Page 47 of Taste of Forever
“Well, if I’m your blood mate, then how long is this supposed to last? If you live forever, will you find another blood mate after I die?”
“Oh no. No, it doesn’t work like that.” He chuckled. “Our average lifespan is eight hundred years. Lucky ones can make it to a thousand.”
My eyes went wide. “Oh. Holy shit.”
“When we have human blood mates, there’s a ceremony. It’s kind of like a wedding, officially declaring ourselves aslife partners. But there’s also a ritual that binds our lifespans together. You will age at the same rate as me and only die when I die. So we’ll stay together not only in life, but in the afterlife too.”
The romantic in me thought that was so beautiful, and melted at the thought. The scientist in me, on the other hand, was highly skeptical.
“How is that possible?”
Laith wiggled his fingers. “Magic.”
“Okay, but seriously.”
“Seriously. It’s a blood magic ritual. Only those from the clan Temkra’s Blood can perform it because they come from the same bloodline as our goddess.”
“And you know this for a fact?” I pressed. “You’ve seen a human live to eight hundred years or whatever.”
“Well, not personally. The last known human blood mate died when I was a juvenile, maybe eighty years ago.”
“Eighty years? How old are you?”
“A hundred and forty.” He carried on like he hadn’t just dropped an absolute bombshell. “One of my clan mates got mated to a human a few months ago, but obviously neither of them have aged much in that time.”
“You’re seriously one hundred and forty years old?” I found myself leaning closer, still stuck on his age.
His skin was incredible, with no visible pores and definitely not a wrinkle in sight. I thought at one point he might be younger than me at thirty. No wonder Soren’s employer was so desperate for information. Vampires had apparently tapped into the fountain of youth.
“Am I a slide under a microscope or are you just happy to see me?”
I jerked back, my face heating as I realized how close I’d leaned toward Laith’s face. Easily within kissing range, not that I would have done that.
“Sorry.” I laughed and tried to smooth over my embarrassment by reaching for my water. “Although I would like to see your cells under a microscope. I bet they’re fascinating.”
“Aw, thanks.” His grin broadened, head tilting as he rested an arm along the back of the couch. “You sure know how to compliment a guy.”
Trying to stifle my laugh turned into a full-on grin that matched his. “You’re ridiculous.”
“That and all kinds of other things.”
“So, this magic blood ritual,” I said after a lull of silence. “Is it the only way for a human’s lifespan to match a vampire’s?” Soren would absolutely want to know the answer to that.
“As far as I know, yes. And it can only be done when a blood mate pairing is found.”
“And you can’t perform the ritual yourself?”
Laith’s grin turned wry. “Why, looking for a little taste of forever already? An elopement instead of a full-on ceremony?”
“Me? No.”
I protested maybe a little too quickly. Laith’s easy, open expression flickered with a touch of hurt.
“I’m just...curious,” I added unconvincingly.
“Sure,” Laith said with teasing skepticism. “Well, I’m sorry to say the ritual is a closely guarded secret of Temkra’s Blood. When you’re ready to make it official, we gotta do it in front of them and all of Sanguine. But”—he held up an index finger, eyes bright—“we can do that thing humans do after getting married. What’s it called again? A sugar moon?”
“Honeymoon?”
