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She reared back. “What? Why? What happened?”
The chuckle following her rapid-fire questions held no amusement. “Yeah, about that… I made a pass at Blaire.” He shook his head at the shock no doubt twisting her facial features. “She and I developed a connection. A friendship. While she and Lukas fought against their bond, she relied on me, and I did what I always do. Look out for people.” He shrugged.
She didn’t see how that equaled making a pass at someone spoken for—or were they then? She didn’t have the chance to ask because he continued.
“I grew to feel attraction toward her. I didn’t find her physically attractive when we met. I mean, I didn’t think she was ugly. I just didn’t consider her in a sexual way.”
Her eyes widened. Aiden wanted to have sex with Blaire? Her belly flip-flopped with an unwanted sour feeling, and she tasted bile. Something coiled tight inside of her and she pushed it down, unwilling to acknowledge it as jealousy toward her best friend.
“They weren’t getting along, and I figured if she didn’t want a bond with him, and he didn’t want one with her, then it wouldn’t hurt to shoot my shot. I wouldn’t have even bothered if I knew they felt anything for each other.” He scratched his leg, averting his eyes. “Turns out they did, and I felt like an ass. Lukas forgave me, and Blaire and I remained friends, but we still have this weird connection that even Lukas can’t deny.”
That creeping sting of jealousy resurfaced. She hated it.
“I mistook my feelings for her, though. It was a combination of a couple of things.”
“What things?” She hated that she sounded pissy.
His brow rose. “You’re jealous? I knew I felt something… but it didn’t make sense.”
She bit the inside of her cheek and looked at his pillows.
“Charlotte.”
She looked at him.
“There’s nothing romantic between Blaire and me.”
Intellectually she knew that, but she couldn’t stop the feeling.
“That’s another part of an early bond. Jealousy. It’ll always be there, but it’s never more potent than in the early stages of a bond. For me, it’ll always be there. I know it. I’m not even going to deny it.” He shifted and bent his knee again. “But yeah, nothing between her and me. The Oracle—”
Before he could ask if she knew who that was, she held up her hand. “I’m familiar with her.” She smiled when he laughed, nodding.
“So, the Oracle revealed Blaire and I share a connection. We all do, actually.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sort of like kindred spirits. We’ve all found each other in some way or another throughout the years. Except Dom, Layla, Mera, and Kai. Be it as siblings, lovers, friends, or whatever. Lukas, Blaire, Riley, Seth, and me. She said there was a sixth, and I’m starting to believe that was you since you’re my Korrena.”
Her hands twisted in her lap.
To be tied to someone’s soul—five other someones—to exist over and over, finding them and sharing a lifetime, only to repeat the process again when the time was right, sounded so surreal. Any more surreal than magic, resurrection, and another species not documented by humans?
“Blaire and I share a different connection though, and it influenced my actions. I felt drawn to her because centuries ago, two lovers were murdered, and in their final moments, their pleas to never part were heard by whoever is watching over us. Their will was pushed forward through time until Blaire and I were born.”
“Wait. You’re reincarnated?”
“No. I thought that at first too. The connection of the six of us is a reincarnation thing, but not this. We carry the will of that couple to never part from each other, in whatever way that may be.” He shook his head. “It’s crazy to think about. They loved each other so much that they couldn’t accept death without leaving that love in the world to never die.”
“So that’s why you wanted Blaire?”
“Yes and no. It helped push it along, but really, I can’t feel attraction to someone without having an emotional connection with them.”
“You’re demi?”
“That’s what Mera says, but I don’t put a label on it. I just know what I read about it fits.”
She knew about demisexuality. Her ma was demisexual. When Charlotte looked into it, because she didn’t understand how her ma could be a lesbian and demisexual, she discovered that being demi wasn’t about which gender a person felt attraction to. It helped her learn more about her ma, and now it helped her better understand Aiden.
