Page 212 of A Winding Wave of Magic
“Oh?” The Mage’s head tipped to the side, almost as if he were tasting a command for the first time.
Jonathan straightened. “You want her? I’m coming too.”
The Mage examined Jonathan for a minute, his eyes sparkling the color of bright orange flames.
“But the bond isn’t permanent yet.” Beside us, Celine seemed like she had been waiting to announce that very thing.“Mage Mbotu said as much.”
“We all know the costs of mating in full,” Jonathan snapped. “Considering that Ms. Whelan isn’t manifested, I wouldn’t have dared to interfere with that process. The full mating bond can wait a few years more.” He grimaced at my confusion but continued speaking. “Council members, look and See. The bond is already forming without physical consummation. It is strong enough to demand my presence. Do you deny it?”
The chancellor’s eyes lit up with even more power, and both sirens at the table lifted their hands again toward us in response. Though I couldn’t physically see the others’ power, Ifeltthe subtle exploration of the single seer’s invisible prodding. No doubt the shifters were using their supernatural olfactory senses too.
So, we’renotmated?I asked him.
We are. Or will be. It’s…complicated.
And I gather what’s missing is the one thing you avoid.
Guilt threaded through his touch, though he quickly pulled it back.You didn’t know everything. Now you do. And I…it should be your choice to be my mate. Completely, anyway.
I looked at him, and his green eyes met mine forcefully before he turned back to the Council, his back straightened, chest out, like a warrior ready for battle.
My choice? What about yours?
I made mine some time ago.
Chancellor Se looked down each side of the table and back. Several of the mages nodded.
Something in me relaxed.
“So be it,” he said as if the command was little more than a request for extra linens. “As her mate, you may remain, Dr. Lynch. But you may not touch.”
The fear was back.
I’ll be right here, Jonathan told me.
Then he was gone as his hand released mine.
And despite the fact that I was standing in a room with seven other people once Robbie and Celine had stepped out, I felt more alone than ever.
I was givena chair in front of the Council while Jonathan was instructed to stand by the door, a good ten feet away. It wasn’t far, I told myself. He could reach me in an instant.
But, the other side of my brain argued, every one of these fae could probably destroy me in half that time. I clenched my jaw, chin held high. They didn’t need to see my fear.
“She’s nervous.” Senni rose from his seat as he looked at me. “She can shield after all, but not well. I was able to penetrate it within a few seconds.” He glanced at Jonathan. “She missed her mate. And she was afraid of what we could do to her before he could reach her.” With a tip of his head, he regarded me again. “It’s the first bit of wisdom I’ve Seen from you, girl.”
He was a bard, he said, which meant he could See the past. But the “past” apparently extended up to mere seconds after the present. In other words, he was basically reading my thoughts like a novel.
A few seconds after I thought just that, the seer smiled. It was not a friendly smile. “It’s not exactly Austen. But if you have any secrets, I would not hide them. I will ferret out your stories one way or another, and fighting will only make it more painful.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Jonathan, who met my eyes but didn’t make a gesture either way.
Stay, he seemed to say.
But I didn’t know for sure. How could I?
“Senni, stop playing with the mouse and get on with it.” The female shifter with an American accent spoke up. Her brown eyes met mine, and she vaguely toyed with a long braid the color of a foxtail. “I’d like to run the forest before sunset.”
“Mage Perumal, as the only seer in the Council, you must establish the basic talents of the prospect,” Chancellor Se said. “But that is all you must do. Continue.”
