Heat enters my cheeks instantly. “Izzy isn’t in love with me.”
Though I wish she were.
I wish for it so desperately that I’m sometimes terrified of what I’d do to make it happen, what I’d be willing to give up. I want nothing more than to be the one she smiles at. Hugs. Kisses. Confides in.
“Have you learned about mates yet?” Soraya cocks her head to the side, a strand of red hair catching in the candlelight like molten garnet.
“I know that shifters and vampires have mates.” I stare intently at my hand on the table. It’s better than meeting Soraya’s penetrating, all-knowing stare. “And I think Grayson and Ethan are hers.”
As well as Emery, Reid, Mr. Montgomery, and even that fucking asshole Ashton, who definitely does not deserve her.
“The supernatural community believes that every person has a soulmate out there, and that you’re not whole until you find yours.” Soraya pauses, allowing her words to sink in, before adding, “Warlocks and witches also have a soulmate. We call them a Blood Companion.”
I glance up at her. “A Blood Companion? I’ve never heard of that before.”
“You wouldn’t have,” Soraya confesses. “Blood Companions are rare, and finding yours can be immensely dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“We believe that a Blood Companion holds the other half of a person’s magic,” Soraya explains, and her sullen tone causes a shiver to ripple down my spine.
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Soraya licks her lips. “It would be…if the majority of witches and warlocks didn’t kill their Blood Companion as soon as they meet.”
I stare at her in shock, certain I heard her wrong. “I don’t understand.”
“A lot of witches and warlocks believe that by killing their Blood Companion, they'll be able to reclaim the other half of their magic and be all-powerful.”
A viscous sensation swamps my stomach. How could someone do that to their soulmate? To the person they’re supposed to love and protect?
“Discovering someone is your Blood Companion isn’t as easy as it is for a shifter or a vampire. You can’t just inherently tell by looking at someone,” Soraya says, her eyes searching mine. “Usually, it’s a…feeling. Like, a need to constantly be around this person. To see him or her smile. To hear his or her laugh. Before soul magic was banned, those who possessed it could tell just by looking at their auras. They would be…blended together, so to speak, until it’s impossible to differentiate one from the other.”
She seems to be telling me something, but I don’t want to get my hopes up.
Is she suggesting…?
No, she can’t be, can she?
My heart pounds even faster in my chest.
“The way to tell for sure is by manifesting the bond—or at least, attempting to.” Soraya levels me with an indecipherable stare.
“H-how do you do that?”
I can’t breathe past the tightening in my throat. Can’t think. All I can hear is the sluicing of blood between my ears and a high-pitched, keening noise, like the whistle of a train.
Soraya’s lips twitch. “It’s simple, actually. You just…kiss.”
“Kiss?”
“Kiss,” she confirms with a nod. “That would reveal if there’s a bond or not. Then you can partake in an official ceremony to complete it.”
Kiss.
I just need to kiss Izzy.
“W-why are you helping me? Helpingus?” I ask Soraya.
