Page 78 of Deceiver

“Oh.”

“I thought perhaps I was incapable of loving that deeply. I convinced myself that I was better suited to life alone. It was less dangerous, less of a risk for my loved ones, but I’m starting to believe I created those stories as a defense. I couldn’t be left if I was the one leaving.”

“I can relate to that.”

His brow crinkles as he gently squeezes my hands. “What I’m about to tell you might sound absolutely wild to you, but it came from Talon, so I think it’s worth considering.”

“I’m listening.”

“She said… She told me that we’re connected. You and me. You are the person I’ve longed to find my entire life.”

I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.

Wilder chuckles. “I know. I told you it would sound crazy. I wanted to dismiss it when she said it, but she knew Samuel’s name.”

My eyes go wide. “What?”

“She knew his name. She said the love building between us, you and me, exceeds what I had with Samuel.”

My heart beats wildly in my chest. “She said that? About me? Are you sure it was me?”

“I’m sure. To be honest, you do affect me. A part of me I rarely display comes out around you. You make me talk more. It’s almost as if my soul knew it would be safe with you long before my mind realized it.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“I would never joke about matters of the heart and Fate. To stay with me requires a sacrifice. Your life as you know it wouldnever be the same. I’m not a normal man, nor do I have a normal life.”

“What’s different about it? I get that your profession is pretty damn unique, but you’re still a man. You sleep in a bed, live in a house, eat food. Sure, you talk like a posh professor sometimes, but that’s just an upbringing or personality thing. What is so different about your day-to-day from mine?”

“My entire existence revolves around the supernatural world beyond the veil. It can be dangerous. If I were to die, you would die too.”

That’s a sobering thought, but he’s been alive for more than two hundred years. Wait… am I actually considering this? Could I fall in love with him?

“How can you die?”

“A wound to the heart, or if I make the mistake of trading my soul with a Horror.”

“That’s it?”

“Essentially.”

“If you were hit by a bus?”

“Bruised and worse for wear, but I would heal quickly. I can take a bullet as long as it doesn’t hit my heart.” He leans a little closer. “The heart is the seat of the soul.”

“You can’t get cancer?”

He shakes his head. “No. I can’t get sick at all.”

“Which means… I couldn’t either.”

“Correct.”

“And it means you wouldn’t leave. Ever.”

“Never. That should be part of the consideration. Eternity is an impossible thing to define and comprehend. We throw the word forever around a lot, but without immortality, you don’t truly understand how long forever really is.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”