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“Speaking of mates, I think I’ve found someone who might be my real mate.”
This interruption came from Lana Rogers. It was common knowledge in Mystic Springs that Lana had entered an arranged bond with her mate. By all accounts, it was a loveless pairing. Like most witches who had given in to the pressure to enter an arranged bond, Lana knew that she had missed out on finding her true match. I didn’t doubt that it had to sting.
Several times, Jack had told me that one day, I would feel the same way about him. I, however, knew in my heart that Jack Beaumont would always be my mate.
Belinda let out a long-suffering sigh, and I suspected that this was a point of contention for the two. “Well, don’t dawdle. Tell us who he is.”
“Jack Beaumont. He’s a cop on the force in Mystic Springs.”
My blood ran cold as I barely heard anything that transpired after Lana’s speaking Jack’s name. I was fairly certain that Belinda and Grace were now arguing over something, having moved on to other topics, but I couldn’t concentrate on any of it. It was background noise to the turmoil I was feeling in my gut.
I studied the woman. She was beautiful. Poised. More worldly than me, and I knew she had at least three kids with her current mate.
I also knew that Jack was older. Centuries-old. Rumors circulated that he had been a police officer in London during the time of the Ripper. There was even some speculation that he had been the one to take the man down and thus the reason the killings had stopped. Likely rumor, but the man was almost mythical in witchkind circles.
This woman was probably more his speed than I was. I was young and damaged by what had happened to me. He saw me as the unfortunate victim of a force bond. One that had accidentally caught him in its snares.
I’d heard that comparison was the thief of joy, but the only person I could think of as a thief was this woman.
Could she really be Jack’s mate?
“Are you alright?” Rainbow asked, leaning toward me.
“I think I just need some air,” I whispered back. “Tell them I had to take a call?”
Pulling out my phone, I made a show of checking it as Rainbow gave me an understanding nod, and then, as quickly as possible, I made my way out of the house.
My heart was pounding. Amazingly, even after the abduction, I’d never been prone to panic attacks. I had always been able to calm myself to the point that I could level out my breathing. Me? Out of control? Hardly.
Now? I felt like I couldn’t breathe. It was like the feeling that I’d felt when Jack had earlier told me that maybe I should leave Mystic Springs and find a warlock who could make me happy.
Someone who wasn’t him.
Was this why he had said that? Did he want to share whatever sort of life he could share with a witch who was already bonded with someone else? Maybe they commiserated. She had been bonded to someone she didn’t want, and they had bonded Jack to a witch he’d never dream of wanting.
My body ached. Hurt. I gulped in a lungful of cold air and watched as the white cloud exited my body on release. Focus on it. Focus on anything other than this gnawing pit of dread at the bottom of my stomach.
The one that whispered that I could finally lose Jack once and for all. For so long, I’d tried to content myself with what little I could have of him. What was wrong with me?
“They’re a bunch of gossipy old biddies, aren’t they?”
I turned to see Rainbow approaching me with a sardonic smile. It was the smile of a woman in on the joke. No one had better gossip than Rainbow Carmichael, and she knew it. What she — and some of the rest of us — knew was that she never used that information for evil.
“I just had to get out of there.”
“Because Lana thinks that she’s somehow Jack Beaumont’s true mate bond?”
I snorted. “You’re too astute for your own good, Carmichael.”
“I’m a gossip is what I am.” But we both knew that wasn’t true. I didn’t know exactly what Rainbow’s game was, but there was something methodical about the way she peddled gossip in Mystic Springs. I’d been a woman on a mission long enough to recognize another one. If Rainbow was keen to tell someone what that mission was, though, it wasn’t me.
“He’s my mate, Rainbow,” I said, bracing for the shock. I’d never actually told anyone that Jack was my mate, other than Maggie and my parents. My grandmother knew something was askew, but I’d never given her the full rundown. She lived somewhere else, anyway. It wasn’t as if she would know Jack Beaumont from any other warlock she ran into on the street.
Rainbow sighed. “I know.”
My head snapped to Rainbow. I had expected her to be surprised. Maybe even incredulous. I wondered if Rainbow was a telepath. Telepathic witches were rare, but I knew there were some witches out there who could at least hear the thoughts of others.
Rainbow fidgeted with the edge of her hoodie and, at that moment, I’d never seen the witch look younger. “This is going to sound weird.”
