Page 56 of Immortal By Morning
She considered him briefly, wanting to believe him, and then asked, “Just me? Or do you simply not have those two skills for some reason?”
“Just you,” he admitted.
“Why?”
Crispin hesitated and then said slowly, “There are three different reasons for why an immortal cannot read a mortal. First, there have been cases where mortals with brain tumors were unreadable to immortals. That is not always the case though. I gather if the tumor is lodged in a certain area, it can block an immortal from reading them, but in other areas of the brain it will have no effect on that skill at all.”
Abril supposed that made sense.
“Another reason is insanity. Immortals sometimes cannot read the mind of an insane person. I do not know if it is because their thoughts are too disorganized and chaotic, or their brain is diseased, but they can be impossible to read.”
“Well, as far as I know I don’t have a brain tumor, nor am I insane. I don’t think,” she added with uncertainty, and then smiled crookedly and pointed out, “I mean, insane people don’t usually think they’re insane, do they?”
“You are not insane, and you do not have a brain tumor,” he assured her. “The others can read you, so the first two reasons are not why I am unable to read you.”
“Which brings us to reason number three,” she said, and when he didn’t respond right away, she tilted her head and said, “Three must be really bad if you don’t want to tell me what it is. Am I dying of something horrible like mad cow disease, or—”
“No,” he interrupted with dismay. “The last reason is not bad at all. At least, I hope you will not see it as bad. I hope you will be as happy as I am to hear it.”
Abril’s eyebrows rose slightly, and she pointed out, “The only way we’ll know is if you tell me.”
Crispin nodded, took a deep breath and then said, “The third reason for an immortal to be unable to read a mortal is if they are a possible life mate.”
“Life mate?” she echoed with relief. Honestly, that didn’t sound bad at all compared to mad cow, late-stage syphilis, or any of the other diseases that could damage the brain. “What is a life mate?”
Twenty-Four
Abril’s question echoed in Crispin’s head. “What is a life mate?”
This was where the conversation was going to get tricky. The answer to this question and how she would take the news was the important bit. It made Crispin almost wish he could call out to his uncle and have Lucian explain about life mates. Problem was, his uncle was an ass, and would employ neither tact nor concern in explaining and that probably wouldn’t help his odds in convincing Abril to be his life mate.
“Crispin?” Abril said finally when he had been silent too long. “What is a life mate?”
“A life mate is...” Crispin began and searched his mind desperately for the perfect way to explain this to her. Finally, he said, “Because immortals can read mortals and any immortals who are younger than them, as well as be read by any immortals older thanthemselves, it is difficult for us to spend a lot of time in social environments.”
“Social as in bars, dance clubs, etcetera? Or social like people at all?” she asked for clarification.
“Pretty much people at all,” he admitted.
“Huh. That can’t be good for their mental health,” she commented.
“No. Not very,” he acknowledged. “Centuries alone can make an immortal...”
“Go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs?” she suggested when he hesitated again. When he then blinked at her in confusion, she tried, “Cray, cray?”
His eyebrows drew together in bewilderment.
Abril rolled her eyes and then reeled off a list of words. “Bonkers? Crackers? Barmy? Gaga? Bananas? Batty? Unhinged? Crazed? Daft? Stark raving—”
“Yes,” he interrupted finally, amusement pulling at his lips as he got the drift of what she was asking. But he did pause to wonder when insanity had become synonymous with the names of various foodstuffs like bananas and crackers? Never mind the rest of the words she’d used. What even wascray, cray?
“So being alone a lot makes rogues insane, and...?” she prompted when he didn’t immediately continue.
“And when immortals go mad, they usually go rogue,” he said simply, and when she stared at him, he said, “The truth is they are probably suicidal, wishing to end their very long existence, but have not the courage to end their own life and so act out to ensure someone else does it for them.”
“So, rogues are basically committing suicide by Enforcer,” she said. “I get it. But what does any of that have to do with what a life mate is?”
Before he could answer, she asked, “Is a life mate like a girlfriend, or wife, or something?”
