Page 48 of A Warrior's Fate

“You know how,” he said easily.

“Fine, then why?” Following the question, she craned her neck to briefly meet his eyes. The sight made her constrict her fingers so tightly that her nails dug into her arm.

Mate.

The word rung and rung and rung in her head like it never had before. It ebbed and bowed through every vein of her body, every patch of her soul. My mate. My mate. My—

“We’re doing what we’re supposed to.” She looked away hurriedly and cut the train of thought off. “We haven’t touched.”

“You know we’ve been playing with fire. It’s been fun, yes, but I suppose it comes at a cost,” he explained, voice kissed by that softness again. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “You and I—” He paused as if searching for words. “You and I are two ends of the same broken road. Two pieces of a cloth stitched and torn by Fate’s own hand. We see each other, and we know that, innately. We feel it. Every time. It’s not a chosen bond. We don’t have to wait for threads to form with time together to have any type of connection.” There was the slightest catch in his voice as if the struggles she’d been having truly were mutual, like that repetition was running through his mind the same way. “I’m here. You’re there. I’m here.” He reached out, and his hand ghosted over her cheek. She didn’t flinch. “You’re still there, but you feel it, right? You have been. The threads winding, pulling—connecting.”

She should’ve vexed her own instinct and curiosity as she allowed her eyes to slide closed. As she dug deep and allowed herself to give life and image to what she’d been experiencing.

In her center, her essence was a spool of rich, golden light, and from it spawned webs and webs of strings, inner connections of her soul, creating the fabric of who she was. But that wasn’t it. There was also darkness leaking through, caressing the threads. Some pieces even twined with the shadow.

Kai?

“Why is it dark?” she asked, practically seeing how the inner machinations worked with the proximity.

“I can’t help how you perceive me.”

Her eyes snapped open, and with a small smile, Kai dropped his hand to his side, leaving her cold again.

She blinked, unsure what to say. Darkness and shadow infecting her soul…that’s how she saw this?

Shaking her head, she fought the images away and fought the urge to ask what he saw when he closed his eyes. Instead, she focused on that winding. “So, what’s the point then? All this dancing around each other if we’re already more or less connected.”

“The threads can try to tie together all they want, but they won’t hold in the end. The bastards have gotten stronger because we’re masochists, but they’re not permanent. They’ll break with time, with distance. Hell, even touch isn’t permanent, but it would be damn near impossible to fight against what happens next.” She caught the way he looked her over head to toe before adding, “And trying to hold off the inevitable after that, long enough for the ties to fray, would have us wishing it would kill us.” He shrugged. “I’d say the waters get a bit muddier when the choices are losing your mind or the best sex of your life with your supposed ‘soulmate’.”

She couldn’t help but snort. “Best sex of my life, huh?”

“Lewis would be a distant memory,” he said with a taunting grin.

“Levi already is a distant memory, believe me.” She battled to contain a smile.

Now that he’d finished his elucidation, she couldn’t deny that she was not only stunned but mildly impressed. Where she lacked understanding, he’d filled in most of the gaps, and somehow, also managed to overwhelm her. When she’d wanted a mate all those years ago, obsessed over it, she hadn’t truly known the depth of what it meant. When all that pressure came down the minute she came of age, she’d accepted it and done everything she’d felt she needed to. The idea hadn’t sounded too bad. Having that one person to turn to, that shared a piece of her, that couldn’t abandon her.

But it was more. It was so much more.

“You’ll understand when you find your mate.”

A female voice she hadn’t heard in over a year clawed into her consciousness. It turned everything in her stomach sour. Made her nauseous. She fought that away too.

“How do you know all of this stuff?” she asked. “About the threads and connections.”

“A friend of mine used to work those pathetic, money-hungry, mate-search events. The ones that leech off the sad and lonely. She told me all this stuff they’d tell people to mystify them and get them excited to finally find ‘the one’—with their help, exclusively. I thought it was all bullshit until now.”

She did her best to keep herself from frowning. She’d been to one of those gatherings—or several.

“So, was that a good enough explanation for you, or do you need more? Will I have to prepare myself for a striptease next?” he heckled. “As enjoyable as that would be, I’m afraid it’ll likely be counter-productive.”

And just like that, the illusion was broken by his knack for pushing her buttons at the absolute worst moments.

“You insufferable ass,” she grumbled before turning and stalking away. Heading back to her room, back to planning how she’d find a way to get to Lukas, how she’d hopefully help him get his memories back, and wondering who she’d have to cross along the way.

His laugh from behind her was loud and bright before she heard his footsteps follow her own. She didn’t turn but tallied them, tracked them. He could’ve kept up with her easily but had chosen to lag. It was like she could feel his eyes boring into her back, studying every movement. There was the smallest rush through her veins, and she denied the urge to use the opportunity to get him back. To move smoother, to exaggerate the sway to her hips. See how long she could tease and taunt him before he—

No. Not again.

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