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“Because we aren’t yet bonded, our powers can only manifest while we are physically touching skin-to-skin. The more surface area we connect, the stronger the exchange between us becomes.”
“Hmm.. I wonder if they make adult-sized baby wraps.”
“What?”
“You can strap me to your chest like a naked baby. I’ll fight the guys behind us and you fight the ones in front.” She chuckles at what I presume is a joke.
“Focus,” I chide her. She huffs and holds up her right palm again, waiting.
I nod, “Keep trying.”
After what feels like no time at all, a tiny amount of red mist forms a higher concentration above her palm. Mira gasps, and I have to stop my own startled surprise. She’s actually able to give it some direction.
“I did it!” she cries.
I stare at her, almost unbelieving. My brows furrow over my nose.
“Well? What does red mean?” she asks, as the mist sputters and dissipates back into a general aura as her concentration breaks.
“Well, red can affect the future of other souls, bestowing luck or misfortune for small bursts of time. But-”
“I can give people luck?”
Confirming with a nod, her face erupts with pure elation. The corners of her eyes crinkle tightly as she hops to her feet.
“Oh, my god! I did it! I’m a wizard! Let’s go to Vegas, so I can make it raiiiinnnnn,” she laughs with hands clasped tightly beneath her chin. Her eyes are glazed over, far away imagining what? Winning dollars to use in the human realm?
“But listen, it is not so simple-” I try to interject.
As if she doesn’t hear me, she bounces on her toes side to side.
“This is awesome. I want to see what I can do!”
“You can’t do anything yet.”
“Why not?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, a tension headache coming on as I get to my feet. Towering over her, I try to talk some reason into the woman. “You’ll need to do a lot more than create an unformed misty aura if you actually want to use it. The Red Order is filled with the most elite magic users. Those who have wielded it for hundreds of years still have trouble with mastery. It’s the trickiest one to get right by far. Maybe it would be easier if we were to bond.”
I trail off meaningfully. Raising an eyebrow at her, she snaps her head to look me dead in the eye. Raging anger floats from every pore in her skin. She stops bouncing with elation, stomping up to me instead.
“Stop. Asking. You disgust me. Your personality and behavior are abhorrent, and I can’t believe that someone like you is supposed to be my soulmate. I’m not interested in fucking you. I can barely stand to touch you. Maybe I’ll curse you with bad luck and make you get hit by a bus.”
I gaze into those beautiful, heated eyes. This is what I wanted. Distance between us. Right? This is better. Easier. I’ll have time to focus on reuniting my soul Shards and liberating my people. The bond will happen. Our fondness for each other is not required. The bond might take longer to snap into place that way, but that’s ok. Long term, it will save me much more trouble.
Still, the words sting. Hints of hopelessness swarm my chest, threatening to pull me down. I’m a mess, ready to release these spiraling emotions.
Mira and I will never love each other. The two are not synonymous; mating is an act of necessity for my kind. We just need to mate one time, then we will be able to access Chroma.
I am fractured. I cannot love.
And I will not promise it. Not after what happened to me. Not after my fracturing.
I fix her with a look. “Eventually it will happen, Mira. You can resist and protest all you want, but soon you won’t be able to breathe without this power inside you. You won’t want to. Your life will become muted and devoid of all meaning without it. Despair will threaten you at every turn until you hold it again. Trust me. Now, try again.”
Chapter Eleven
Mira
