Page 122 of A Storm in Every Heart
Kastian gives me a tight smile. “You can’t remove an oracle tattoo. Believe me, I asked. It’s like a prophecy. It’s supposed to be permanent.”
“That’s the dumbest damn thing I’ve ever heard. You could have at least gotten it somewhere less… obvious.”
He shrugs. “She said the heart is where prophecy sits best. Besides, I wasn’t thinking straight.”
For a while, neither of us speaks.
I want to ask how he feels about all this; not merely the facts of what happened, but what he really thinks of me.
But I’m not brave enough.
Evidently, Kastian is far braver than I am because he finally turns to me. “What are you thinking?”
I cross my arms over my chest as if to shield myself from his searching eyes. “What do you want me to say, Kastian?”
“I don’t know, just tell me what you’re feeling.”
I bark out a strangled laugh. “As if that’s so easy. You first.”
“I don’t mind the tattoo,” he says firmly. “I know I should, but I don’t. I don’t want to get it removed.”
My heart skips a beat, and I look at him, really look, and for one terrifying second I think I believe him. My chest aches, and I feel stupidly close to tears. “What is your soul-bond going to say when she sees it?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I’m not even sure I care anymore.”
My heart doesn’t just skip—it stutters—and panic grips me. “What the hell do you mean?”
Kastian’s eyes lock on mine. “I mean, maybe I don’t care about finding my bonded mate anymore.”
I laugh, a pitiful half-choke that’s more air than humor. “That’s not possible. Soul-bonds are forever. You should never want anyone else more than your bond.”
“Then why do I want you instead?” he demands almost angrily.
The words hit me like a slap; for a breathless moment, all I can do is gape at him. My heart pounds so loudly it drowns out the sound of the river. “You’re not serious.”
“I’m not?” He raises an eyebrow and steps closer, looming over me. “What about me has ever made you think I’m not 100 percent serious about everything?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I hiss sarcastically. “Maybe I’m a little confused because a second ago we were talking about how you’d been pining for your missing soul-bond for decades.”
“Yeah, until I met you.”
“Don’t say things like that.”
“Why not?” He asks, incredulous. “It’s true. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything. If a soul-bond is stronger than that, then I don’t want it. I’d go insane.”
The word “insane” hits something deep inside me and I flinch, the memory of my father’s fate slamming into me like a rogue wave. Then, even more painfully, I remember what nearly happened to Kastian all those years ago. My heart pounds so loudly it drowns out the sound of the river.
“You’re confused,” I say, shaking my head. I hate the way my voice trembles, so I dig my nails deeper into my palms, grounding myself in pain. “You want me because I’m a siren. Anything you feel—anything youthinkyou feel—for me, it’s just an illusion. None of it is real.”
He jerks back as if I’ve hit him, but I press on, needing him to understand—needing to believe it myself.
“I’ve seen this happen before,” I say, my words tumbling over each other in my haste. “It doesn’t matter how strong-minded you are, or how much you want to fight it. Siren magic always wins.”
“That’s not it,” he says angrily. “I thought it might be at first, but it’s not. Your power doesn’t work on me.”
I bite back a groan. He doesn’t know that it’s already worked on him at least once. He’s not immune just because he resisted it the other night in the dining room. “I can’t have this conversation again. Siren magic works on all men.”
“It doesn’t work on Daemon,” he says, seemingly grasping at straws. “He told me.”
