"Notstarving. He can still function, and he does what he has to in order to catch me while I'm asleep every few days. He's even texted me about it. When it gets bad, he just can't access his magic, and is probably pretty grumpy"
"So he thinks his power is crapping out?" Kat asked.
"He thinks he's really fucking obsessed with me," Merrily admitted.
Liv leaned toward Merrily. "How do you know that?"
"He came to my house a few years back." Which could mean anything from five to fifty for us. "He demanded to know what I was doing to him, why he couldn't stop thinking about me or reach anyone else's dreams. I told him I wasn't responsible for his obsession and threatened to kill him if he kept visiting me at night. He called my bluff and said he'd start a war, and that he'd visit me as long as he wanted to."
Liv leaned closer.
Kat's eyebrows were high.
I was entirely unsurprised. With the lengths Merrily had already gone to avoid him, it would take a lot to surprise me.
"I haven't seen him since then, other than at meetings. We don't talk, obviously. I've never kept him out for this long. I'll have to sleep tonight," she said. "But if he's already signed a contract, maybe that's my way out."
"Gwen's not going to marry him," Katwarned. "She's still in love with Jonah, and she's going to delay the ceremony to give herself time to win him over."
"She'swhat?" Liv demanded.
All of us looked at her.
"We ran together for hours this morning." Her voice was defensive. "We're friends, and he's decent company. He's going to help me get over my ex."
"He walked out of the meeting when she asked him to bond with her so she didn't get stuck with Darke," I told Liv.
It seemed like she would care.
I looked back at Merrily. "You need to consider very carefully whether or not you're going to intervene. Grayson is the only way you will ever have relief from your magic."
Her answer was softer than a whisper. "I'm never really going to be able to be with him, so what does it even matter? I'll always have the same problem you do, but so much worse."
If she lost control during sex, she could kill whoever she was with.
Even her mate.
"If fate can give you guys soulmates, don't you think it can protect us from your magic somehow?" Kat asked.
All three of us looked at her.
"You can't killyourselfwith your magic, or hurt yourself with your magic, right? What you feel is the price of it, not the magic itself. Why wouldn't that be true for your mate, too?"
I stared at her.
So did Merrily.
Liv shrugged. "Try to hit her with your power, Callum."
"No. I won't use it on her."I'd promised myself that long before I ever met her.
"You used a little on us to show us what it feels like, and it barely hurt," Liv pointed out. "I think Kat can handle a few seconds of pain."
"It might not hurt me at all," Kat added.
"Merrily can't make an educated decision until we know for sure, and you guys are our only way to figure it out." Liv was teaming up with Kat.
It was cute that they thought they could convince me. "No. Now that we've filled Merrily in, we need to go to the challenges before they start. We'll need to run interference if Darke tries to stop Gwen from announcing her year-long engagement to him.
