Page 79 of Taste of Fate

He moved my hair aside and kissed my nape. “There’s still time.”

“I know. That’s what I told myself when I woke up and saw her.” I leaned back, knowing I would find his chest to rest on. “Do you need blood?”

“Not yet, love.” His fingers traced the column of my throat. “Have you given any thought to our blood mate ceremony?”

“I’d completely forgotten, actually. How is it supposed to go? It’s a big deal, right?”

“Yes, because a blood mate pairing is so rare. All of Sanguine will turn out to witness.” He gave a playful squeeze of my waist. “No pressure or anything.”

“I mean, it can’t possibly be worse than handing myself over as a sacrifice in front of everyone I’ve ever known.”

Cyan’s laugh ruffled my hair. “You handled that extremely well. I was so impressed by you that night. And look where we are now.”

“Yeah,” I said wistfully, looking at Amy’s face. Who knew if she’d be alive and well if I’d made a different choice back then, but I’d never change what I found with Cyan.

“The ceremony can be almost anything we want,” he said. “It’s a lot like a human wedding, from what little I’ve seen. Except that it’s a more public event. And since you’re human, there will be a blood-binding ritual.”

“What does that do?”

Cyan was silent for a beat, and his voice was quiet when he answered. “It’s a type of blood magic that will share my life force with you. So you and I will live for the same length of time and age at the same rate.”

I turned and looked at him, excitement sparking in my veins. “How old are you, anyway?”

“One-hundred and fifteen,” he said. “Which makes me one of the youngest clan members. We reach adulthood at one hundred. So I have about seven hundred good years left in me.”

My jaw dropped. “Holy shit. You know that’s more than seven human lifetimes?”

“Yes.” Cyan almost looked bashful, his eyes lowering and teeth gnawing on his lower lip. “Are you sure you want to spend all those lifetimes with me?”

I spun to face him and flung my arms around his neck. “That sounds like a great length of time to come up with new wine recipes.” Our laughter came together in smiles that kissed. “And I really can’t imagine who else I’d rather spend all those lifetimes with, than the one who picked me up and held me together at the hardest time of my life.”

Cyan held my face and kissed me deeply. “You make me wish for an immortal life. Because I’m certain seven human lifetimes with you will never feel like enough.”

His words and his lips were a balm on the ache that gnawed deep inside me. If my grief was a tidal wave, he was a sea-facing cliff, strong enough to withstand and protect me during the most furious storms.

When our kissing slowed, I rested my head on his shoulder, and his arms braced in a protective hold around my back.

“So, do you want to make the wine we serve at the ceremony?”

“Hm.” Musing on that thought, I kissed his neck with a smile. “I’m thinking hard cider actually. Apple and maybe cherry.”

“I like the sound of that. Can I help?”

“If we’re really sealing the deal in front of all of Sanguine, you better help.”

I almost missed the gentle sound under his laughter. It was barely anything at all, just the rustling of a blanket. Either one of us could have made that sound, but something made me look at Amy.

And I saw her moving.

“Cyan!” I gasped, clutching his arm. “Is that—is she…?”

“Yes.” His palm rested on my back. “Be calm, love. She’s going to be confused.”

My heart pounded so forcefully, I thought it might break through my chest. Amy’s arms were pushing her blanket down to her waist. She was still pale, her eyes still closed, but she moved as if waking from sleep.

I stared, unable to blink as she stretched and rubbed her eyes. Her mouth even stretched open in a yawn. After feeling her weak pulse fade to nothing, after seeing how utterly, eerily still she became after her breathing stopped, it felt like I was watching a miracle happen.

I wanted to smother her in a hug and cry out all my relief and happiness on her shoulders. Some instinct was throwing off alarms at how unnatural this was, and that was probably what held me back. The dead just didn’t come back to life. Not unless you gambled on fifty-fifty odds and had a vampire willing to help.

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