Page 73 of Threadbound

Jamie swallowed, his throat too tight to even think about putting more food in it. “Then what way?”

Bran deliberately built a spoonful of cake and ice cream, then stuck it in his mouth, pulling the dessert off the spoon with lips and tongue. “It means that our Fates—our innate magic or life-force, if you will—are linked. That we are destined to be connected.”

“Destined? Like… what? Soul-mates or something?”

Bran let out a soft hum. “I suppose you could call it that,” he replied.

Jamie’s stomach twisted in a weird mix of excitement and terror. “Aren’t soul-mates supposed to be…” He couldn’t say it. Couldn’t finish within love, because it was impossible to think about being in love with Bran because he had no idea who or really even what Bran was.

“It’s not like your movies,” Bran replied.

“You watch human movies?” Jamie asked, surprised.

Bran’s lips twitched. “I have seen a few,” he replied. “Curiosity, mostly.”

“A few?” Asking about movies was much safer than whatever the fuck this thread thing was.

“Two,” Bran admitted. “One of them was about cartoon animals.”

Jamie couldn’t help the snort of laughter that came out of him. “That might not be the best representation of human society,” he warned, teasing Bran slightly in spite of himself. He shouldn’t be this comfortable with an inhuman fae. With an inhuman fae who had some kind of magical thread tying them together. That thought chilled his amusement.

“What does it do? This thread?” he asked again.

Bran sighed again. “It joins us. Links our lives. Our magic.”

“But I don’t have any magic.”

Bran shrugged. “All living things have magic,” he replied. “Some more than others, but all life has magic.”

“So if you die, do I die?” Jamie asked.

“No,” came the answer. “I think—I think you would feel it? But no. If I die—or if you do—the other one of us will survive.”

“So you need me for what?” Jamie asked. “What do I need to do?”

“You dinna have to do anything,” Bran answered, his voice extremely soft. “My magic stabilizes just by being near you.”

Jamie swallowed. “And that’s why you’ve been following me? For months?” Part of him was deeply disappointed. Because it meant that Bran’s interest in him was purely instrumental. It was all about his magic—not about Jamie at all. He was basically just a human magic-battery.

“Aye,” Bran answered, and it felt like a punch to the gut. “But also no.”

“What does that mean?” Jamie felt like all he could say, over and over, was the same question.

“It’s why I started following you,” Bran answered.

“And it’s why you came back,” Jamie whispered. Bran himself had said as much.

“Aye,” Bran admitted, his vivid green eyes focused down on his bowl. “But it’s not why I came in tonight.”

Jamie’s heart started pounding. “Why did you come in, then?” he asked.

“Because I enjoy your company.” Bran’s lips twitched. “And your cooking.”

Jamie felt one side of his mouth curve slightly upwards, almost against his will and definitely against his better judgment. “In reverse order.”

“I canna say which was more important at the time,” the fae hedged, although Jamie thought he could sense teasing in Bran’s tone. “But now I’m full of food, so that seems less immediately important.”

Chapter

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