Page 51 of Awakening the Dhampir

Damon rose to his feet. I craned my neck to look up at him. He hadn’t removed his hand from his chest, and without a thought I reached for Lorna’s mark on my own skin.

“Is it possible that the fae embedded something in her DNA as Nathan suggested?” Damon asked.

I rubbed my chest, feeling the tiny bird move under the pressure.

“Not that I know of,” I said. “It’s very difficult to create a spell that would last in a living body. It would have to be attached to an inanimate object inside of her. I’d think that human doctors would have found a foreign object in her body, if there was something there.” I glanced at Nathan, who still stood across the room with a glass of blood in his hand. “I see the same thing you do. This mark is more than just a mark. The bird appears intelligent. The fact that I can feel it move only adds to the mystery. But I’ve never seen a spell that can create something like this. If the fae had one, I never knew it.”

I turned back to Damon, then Elliott, then gave my full attention to Nathan. “I don’t see how they could put a spelled object inside a fetus while it was still in the mother’s womb. Most supernatural species have accelerated healing, but that would be extremely risky. And for what purpose?”

I dropped my hand from my chest and rubbed my sweaty palms against my thighs. “The Winter Court had no idea that I planned to destroy their research lab. I didn’t even know until a few days beforehand. How would they know to put a spell inside an infant designed to find me later?”

The harsh look on Nathan’s face softened just a little. He leaned against the bar and rubbed his temples. “So, the fates are messing with us?”

Damon moved back to the bar. Elliott dragged his fingers through his hair several times. Nathan’s gaze never left my face.

“I honestly have no idea, Nathan,” I replied. Elliott raised his head, drawing my attention. “Obviously, I only get one soulmate, so I’ve never felt it before. But this connection is so real. So right.”

Not only did I provide a calming influence for Lorna, but she gave me a reason to live. Before Lorna, I’d just been existing—going with the flow but not enjoying life. I needed her as much as she needed me. Maybe even more. While she was gone, I couldn’t focus. My mind refused to think of anything but her. I didn’t care about anything but finding the other half of my soul.

“And you don’t care if you have to share her?” Elliott asked.

I almost looked away from the pained expression on his face, but I sort of understood where he was coming from.

“It’s not that I don’t care,” I said. “Jealousy is new to me, and I’m not sure how to handle it. But my bond with her seems to smooth over the ache of seeing her with Damon.” I didn’t stop the smile pulling at my lips. Some of Elliott’s tension eased with mine. “My need to make her happy and protect her is more important. The fact that Damon also wants to see her smile makes it that much easier.”

Elliott stood and turned to Damon, who leaned against the bar watching us. I couldn’t interpret the look on Damon’s face. I’d sort of expected him to give us the speech about not second guessing our magic, but he didn’t.

“Damon?” Elliott only said the demon’s name, but we all heard the question.

Damon growled. “I’m uncertain. I despise uncertainty.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. Everything was always black and white for Damon. I’d never heard him voice any insecurity.

“I agree with Kenrid, though,” Damon continued. “The connection is real, and I’ve felt it since the moment I saw her. But Nathan’s theory is concerning, even after Kenrid’s explanation.”

“What do we do?” Elliott asked. “I’m not sure I can keep my wolf from claiming her. And what if …” He shook his head. “If I reject her and she really is my soulmate, I’ve thrown away the only opportunity I get to have my one true love.”

The three of us turned to Nathan. My reaction was based on habit. He was our leader, but how could we expect him to make a decision about our mate? That was always a personal choice.

“I can’t deny my mate,” I said before Nathan could reply. “She is part of me. I’ve already promised her my soul, and she did the same.”

Damon crossed the room and stood next to my chair. “Neither can I,” he declared. “No matter what the fae have done, she is mine. I’ll do whatever is needed to protect her and make her happy.”

“Well, shit,” Elliott grumbled. “Will you give me time alone with her?”

“Of course we will,” Damon said.

I nodded in agreement. A troubled expression creased Nathan’s brow as his gaze danced between us. I hoped he would give us some clue to his own thoughts. Did he also see her as a soulmate?

“None of this is normal,” Nathan said. “If it were anyone other than Lorna, I’d say do whatever you want. As you’ve both said, you only get one soulmate. But Lorna’s circumstance is different.” He took a long swig and wrinkled his nose. “I also feel the pull to her. Vampires don’t have fated mates, so I have to assume it’s her dhampir magic calling me. I should be able to resist her and keep a level head. If I notice something is off, I need you all to listen to me. I understand your first instinct will be to deny any wrongdoing on her part, but I can’t allow anything to develop that will hurt our clan or our future.”

I wanted to argue with him but stopped myself. He was right. We couldn’t be objective when it came to our mate.

“Agreed,” I mumbled, then cleared my throat. “You’re right, Nathan. It’ll be impossible for me to do anything other than protect my mate.”

Damon growled next to me, and Elliott echoed his response.

I thought I saw a flicker of disappointment on Nathan’s face. Was the pull he felt really her magic or something more? He said vampires didn’t have fated mates, but humans did. They were extremely rare—so rare that humans didn’t even realize it was a thing. I wasn’t convinced that vampires were exempt from fate. Vampires were once human, after all.

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