Page 53 of Monster's Delight

I giggled. “Excellent point.” I sobered. “But I hate that they were in so much pain. Your grandmotherdiedbecause she couldn’t be with her soulmate.”

It was Aiden’s turn to frown. He leafed through some of the spells. “I don’t understand why her parents would treat her soul bond so callously. My mother always told me that the bond was just as strong for the woman as the man. It makes no sense.”

“I thought you said that the man’s was stronger?” I accused.

“She was the only one who ever told me differently.” Aiden shrugged.

“Can you tell me more about the bond?” I asked, curious.

“My mom told me that when it happened, when I saw my soulmate for the first time, it would feel like I’d been hit in the face.” He chuckled. “She didn’t mention that every muscle in my body would freeze up and I’d feel like I just walked through fire. The first time I saw you, I couldn’t do anything except stare. Sorry again, by the way.”

“Water under the bridge.” It was fascinating to hear about the pudding incident from his point of view. “Go on.”

“I can feel flashes of your emotions, the strong ones that you broadcast without knowing it. We need to work on your shielding. I don’t want you to have secrets from me, but I would rather you knowingly send me your emotional responses than do so by accident. It’s not fair to you.” He looked ashamed. “I should have told you sooner, but I was worried about how you would take the whole soul bond thing.”

“I understand.” I cupped his cheek in my hand, feeling the stubble already growing in from his shave that morning. It scratched against my palm lightly, and I wondered briefly how it would feel in between my thighs.

Aiden’s pupils grew and his eyes flickered with fire. “Like that,” he growled. “If you don’t want to give your ancestor a show, tamp down on that desire.”

I blushed and pulled my hand away. “Sorry. Please continue.”

“I’m not really sure what else to say.” He shrugged.

“Has a soul bond ever been broken?” I asked, flipping through the pages once more.

When Aiden was silent for too long, I glanced up at him. His face was ashen. “I can’t imagine losing that. I feel complete, for the first time in my life. Especially now that we’ve...” he trailed off and glanced at Darragh.

“Consummated?” Darragh asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Ew.” I wrinkled my nose at the painting. “Enough. I thought you went dormant when you were hidden from view.”

“It was pretty obvious why I was hidden from view. I may be a shadow of my former self, but I’m not stupid,” he replied loftily.

I ignored him and turned back to Aiden. “I have no desire to remove our soul bond, even if it was entirely unexpected. I do still have my studies and everything we discussed at the pub. I want to do well in school and make my family proud of me. As long as you understand that I need to take study time seriously, we’ll be fine.”

“And if I don’t?” he asked.

“Then I’ll make your life miserable, but never by removing a soul bond.” I stuck my tongue out at him.

“Good.” He pressed his lips to my forehead. “And don’t worry. I understand. I have to study too.” Aiden frowned. “About removing the soul bond, though...”

When he was silent for a long time, I poked his arm. “What about it?”

He blinked, his eyes refocusing. “Well, I remember part of a conversation my family had when I was younger. I didn’t understand much of it, and when I entered the room, they stopped talking abruptly.”

“You were eavesdropping on your family?”

“Not on purpose. They were yelling. Something about my grandmother risking her entire family’s magic with experimental spells, cast by a witch no less.”

“Sounds promising. Risking the family’s magic though? That’s too powerful.” I frowned. “Even the most powerful spells cast on a twenty-fold enhanced nexus point like Giza wouldn’t ripple through a bloodline like that. Magic doesn’t work that way.”

“My great aunts have always been a bit superstitious.” Aiden shrugged. “Maybe it’s a misunderstood branch of magic?”

“Like what? We’re taught all the branches of magic at school, aren’t we?”

“Ah, well,” Darragh interrupted. “Perhaps not all of them. Dark magic was forbidden in my time. And severing a soul bond sounds like dark magic to me.”

“Severing...” I muttered. “That sounds familiar.”

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