One of my eyebrows raised of its own accord. “That’s what you want to be? Friends?”
He chuckled, and my binding suddenly felt tighter, more suffocating. “You’re really smart. I like that.”
I flinched as the pad of his thumb brushed along my jawline.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “You just have such a beautiful jaw structure.”
It was my turn to nearly crack a smile. “Was that supposed to be a compliment?” I craned my neck to face him again, feeling the color come to my cheeks as our eyes connected. I knew my brown irises were nowhere near as disarming as his blue ones. I was at a disadvantage, again.
My heart rate sped up.
“I don’t know, do you like when I talk about your jaw structure?” I couldn’t read the expression in his eyes.
“I suppose I don’t hate it.” His hand brushed down my back, and I immediately tensed.
“You don’t like being touched.” It wasn’t a question. “Is it because you prefer the company of women?”
I shook my head. “I’d prefer you ask for permission, is all. I don’t like surprises.” It was becoming a struggle to keep my voice low, as something in my chest fluttered. I wondered if his attention would change if he knew everything.
“All right. Can I touch you?”
“No,” I replied, though I couldn’t help the full grin that was on my face now, especially as he moved his lips into what was a fake frown. It didn’t matter though, because his eyes were dancing with mischief, and the air between us seemed alight with energy.
Was this what falling in love felt like?
Was it supposed to happen this fast?
I felt my body leaning toward his and immediately snapped myself away, turning my attention back toward the water where the green fish had appeared once more, though he kept his distance. He, too, was skeptical of the man beside me.
“Tell me, Milo, do you believe in weighteds?”
“Weighteds?” I had never heard the term before. I pressed my lips together, the effort to keep my gaze forward a challenge.
“You really weren’t raised in the coven.”
The spell between us broke as he reminded me of the fact that my parents had hidden this entire world of magic away from us.
Apparently, my non-responses didn’t stop him. “There is an old legend—one from when readers were fewer and seekers were more plentiful on the continent.”
This caught my attention, and my chin swiveled toward him. To my relief, his gaze wasn’t on me, but on the water, where the green fish had come closer, as if he too was listening raptly to Leif’s tale.
“It was whispered behind closed doors, because of the way seekers have always been prided by their covens. But the legend is this . . .” He paused to glance over our shoulders before once again directing his piercing gaze toward me. “For every reader, there is a seeker, and their talents call to one another. So much so, that they can’t stay away. They are fated to end up together. Once they come within visual distance of each other, they find themselves drawn, as if by magic, to one another. The bond is so powerful, they won’t allow themselves to be separated, or the other one to be hurt . . .”
“You mean like soulmates?” I winced at how harsh my voice was as it interrupted his tale with the outdated term.
“Something like that.” His deep blue eyes searched my face and I noticed he was leaning in again. I hurriedly shifted my weight to the side, trying to fight the energy that was between us.
“Wait,” I gasped. “But Collum said that anyone can learn to read the language. Doesn’t that mean that there would be too many readers for the number of seekers?”
“Correct.” His lip twitched at the corner. “I believe everyone has a weighted—someone they are destined to be with.”
I shook my head. “But Collum said that seekers were born with a little extra gift, something to allow them to sense magic in a way that goes far beyond reading. The math doesn’t add up.”
Leif’s twitching lip turned into a smirk as his eyes bored intomine. “Have you ever thought that maybe your cousin doesn’t know everything? And that perhaps seeking is a skill that can be trained too?”
My head spun, the two thoughts battling in my mind. But I wasn’t one to back down from a mental challenge like this easily. Once upon a time, before the portion of my life where I was a slave to Viscount Adis, I had been studying mathematics at the university. “Are you suggesting that seekers can learn the affinity?”
“I’m suggesting that there are far more seekers out there than we think. Individuals who need to learn to listen to that little voice that nudges them in certain directions.” He was so cocky as he said it, something immediately made me suspicious.
