Oh shit.
Black marks almost identical to Felix had appeared. The marks spiraled up her arms, across her collarbone, down her ribs, and legs. She studied her arm, calmer than she should have.
“What are they?” she asked.
Felix swallowed. “They’re mating marks,” he said, his eyes roaming her body in disbelief. “You’re my mate.”
The walls started to shake.
Thirty-Two
Felix
The cave was goingto collapse, but at least Felix would die inside of Avery. What a way to go. Knotted inside hismate.The marks confirmed it.
Mate—it was a word that swirled around his mind. It was the only way to describe his connection to Avery that made sense. Nothing had ever felt more right. She was his, and not even the goddess could take that away. At least he hoped anyway. Panic flooded his system.Avery.
Using his body, he covered Avery from the loose rocks falling from the cave’s roof; sharp fragments pelted his back, bouncing off and plopping into the water. Lights pulsed in an erratic rhythm. Then, as fast as it came on, it stopped, plunging them into darkness.
Fuck. It was the goddess. It had to be. Felix held onto Avery tighter, as if holding onto her physically would stop the magic from tearing them apart. His eyes tried to adjust to the dark, but he couldn’t see anything. It was as if someone was intentionally blinding him.
“What’s happening?” Avery’s voice quivered.
“I’m not sure, little witch,” he said, hackles raising. His knot eased, and he pulled out of her in preparation to fight the invisible force that wanted to separate them. One day soon, he would knot his mate completely, staying there for as long as he goddamn liked. Well, as long as Avery wanted him to. Felix’s shadows shot out, covering them like armor.
The blood from where they had bitten each other seeped into the water. It absorbed it like a hungry mouth, making its own river before it branched out across the wall like an intricate spider web with its own beating heart.
Slowly, the unnatural starlight died down to embers, plunging them into the dark. He didn’t let go of Avery. Not a fucking chance. He placed his head against her, realizing her chest wasn’t moving.
“Breathe, little witch.”
She shuddered out a deep exhale. “I’m your mate?”
The lights exploded again, blinding him for a second. Felix rarely flinched, but this time he did, fear and adrenaline racing through him as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the brightness. And when they finally did, he saw a familiar face.
“Bingo!” the goddess said, cackling manically to herself. Just like the tree, she had carved herself a face, this time out of rocks.
Felix rolled his eyes. “Fucking hell, you scared the shit out of us.”
“What’s the point of life if you don’t terrify people just a little bit?” The goddess smiled and the hairs on his arm stood up. The last time he had seen her, she had sent him into an uncontrollable frenzy. If that happened again, he would kill her. Somehow. The goddess peered around him, as if actually looking for his good bits in the water.
Wait. “Were you watching us the whole time?” Felix snarled.
“Perhaps.” The goddess laughed. “It would have been rude to interrupt. And what a show you two put on!”
“Oh my goddess.” Avery pressed a hand over her face.
“Yes.” The stone face looked insufferably pleased with itself. “Exactly.”
For a moment, there was silence. Avery tightened her grip on his arm, and her anxiety rushed through him. He knew exactly what she was about to ask, and he desperately needed the answer.
“Are you going to break the bond?” she asked.
The goddess let out a bellowing laugh, enough to shake the cave again, more loose stones falling from the top. “You really think I would go to all this trouble just to break you up? This is the most fun I’ve had in centuries.”
“So…” Avery said, confused. “You’re not going to break it?”
An unnerving smile pulled at the goddess’s lips, the stone cracking with the force. “Just the opposite. You are mated for life under myverywatchful eye, the first witch-shifter mate bond in thousands of years.”
