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Each word made sense on its own. She even understood the sentence. But the implication…
“When you say ‘you’, do you mean me?”
Gabriella must think her an idiot, but the lady’s expression was one of sympathy. “Yes.”
“But I’m not a vampire.”
“That does not matter. I was not a vampire when Felix and I met.”
Gabriella’s earlier words came back to her.Felix didn’t tell me until it was too late.It gave Leah something concrete to focus on.
“You mean he’s known since he met me?” A recognizable anger swirled inside her, one she associated with Julian.
“Correct.”
All this time, Julian had said nothing. Gave no indication that she was his mate. Or had he? How would she have even known?
“This must be my day for stupid questions, but what is a mate?” Leah fiddled with the pen in her hand. “Julian told me that vampires had mates, but nothing else.”
Gabriella leaned back in her chair, her hands laced together in her lap. “How much do you know about vampires? Especially about how we become vampires?”
“Just that a vampire has to give you blood as you’re dying.” Leah thought back to her education. “Then it takes about one to two days for the conversion to happen.”
“That is about right, but there is more. When we are turned, we give up our soul in exchange for immortality.”
The Organization was right. Vampires had no souls. Leah wasn’t sure if her bosses knew that for a fact, or if it had been a lucky guess.
Gabriella continued, “But if we meet our mate, we have the chance to regain our souls.”
Leah noted the way Gabriella said it. She meant there was no guarantee. “How do you get your souls back? And how do you know when you’ve met your mate?”
“When we become vampires, our heart stops beating. When we meet our mate, it beats again. It is how we know. It is how Julian knew.”
“If I’m his mate, does that mean he has his soul back?”
“Has he drank your blood yet?”
Images of last night flashed through her mind. The way she’d offered herself to him. How he’d almost done it.
“No.”
“Then no. To complete the mating bond and for his soul to return, he has to feed from you.”
Leah shivered at how close Julian had come to doing just that.
He’d known. Since the day they’d met.
That explained why he didn’t drink from her. He didn’t want his soul back. Didn’t want her.
The dark thought threatened to drown her in a pit of despair. She shouldn’t want Julian to want her. After all, he was a vampire.
“Is that all? Mating is a way for vampires to have their souls back?”
“If only it was that simple.” A wry smile. Sadness suffused Gabriella’s striking features. When she spoke again, her words were measured and slow, as if she was trying to choose the right words. “The mating bond, it draws the two of you together. You want to be with him. When he’s not there, you cannot help but think about him. He fills some missing part of you that you are not even aware of until you meet him.” Gabriella’s faraway look indicated she spoke from experience.
Questions about her and Felix were on the tip of Leah’s tongue, but she didn’t dare.
Gabriella came out of her reverie before Leah could say anything and gave her a pointed look. “I’m sure you’ve experienced some of that.”
