“There it is,” she murmured. “Your aura.”
I couldn’t help but glance down at myself, but nothing seemed different to me. Guess vampires weren’t privy to a witch’s magic.
“Why do you need to see my aura?” I asked.
Selene reached out and touched something invisible—and everything inside me recoiled. Pressure burned beneath my skin like an aftershock. I gasped and jolted back in my chair, hand flying to my ribs even though nothing had touched me.
“What was that?” I demanded.
“My apologies,” she said by way of explanation.
Without another word, she returned to her seat, composing herself once more with one leg tucked beneath her rear. Then she locked her gaze with mine.
“The spell used on Thorne would leave a magical imprint. Your assumption was correct in that regard. However, without her here, without laying hands on her, I can’t track it.” She paused. “What I do have…is the next closest tether.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. And what did this have to do with my aura? And why had it hurt when she’d touched mine?
“Few in this world truly understand how a mating bond works. As witches, we have a more intrinsic knowledge of it, simply because we can see auras.”
I frowned but didn’t interrupt her.
“They are well and truly eternal,” she continued. “Even if someone were to, say, break the bond”—she tipped her head toward me—“it wouldn’t truly sever it. The only way to accomplish that, sadly, is death.”
My breath caught as her implication dawned in my head. “Are you saying?—”
“This is why mating bonds require a great deal of thought beforehand. Once you tie yourself to someone in that way, there truly is no escape.”
“So, I’m still connected to him,” I whispered, horror skating down my spine.
“Very much so,” Selene said. “You’ve badly damaged the bond. I can see the impact the separation has had. It’s why you felt pain a few moments ago when I touched it. You’ve damaged the energy that surrounds and protects you. It leaves you exposed to the universe.”
“Exposed how?” I whispered.
“It affects the psyche. The more broken the bond, the more fractured the mind becomes. If left unchecked, it can manifest as radical changes in behavior, sudden mood swings, poor decision-making, impulsive decisions. And in the worst-case scenarios, obsessive behavior, rage, even bouts of madness.”
“Hardly seems fair,” I muttered. “He screws up—quite literally—and I get the psychiatric fallout?”
Selene lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “No one has ever accused the universe of being fair.”
“Well, that answers a few questions,” Lucien said.
“Huh?” I glanced at him. “What questions?”
Ricky’s chuckle drew my attention to him. I’d almost forgotten he was here. Who knew a Wolfe could be so quiet. “Where do we start? How about leaving your cushy New Orleans home and two centuries of stability all because you saw a Craigslist ad for a haunted bar? Or how you bought it sight-unseen? Or partnered with my sister the first day you met her? Or how about getting involved with Lord Fang over here? Do those not seem like poor or impulsive decisions to you?”
Lucien turned to stone, his expression blanking.
I gripped his hand before his mood turned feral and he did something he regretted.
“Actually,” Selene interjected, “I believe Lucien is the one good choice she’s made since arriving here.” She placed her arms on the table and leaned forward. “You two possess one of the strongest bonds I’ve ever seen. His aura is actively trying to repair yours, even as we speak. I’ve only seen this once or twice before. Between true mates.”
My heart stopped dead in my chest, and my hand tightened around Lucien’s. All I could scrape out was a “…what?”
Selene smiled. “How to explain this so you understand…” She tapped her mouth, then pointed up a finger like she’d just had an aha moment. “There are mating bonds. And then there are true mates. Any couple can perform the ritual to join themselves with a mating bond. But true mates are rare. Their connection isn’t manufactured—it’s written in the blood, in the stars. It’s soul deep. Their magic instinctively responds to one another. All fated couples are mated. But not all mated couples are fated.”
This felt like a grade school math problem. But I think I understood.
She glanced at Lucien. “I’m sure the two of you felt something when you met. This kismet energy pushing you together. That sense of inevitability and need to protect one another. I know I saw it earlier after I banished that demon. I insulted you and Isadora immediately rose to your defense.”
