Page 39 of A Kiss From Death (Oath of Vengeance #1)

I noticed a small, intricate marking on Mama today and asked her what it was.

She sat me down and explained to me what an Eternal is.

She told me her and Papa are Eternals, so they share identical markings that signify their bond.

They share a bond stronger than what the word love covers, and this marking signifies it.

It was destiny that brought them together, a greater power drawing them to one another since the day they were born.

I asked her how she knew she and Papa were Eternals, and she looked me straight in the eyes and said the world changes the day you find your Eternal, like an awakening.

Your lungs intertwine with theirs, so if they breathe, you breathe, and if they don’t, oxygen ceases to exist to you.

Once you find your Eternal, your fate is set, and you are connected for life, however long that may be.

She explained some Eternal bonds are so strong, if one dies, the other to passes away from a broken heart shortly after.

I asked her how strong her and Papa’s bond was, and all she did was smile down at me with watery eyes and kiss my forehead.

She pulled me into a hug and whispered that she prays every night I will be lucky enough one day to find my Eternal, that I will have someone I can trust to watch over me, to love me when she and Papa can no longer.

This made me cry, and I asked Mama why she would ever leave me.

She just brushed away the wet strands of hair sticking to my face and told me the world isn’t always a kind place.

I don’t want Mama and Papa to ever leave me.