Page 62 of Last Gift: Supernatural Battle

“That was your goal,” Sven said, snorting. “Wild had already decided to have you.”

Spyne’s mouth was ajar. “You mean a mating ritual like Vissimo, Luthers, and demons go through? That’s…”

“Impossible?” Huxley supplied. “We thought so too. And yet each step in the ritual was a romantic one. We were able to divine that it was a mating ritual, and that the process would grant Wild and Tempest with gifts along the way.”

“There have been six steps thus far,” I said. “And each has unified us more closely, marked by the passage of twin runes that appear on us.”

I lifted my T-shirt and showed him the three runes on my stomach, and then the two runes on my upper arm—though the gateway rune had altered after another step in the ritual to reflect the forming of the initial three-strand bond.

Spyne was shaking his head.

“It’s a lot,” Huxley murmured.

“It is.” The grimoire cut off, then said, “Magus have never had mates before. Why now?”

Corey answered, “We only have theories. The chief one being that magus are the only race amongst the strongest supernatural species that do not possess the mating gift. We know that mated Vissimo and Luthers are stronger. We believe the Mother may be ensuring balance amongst the top four by granting us the phenomenon too.”

“Which could mean that more magus may follow suit,” Spyne mused.

I lifted a shoulder. “We can’t know for sure. But the Mother appeared to Wild during the last step in our ritual. Wild and I share a bond unlike usual magus bonds. We believe this connection is what enabled the Mother to grant me a fourth affinity during the battle with the demons, almost as if she used Wild’s grimoire affinity to graft one onto me.”

Spyne sat back. “The Mother’s hand is in this, that’s for certain. We can only guess at her design, but that you are here and in this with Wild is her design too.” His focus lifted to my face. “You are not involved with darkness.”

“I am not.”

“But why not tell the coven the truth from the start?” he asked. “Why let it reach this state?”

Because I’m a demon, I wanted to say. But I wasn’t about to tell Spyne everything. We’d wait and see how he managed knowing this much. “Because we weren’t sure what it was for a long time. There was just Wild struggling to control himself, and then runes being carved into us. There was just an undeniable push for us to continue through the ritual that I wasn’t sure I wanted. There was… a lot, Spyne, I won’t lie. On a personal level, there were many hurdles to get over, and every step was plagued by uncertainty.”

“Being in the situation while things unfold is different from hearing about it when most of the puzzle has been figured out,” the grimoire replied.

Yes. It really was. “The prince and pack leader elicited a strong response in Wild that wasn’t missed,” I said next. “Coven members are putting together their own version of the truth. They have no idea a mating ritual could be possible. I understand how they’ve reached their verdict.”

Spyne pursed his lips. “Their verdict has been helped along by their motives. Fear, spite, nefarious purpose, and uncertainty too. I would not be too understanding in this matter. You are guilty of no crime in regard to the mating ritual. I believe it’s something to celebrate, and something to learn from.”

I didn’t want anyone to look at my life under a lens.

“And does the black smoke come with it?” Spyne queried.

Rooke froze, and it took everything in me not to do the same. “Black smoke?”

“It’s part of what people are saying. That your skin was smoking during that fight you had with Corentin in the battle learning center.”

The one where I’d scorched the ceiling.

“And I saw it myself when you started to heal Wild after the battle with the demons,” he added. Spyne seemed to notice the silence.

I answered a beat too late. “If the smoke is to do with the mating ritual, then Wild hasn’t yet experienced the same.”

Spyne nodded and seemed to sense he shouldn’t ask more.

Huxley drew him in, and Spyne flashed him an open smile. My guilt only increased at the sight of their new closeness. My secrets weren’t just a wedge in the coven, they were a wedge in my friends’ relationship. I did my daily best to keep everything in perspective, but my mind kept reminding me that my secrets were biting me in the ass, one after another after another.

“What’s that?” Spyne broke the quiet not long after. “I’ve always wanted to ask. I sense knowledge in it.”

Sven was half asleep from the ministrations of Rooke playing with his hair. Corey was meditating after his outburst.

Oh, why not. “That’s my quipu. It’s how I store my knowledge to make connections and links.”

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