Page 54 of Of Magic and Murder

“No. I mean it. Come on.” Tucking Garnet’s journal under my arm, I stretch and flex my fingers, cracking them loud enough that it nearly echoes in the quiet forest. “Lay it on me.”

“I assure you, this is a bad idea.”

“Yeah? Well, it’s the only one I got. And if you don’t tell me, I’m going to keep asking you anyway.” Riordan thinks he has to stay by my side? Let’s see how much he holds to that when he finds out how determined Penelope Willows can be. “Please tell me.”

I think it’s the ‘please’ that does it.

His jaw tightens. And, finally, he mutters, “My mate.”

I blink. “Your mate?”

“If I willingly bond with my fated mate and she willingly bonds herself to me in return, the curse breaks. But I can’t use my curse to get my mate to agree which just goes to show that that witch had no idea about shifter mate bonds. First of all, a bond only begins when two people acknowledge that they might be meant for each other. It only finalizes when they both know for sure that they’re looking at forever. If my mate doesn’t choose to accept me as hers, I could bite her all I want, and all I’ll have is a bloody female who hates my fucking guts.”

Oh.

His… his mate.

I force my tone to stay chipper and bright. “That’s it? Well, that’s easy. I know you would never force your mate so we don’t have to worry about that. We just have to find the lucky wolf⁠—”

“I’ve already found my mate.”

My smile becomes shaky as I get the feeling someone slugged me in the gut. “That… that’s nice. So it’s just a matter of you finding some time to spend with her instead of me, and then she’ll see what a great guy you are, and then—poof—your curse will be broken.”

And once I find the lodestone and figure out who killed Olivia Frost, I can finally leave Moonburrow…

When Riordan doesn’t respond to that, I ask, “Does she know that she’s your mate?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I haven’t told her yet. Are we done with the questions, witch? I thought we were looking for an artifact, not discussing my sorry love life.”

He’s right, but I can’t help it. I stare at him. “You found the woman who can free you from this curse, and you haven’t told her she’s your mate?”

He huffs out a breath. “No. I haven’t. Remember what I just said? About wanting to make sure she has a choice? I’m doing that. If she recognizes me as the male she wants, maybe I can give us a try. But the first time I met her, her reaction made it clear that she won’t take being my fated mate all that well. I don’t want to push her. I don’t want her to ever think I’ll force her. I’ll live with this curse forever before I put one single doubt in her head.”

“Wow. You must really love her.”

Because that’s the emotion I hear beneath the layer of frustration that I made him tell me this. It’s love and it’s want all while I’m dealing with so much jealousy, I want to choke on it.

“I do. And I hope that, one day, she’ll love me back.”

The hope and certainty in his confession suddenly makes my irrational jealousy shrink beneath something softer.

Maybe she already rejected him. Maybe she’s afraid of wolves. Maybe she doesn’t want a mate. Whatever the reason, Riordan has obviously accepted that she doesn’t want him, and he would rather remain cursed than pressure her into changing her mind…

“I could still find another way,” I tell him.

“Pen—”

“I’m a cursebreaker. It’s what I do. Knowing the intended release gives me more information than I had before.”

“I don’t want you hurting yourself trying to fix something that already has a cure.”

“One you don’t intend to use.”

His expression shutters.