Her confusion deepened. “It impacted your reaction?”
“I felt it, I saw it in his energy, in the pattern of his emotions. Bryn wanted to hurt you, and he knew the easiest way to do that was through someone you loved. Someone vulnerable.” He shifted closer and cupped her face gently. “And I need you to understand this, Beth: I will tear down the entire world if someone dares to hurt you. In any capacity.”
She stared at him, wide-eyed and speechless. The moment held for a beat too long, then he drew in another breath. “Which brings us to the next thing I need to address.”
“Okay,” she said, cautious now.
He hesitated. Just for a second. “What do you feel for me?”
That threw her. He could see it in her eyes, the retreat, the way her fingers tightened on her own arm. Unease rolled off her in gentle waves. “What embarrasses you?” he asked softly.
She let out a frustrated little laugh and looked away. “There’s really no hiding from you, is there?” She rolled her eyes. “It’s embarrassing because I shouldn’t feel the way I do. It’s been too short. I know with you magiks things tend to run high and fast and dramatic, but I’m human. I don’t do crazy.”
A beat.
“And yet,” she said, “here I am, thinking I may be in love with you.”
The words just hung there.
She pressed her lips together like she might physically catch the rest of her heart trying to leap out of her mouth. He heard its wild drumming and had to clamp down on how it made him feel.
“And that doesn’t even cover it,” she admitted. “When you were gone... it wasn’t just worry. It was like something was missing. From me.”
He nodded slowly. “It’s the same for me.”
Gael exhaled again, unsure for the first time in his life how to carry this conversation forward. “Do you know about fated mates?”
Her eyes widened slightly. Of course she did. This was Mystic Hollow. Everyone with a pulse and basic magical literacy knew what that meant.
“But I’m human,” she stuttered.
“That never stopped fate.”
She stared at him, her expression a disbelief so pure it would be hilarious if it weren’t aimed directly at him. “So... what, you’re saying I’m your... soulmate?”
The way she said it made his chest tighten. He had to tell her everything. No matter how it would hurt, he would never bind her with him based on a half-truth. He tried to force air into his lungs, found it utterly unpleasant. “You are. And I’m yours. But you should know, the bond can be rejected.”
She looked at him like he’d sprouted wings. “Why would I do that?”
He gave her a knowing look, the smallest glimmer of teasing beneath the seriousness. “Mostly because you don’t like being told what to do.”
“I don’t like my father setting me up with an old violent asshole, Gael. This is different,” she said, frowning hard, like she was mentally sorting through an emotional flowchart and not getting the results. Then her eyes narrowed like somethingsuspicious had just occurred to her. “Would we be in love if it wasn’t for the bond?”
Her face immediately turned crimson.
“I mean, assuming you’re in love with me,” she added, panic now fully visible in the form of wildly flapping hand gestures. “Which maybe you’re not, which would be totally fine. Except actually not fine at all, because I’m clearly in love with you.”
Gael stilled. Then, slowly, a breath escaped him. His shoulders dropped, tension melting away like ice in sunlight. And then he laughed, quietly, almost disbelieving, like joy had taken him by surprise. “I do love you, Beth.”
Her aura exploded like someone had dropped a glitter bomb in a sunbeam. It was brilliant, blinding, and very obvious. For a second, she was a living solar flare. And then, miraculously, she yanked it all back down. Her energy zipped tight like a corset and tucked itself neatly out of sight, which was, frankly, terrifying. Gael stared at her. “That was impressively controlled.”
“I panic productively,” she muttered.
But then, the light dimmed from her eyes just slightly as she asked, “Would we love each other if not for the bond?”
“Beth,lïoræn,the bond is a compass, not a chain. It led me to you, but it doesn’t build the foundation. That’s all us.” He reached up and tucked her hair gently behind her ear, his knuckles grazing her cheek in the way he knew it made her shiver. “Without the bond, we’d still be intrigued, still argue. Flirt. Feel that buzz under our skin when the other walks into the room.” He brushed his fingers along her arm, smiling when he saw the goosebumps rise beneath his touch. “The bond just shortens the path. It yanks away fear and pride and says,Here. This one. Don’t mess it up.”
He leaned in then, close enough that his breath kissed her lips. His hand settled at her waist with reverence, but her whole body answered. “The bond doesn’t create the love. It reveals thepotential.” He kissed the corner of her mouth, then her cheek, then pressed his forehead gently to hers. “My Beth.”
