Page 55 of Titan’s Mate

“You told me you always wanted to fly.”

She flung herself into his arms. “I think you’re the best cold-weather bear ever! We’re going to fly. I can’t wait. Will there be food?”

He kissed her, long and sweet, and then kissed her again for good measure.

“Of course there’ll be food, warm-weather bear. And drinks. We’re lucky it turned out to be a sunny day.”

They watched the balloon fill as the sun rose, and then they walked over to meet the pilot. The basket was bobbing up and down, straining against the ropes and launch crew holding it down. Titan lifted her easily over the side, then hopped over himself.

“It’s a good thing there’s only two of you,” the head of the ground crew said, pushing back his baseball hat and looking Titan over with a grin. “We’d never get you off the ground, otherwise.”

The pilot turned the valve, there was a roar of flames eating propane, and the ground crew backed away, casting off the anchor line.

Another blast of flame, and they were free.

Mari never forgot the magic of that flight. It was strangely silent, the quiet broken only by the occasional roar of the burner.

The area underneath them was a patchwork of farmland, towns and forests. Mari had never been so high up before—everything looked like toys beneath them. The rising sun and shifting shadows made a constant tapestry of beauty.

Mari had thought it would be freezing up there, but the heat radiating from the burner and from the balloon itself kept it warmer than she’d expected, especially since she could snuggle up to Titan whenever she felt cold. And there was no wind at all, which was shocking. The pilot explained that they were floating along with the wind, so there was no air rushing past them.

A little ways into the ride, the second member of the flight crew set out baskets with thermoses of coffee and hot chocolate, pastries, and sandwiches.

Then Titan glanced significantly at him, and he and the pilot moved to the far end of the balloon basket, away from the two of them.

“What are they doing?” Mari whispered.

“Giving us privacy.” Titan reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a velvet box about three inches square. What on earth…

She glanced up at him, questioning, and was shocked to see that telltale flush on his cheeks. Mari said, “You already gave me this beautiful present.” She gestured around them.

“You deserve more than one present. And this one is special.”

He went down on one knee, maneuvering with difficulty in the little basket. Now they were the same height.

As tears filled her eyes, he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, with either of us. I don’t know how long we have together, or if there’s anything we can do to change what we know is coming.

“But I want you to be my mate.” Mari’s hand went to her mouth. “No, that’s not right,” he corrected himself. “You are my mate. I’ve known it for a long time. I told myself I didn’t want to bind us together because it would hurt more when you were gone.”

He raised her hand to his lips. “But that’s not true. If I lost you without ever telling you how it is for me—without honoring you and what we have—then I would regret it for the rest of my life.”

He put her palm to his cheek. “Tyr said, if we bond for real—claiming each other and invoking the magic—it might heal you, but more likely it would call the demons right to us. I know I can’t ask you to make that decision right now. But I can do this.”

He opened the box. “In my clan, when we mate, the male gives the female a token of his love and devotion, and of his heart’s submission to the bond.”

In the box was a gold pendant—a ring about an inch and a half in diameter, the edges engraved with symbols she didn’t recognize. At the bottom of the circle, the ring made a half-twist before continuing on.

Titan took it out of the box and held it in his palm, rubbing the fingertip of his other hand over the symbols.

“This means love,” he said, touching the first group. Then he touched the other side, where another word was engraved. “This means devotion.”

Then he touched the half-twist. “This means forever, without end, in all the worlds. Because you can start here at the top, on the outside, and run your finger around the ring, and you end up on the inside, and then go all the way around and you’re back on the outside, where you started, without ever breaking the circle. So it’s the outside world and the inside world, with no boundary and no end. Like a true mate bond.”

Tears were spilling down Mari’s face. “It’s beautiful,” she said, choking back a sob.

He gazed at her, his heart and his hope in his eyes. “Will you accept it?”

She knew the question wasn’t about the ring. He was asking if she’d accept his heart, and give him hers, knowing that they’d probably be parted way too soon, but trusting somehow that their spirits would stay together—if only they had enough faith.