Page 76 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

“What do you mean?” Brenton asked, shifting from his spot on the couch opposite of us.

Teddy took the time to explain the concept of foster care and the many ways she thought we could improve the system with the help of magic, like truth-tellers who could properly vet prospective parents.

“In many instances, CPS did exactly what they were supposed to and the kids benefited, but other times, wires got crossed somewhere and it all fell apart.” Donnie leaned forward, resting his elbow on his knee. “Are you going to head this?” he asked Teddy. “It’s a huge undertaking.”

She wrinkled her nose, but I felt the excitement that bubbled inside her. “I was kinda hoping I could convince Brenton to head it with me.”

Brenton leaned forward, his knee bouncing with the energy rolling inside him. “You know I’ll do it.” He tapped his fingers. “Could anyone take on a child, or would they have to be with their mate or intended?”

“Single parents are just as great as coupled parents,” Teddy said. “I may be a bit biased here, but I don’t feel like I missed out by not having a dad. ”

Suddenly her eyes flashed, her smile dimming, as she nibbled on her bottom lip nervously.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I’m not sure how to say this,” she said, shifting her weight, “but I kind of promised Pietro that he would never make the final voyage to the stars.”

I gaped up at her in stunned silence. But not allowing someone to take their final voyage was unheard of.

“I may have also told him that if I were to find a way to bind his soul to his body, that’s what I’d do.” She waved her hand. “You know, after I buried him in an unmarked grave.”

For some reason, Ryenne barked out a laugh. Still a little shocked, it took a few beats for my own laugh to escape me.

I pressed a kiss to the side of her knee, and when I looked up at her, I whispered, “My feral queen.”

“There is a spell for that,” Alastor said, his knees pulled up to his chest as he rocked himself forward.

“Of course there is.” Teddy huffed out a laugh.

While the blisters on my skin didn’t hurt as much as last night, they suddenly started to burn. The speed in which it hit me stole my breath.

Teddy leaned down to kiss the back of my head while I wrapped my uninjured arm around her leg, careful not to make my limbs tremble at the waves of torment that continued to rise with each passing beat.

Without saying a word, Teddy stood, offering her hand, which I took.

Probably recognizing my pain, Alastor said, “Rest well, Elias. Rest will soothe the pain.”

I nodded in his direction, appreciative of the fact that I didn’t need to explain how intense the pain had become.

Teddy led us to our bedroom, and when she pointed at the bed, I slowly got on it. My muscles ached, but it was the pain that shot through me every time I stretched the blistered skin that had me hissing in discomfort.

Once I rested the back of my head on my pillow, she sat on the edge of our bed with medicated cloths on hand.

“I’m sorry, my love, but we need to take off your shirt.” She pursed her lips together.

My love. I savored the way it sounded and wanted to hear her call me that again.

I edged up, biting the inside of my cheek at the hurt that spread everywhere. She took her time, inching my shirt off me so it wouldn’t brush against any of the blisters. While I appreciated her efforts, it was wasted now that I’d reached this higher degree of pain.

I reclined again, closing my eyes once my head hit the pillow.

My breath wheezed out when she gently placed the cool cloth on the back of my hand.

I fisted my uninjured hand into the bed sheet, flinching when she put another cloth around my wrist. She placed the rest on my arm and shoulder and another on my upper chest.

“I’m sorry.”

I felt her shift again, and when she rested her head on my stomach, I cupped the back of her head. Her fingers grazed over my chest in slow, tender strokes, careful not to go near the blisters.

This was love—to be loved and love in return.

“Do you want me to distract you with a story?” she asked.

I blinked to peer down at her from where her head still rested on my stomach. With my knuckles, I caressed her cheek.

“Is it about a fae prince who destroys your realm?”

Before getting up, she kissed my palm. And those incidental kisses, her touches, they were all surprisingly comforting.

Before Teddy, I’d dated but never had an intended or female I saw regularly.

I’d never had someone to kiss and hold when the mood struck.

Yet my father and mother had been a tactile couple, so it hadn’t surprised me that I found it easy to be just as affectionate with Teddy as she was with me.

But now I also understood another aspect of my mama’s grief.

She’d had thousands of years of my father’s touch .

And then one day, it’d suddenly stopped.

Once Teddy reached her side of the bed, she crawled toward me slowly.

When she lay down, I scooted closer to her to rest my head on her shoulder.

Careful not to drop the cloths on my arm, I leaned on my uninjured arm and wound my other arm around her stomach.

She moved the cloths, better situating them on me before she settled against me.

“Lying like this doesn’t hurt?”

I nuzzled against her neck, wanting to savor this tender moment where Teddy took care of me. “I feel perfect.”

And I did. Being held by Teddy, feeling the love she had for me, was far more perfect than anything I could ever hope for.

“Tell me your story.”

“You’re going to fall asleep before I finish,” she teased.

“Probably.”

“Why don’t you drink from me while I tell you?” She arched her neck to the side.

My heart kicked up in reply. “Teddy . . .”

“It helps you,” she said. “Besides, I like your teeth on me.”

I groaned. She did the same when I licked her throat, her groan growing guttural when I sank my canines in her. The sweetness of her blood coated my tongue. Her taste was exquisite and distinctively her. I held it on my tongue for a few beats before I swallowed and took another pull .

She hummed, her fingers digging harder against my scalp. Suddenly, she winced, drawing in a sharp breath.

“Did I hurt you?” I asked.

She pressed the back of my head harder against her throat. “Keep drinking.” The two words seemed to tremble from her lips.

I felt her excitement race across my skin in goosebumps, so I bit her again. My eyes threatened to roll back at her taste.

Then I felt it—what must’ve caught her by surprise. With slow precision, I felt the threads of her soul braid with mine. I stilled, my lungs burning in anticipation, but the bands connecting us snapped.

“Keep drinking,” she whispered.

It took a few beats, and I was worried I’d drink too much of her blood, but I felt the way the empty spaces of my soul filled when her soul attached to mine.

It wasn’t our lost magic, but the very threads of our souls that lived inside us. They danced together, reaching and pulling one another closer, and I was certain we’d never be able to pull them apart.

Euphoria made my blood rush through my veins.

I wasn’t sure how Teddy had done it, how she’d found the missing threads and braided them back together. It felt like a dream brought to rest, like the warm moonlight of a star-filled night.

It was joy and peace. Our souls belonged together, eternally entwined with the other, with the promise of always finding each other. Whether in this lifetime or the next.

Not wanting to drain her, I pulled my mouth from her neck.

Although I wouldn’t be able to heal the marks, I lapped the drops of blood that spilled from the twin puncture wounds.

They sat next to the ones I’d made the previous day, and the sight of them stirred something inside me.

Something primal, possessive, and needy.

I liked seeing my marks on her. Loved it, actually.

I nestled against her arm, feeling the warmth that came from our joined souls.

“How did you do that?” I asked.

I marveled at the wonder that was Teddy.

She could be ruthless and had shown that side of herself when she’d taken control of the messenger’s magic and turned it against him.

I wished I could’ve been there when she’d slain him.

I wasn’t sure if she would’ve let me kill him on her behalf since she hadn’t let Donnie, but I would’ve liked to have been there to witness her wrath unleashed.

She was also kind, inquisitive, and unrelenting.

She was mine.

“I’ve been looking for our soulmate bond since we lost it.” She moved closer to me, and this time, the shift on the bed didn’t hurt. In fact, although the blisters remained, I barely felt them. “When you bit me”—she ran her nose across my forehead—“something told me I’d be able to find them.”

“Your magic is a wonder.” It had linked us together after I’d thought our bond had been irrevocably lost. And now . . . now, I was whole again.

I felt her lips spread into a smile. “I am pretty awesome, huh?”

I ran my hand across her side. “Will you tell me your story?”

“As you can imagine, the fae prince was horribly ugly,” she said, pausing when I chuckled.

“Hideous, really. With green warts all over his face, but worse than that was his hair. If you can believe it, he only had three strands of hair, that he combed over the top of his head, making him look even more ridiculous. His feet were so big, he kept tripping over them, but they served him well when his people teased him about his looks. Sometimes, he’d punish them by kicking them straight across his kingdom into another kingdom.

Little did he know a mage princess lived in the other kingdom, and she was getting tired of his castoffs landing in her backyard. ”

I chuckled again, letting my eyes close while sleep tried to claim me with Teddy’s sweet voice telling me the most absurd story. I didn’t let myself drift until I was certain the fae prince and mage princess got their happily ever after.