Page 154 of A Winding Wave of Magic
“And did they satisfy you?”
I snorted. Caitlin looked like she understood completely.
“And did you want a baby with any of them?”
“Gods, no,” I said, shaking my head vigorously. “Last thing I want.”
“There’s your answer. You’ve little in the way of defenses, but if you felt no real desire for him, it would be awfully hard for any plain man to get a babe on you. He’d have to be the best lover you’d ever had, enough to makeyoulose control. Do you follow?”
I did. Until just recently, my abilities had stymied just about every romantic interaction I’d ever had. Losing control was completely out of reach for someone like me.
Except.
That kiss. Jonathan’s face appeared unbidden in my mind, and the memory of his hands on my skin sent tremors through the rest of me.
In Dublin, I had felt totally consumed, the chatter silenced.
Control? Yeah, there wasn’t much of that with him.
I shoved the thoughts from my mind and focused on the confetti of dust dancing in the rays of sunlight shining through the windows.
Caitlin arched another sardonic brow. “Don’t bother hiding it now. I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and now I’ve Seen more. But Jonny’s lived like a monk most of his life to keep his immortality intact, just like his wretched dad before he met Jon’s mother.”
“I didn’t say?—”
“Sure, and you didn’t have to, love. It was written all over your face, not to mention your thoughts.”
I scowled. I couldn’t deny the connection between Jonathan and me, but I certainly didn’t want Caitlin and Robbie to think I intended to force mortality on him either. Or on myself.
I sat up. “Wait a second. How oldisJonathan?”
Caitlin cast her gaze to the ceiling. “Oh…let’s see…Robbie brought him home just after the Great War, and he was six then. That would make him near one hundred and twelve or so.”
I blanched. I had been making out with a centenarian. Gross.
Except it wasn’t. Not even a little bit.
Caitlin gave a deep throaty cackle that only put me in a worse mood. With the memories of Jonathan’s kisses, the bristle of his stubble against my cheek, and the shared energy that made me tremble…yeah, his age paled next to the effect he had on me. And the thought of losing that made the sunlight outside seem quite gray indeed.
At that, Caitlin’s laughter silenced. She sighed sympathetically, then stood.
“You must give him up, Cassandra,” she said softly as she cleared our dishes. “And now you know why.”
I sighed and tucked my legs under me to burrow farther into the corner of the couch. “Even if we could remain celibate?” I asked weakly. Gods, I sounded like a lovesick teenager.
From the sink, Caitlin snorted.
“We could,” I said weakly.
No matter how many times Jonathan said it couldn’t happen, he still reached for me, still couldn’t stay away. He had one hundred and twelve years of practicing self-control. What were my chances?
“You must give him up,” Caitlin repeated, though not without sympathy. “You’d never be able to stop a pregnancy, and if that happens before you turn thirty-three, you’d lose everything. It’s why you’re here and not your mam. She gave up her manifestation when she fell in love with your father and had you. And you must reach your zenith to take your place on the Council, Cassandra. Penny’s legacy, her place on the Council, the chance to find Caleb Lynch and bring him to justice—all of it relies on you making it to thirty-three.”
When she returned to the couch, she took my hands in hers despite the fact that she knew I’d See into her mind better than she could See into mine. She was frightened to the core, which, in as little time as I’d known Caitlin, wasn’t something I’dever imagined. But her Sight verified what I had already suspected to be true—that the connection between Jonathan and me was more than just lust. It was potent, primal, and extremely dangerous.
She set my hands back into my lap. “Look. If it were some silly island fling, some boy you cared nothing for, I wouldn’t speak a word. But it’s too important for you not to know.”
“But you and Robbie,” I burst out before she could continue. “You’ve been together for years, since Jonathan was a boy. Over a hundred years!” I practically choked on the number. “But youdidn’t have children until Bronagh. Either you managed to stay celibate for all that time?—”
