but it’s peaceful. I thought it was beautiful.”
“You remember,” Lysander said.
“Yeah, it’s started coming back.”
