Page 16 of Finn's Solace

"Hey, Finn. Want your usual?"

"Hey, Iris! That would be great, thanks. For both of us, please."

Her eyes slid to Levi, then returned to me. "Introduce me later."

"Yep." I led Levi to a table before Iris could say anything else. She was a witch I'd known for a few years now, and she was almost as bad as Penny.

"Do you knoweveryonein town?" Levi asked, and I chuckled.

"Not at all. Iris and Brittany are in our clan. Iris is a witch, and Brittany's her mate."

"Oh, I didn't realize you're part of a clan."

I shrugged, smiling fondly as I thought about the Mistvale clan. "Yeah, it's an eclectic mix, really. We have all kinds of supes."

"I'm guessing it's headed by the same dragon who watches over this town?"

"Raiden, yeah," I said, then shook my head.Get back on track, Finn."You said you wanted to tell me something."

"Ah, yes." Levi hesitated, his fingers tapping out a rhythm on the table. Just when he opened his mouth to speak, Brittany appeared at our table.

"Here you go, gentlemen. Two of my special ginger honey teas, and two slices of Iris's delicious lemon cake. Give a shout if you need anything else."

Grateful that she didn't linger, I took a grateful sip of my tea as I waited for Levi to gather his thoughts.

"You know the other day when Greta bit you?"

My hand shook as I replaced the cup in the saucer, and a hoarse "Mm-hmm" left my lips as I adjusted my glasses.

"Well, she told me something," Levi said, a cautious look in his eyes as he searched my face.

"What did she say?" I prompted, pushing down the hope bubbling in my chest.

"She told me...you're my mate," Levi said, his voice hushed as if he was confessing a big secret. Which he was.

It was true. We really were mates.

"Oh," I murmured, then took another sip of tea as I tried to decide what to say. Even though I'd expected it, I still didn't know.

"You don't look surprised. I thought you might know already since you're a supe as well. Is there a reason you didn't tell me?"

My eyes shot to Levi's, and I shook my head quickly. "Oh no, I didn't. I mean, I suspected but I wasn't sure. I can't sense our bond. I don't know why."

Levi's brows furrowed as he reached across the table to brush his hand over mine. The touch was warm, almost electric. "Then how did you know?"

"I told my dads about meeting up with you, and apparently, Dad's familiar also bit Papa the first time she met him, and told Dad they were mates. He's a mage too."

"Oh! I didn't know this was a mage thing. That makes sense," Levi said, a thoughtful look on his face. Then he shook his head, and his complete focus turned to me. "So, what doyou think? If you're not ready to date, or if you're not interested in dating at all, I'll understand. I'd be just as happy being your friend."

"We've only just reconnected. We spent years apart, and we've both lived different lives in that time. We're not the people we were when we first met," I said, trying to be reasonable.

"That's true," Levi agreed, then stuck a big piece of cake into his mouth, though he couldn't hide the disappointment in his eyes. Did he think I was about to reject him?

"But before, I used to have a teeny, tiny crush on you," I said, and he almost choked on his cake before waving me on to continue. "I think I'd like to go out, and see where it leads us."

Levi swallowed hard, then took a sip of his tea.

"I'd like that too. Very much."

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