Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Everett frowned in confusion. “Um…what kinds are there?”
He shook his head. “Kind of wasn’t the right phrase to use. They need to have certain abilities. The ability to see past glamours, to be specific. Everything in me is telling me you’re my soulmate, Everett, but you don’t have that ability. I overstepped and should have talked to you before I went to see Xavier. I just wanted to find out if there’s something that can be done about that.”
“Like what?”
“Like a spell. I’m sorry. As I said, I should have talked to you first. Told you what I was feeling.”
“Dax,” he squeezed his leg. “I’ve fallen for you, too. So much. But I’m confused. You can’t be with me if I’m not your soulmate?”
Dax took Everett’s hand in his. “No, we can be together, and if that’s what you want, I would be happy with that. Very happy. I want to be with you no matter what. I’m just torn because you do feel like my soulmate. If you are, we’d be connected on a deeper level. Not that what we have isn’t enough, but…you’d also live a very long life.”
“Oh.” Well, wasn’t that something? He couldn’t imagine having his life extended, but the thought certainly was appealing. “So, for us to try and make a life together as I am—that means you get to watch me age, and you’d eventually be left alone.”
“Yes.” Dax squeezed his hand and gave him a sincere look. “But that would still be enough. Any time with you would be.”
But they could have more than that. He didn’t totally understand, but it sounded…well, amazing. “So was there a spell?”
“There is one to open your eyes to the preternatural world, yes, but it would only work if you had a preternatural in your family line. And Xavier also told me that it wasn’t a guarantee—that we’re soulmates. But either way, it would change your entire world, which could be risky.”
Everett squeezed Dax’s leg hard as a current of excitement burned through him. “But a soul bond sounds like something special. Even priceless.”
“It is. I’ve longed to find my soulmate for hundreds of years, Everett.” Dax took his hand, staring hard into his eyes. “But I need you to understand that you are what I want. I was being selfish, wanting to have you for my entire lifespan. What I’m feeling for you is still so much more than I’ve felt for anyone else. We’re already bonded, and that’s enough.”
“If it is, then why is this bothering you so much?”
“Because in my heart, I know you’re my soulmate.” Dax gave him a soft smile. “Of course, I would like you to live as long as I do.”
“Then we have to try.”
“Everett, the humans who can see past glamours have been able to their entire lives. You’d be thrown into this, and it would change everything for you. It’s a lot to ask. Besides, it might not work. Like I said, you’d have to have a preternatural ancestor.”
“Well, my grandfather swore up and down we did. In fact, I believe that’s what he was searching for his entire life. Proof of that. He was obsessed with the supernatural world, and that’s without proof that it existed. I say let’s do it.”
“You need to think on it for a time.”
“What’s there to think about?” He leaned in and cupped his hands around Dax’s face. “I’m fully, one hundred percent in love with you and I want us to be together. Do I want that to be during a long, long lifetime? Of course. I’ll take you even if it turns out I’m nothing more than a human in a long line of humans only. Because even if we have forty or so years together, that’s better than nothing, isn’t it?”
“I’ll take any time with you, Everett.”
“I’d still like to try the spell. Will Xavier do it tomorrow?”
“I can ask. I don’t know what he’d need for it. Or that he’d even do it. He believes that opening your eyes at this stage in your life would come with risk.”
“What kind of risk?”
“That seeing all of us might be too much for your mind. That you could react badly to the wrong preternatural. Just as there are bad humans, there are bad preternaturals, and they can be dangerous.”
“I’m still not seeing a risk here. You’ve walked among us all this time, and surely the humans who can see that have reacted. The risk doesn’t make sense to me, and the reward should the spell work would be…everything. Dax, spending a long lifetime with you would be a dream come true. I know that’s sappy as hell, but I want us to truly be together. To have that soul bond.” He bit his lip as one important thought occurred to him. “But what if I’m not, and your real soulmate shows up?”