“It’s drilled into us,” I comment off-handedly.
“What is, baby?”
“Compliance, keeping your head down, focusing on the work.”
“I can understand that,” Soren says.
His words make me freeze, like I’ve got a layer of ice around my heart. Is that what he wants for me to be like? Small and quiet and meek? I’m not sure I could manage any of those things, even if I tried.
“I mean, it’s not quite… natural, but you’re holding an incredibly powerful gift. I’d imagine what you can do all alone is impressive, but if all these weavers harnessed their potential power and used it as a collective? I think that level of power would be unimaginable.” He nods at me and jerks his head toward the offices closest to us. “That’s why they want to keep you on such a tight leash.”
“Gives me the creeps,” Brogan says, shaking his head. “It couldn’t be more different from the shifter schools. They were… loud, and it wouldn’t be too shocking to see two horny teens fucking in the corridors.” He smirks. “I think these weavers need a few shifters mixed in to ruffle them up a bit.”
“Is that right?” I sidle closer until he’s right in front of me. He puts his big hands on my hips and leads me backwards until my butt is against the wall.
“Sure. We can get a littlewild,” Brogan says slowly, caging me in with his arms on either side of my face. “Although I think you’ve got a wild side too, baby. That’s why you’re perfect for us.”
“Yeah?” The ice from Soren’s earlier words cracks as Brogan nips my nose.
“Yep. You’re our brave adventurer, and there’s no one better to help guide those souls wherever they need to go. Because who knows if they can pick up on how you’re feeling when you’re delivering the souls? The worst thing would be if they were led into the afterlife feeling anxious, but I bet that with you, they felt nothing but excitement and joy. I know I do whenever I’m around you, baby.”
“Oh.”
“This place is seriously fucked up. All that shit about them giving you a home and then taking you away from the only family you’ve known? Yeah, that’s nearly as fucked as them forcing reapers to grow up with no family at all,” Brogan says. “I don’t think I fully got it before, but I do now. I’m glad that you weren’t stuck here by yourself, and I’m glad that you’ve had time to experience freedom and life before you found us. I can’t pretend that I’m not happy that you’re here, because I am, but we’re lucky to have the sweetest, bravest, most beautiful mate.” He grins at me and I melt while Soren growls under his breath.
Brogan spins around to pin him with a glare. “Don’t tell me you don’t agree, buddy, because I know you do.”
Soren shifts uncomfortably, and I feel a stab of guilt and am about to leap in to defend him when he lets out a long sigh.
“Of course I do,” he mutters, meeting my eye for a fleeting second before he returns his attention to the corridor.
“I think having you around is going to inject a lot more color into our lives, babe. Hey, maybe you can persuade Soren to do a bit more exploring the next time he has a reaping mission. I’m always trying to get him to try new things, but he doesn’t listen to me.”
“Maybe I could take you to some of my favorite tour destinations on days off or something.”
Brogan’s smile dims and I quickly add, “Or not.”
“It might be a little harder once you’re tethered to the garden,” Soren says.
I cock my head to the side. “Tethered? What does that mean?”
He straightens his shoulders, completely ignoring my question as he says, “I’m going to see if I can find anything else out about Madame while we’re here. We might as well not waste the opportunity.”
Without waiting for a response, he strides off and I’m left staring at the space where he stood all of two seconds ago.
“What…?” I turn my confused gaze to Brogan who smiles sadly and rubs his hand over my arm like I need comforting, which makes my stomach twist uncomfortably.
“So I guess I should explain a few things now that it’s been confirmed you’re our destiny weaver. Once you decide to join us, you’ll tether yourself to the garden in the same way that Soren has—you know, how he can’t really travel outside of the garden unless he’s reaping a soul.”
“I’ll be… trapped there?” I can’t imagine not being able to just go wherever I want, whenever I want. It’s been a part of me for years now and to hear that I’ll have limits on my power is a shock to the system.
The look Brogan gives me is full of remorse and more than a little pity, as he nods. “Kind of, you’ll be able to travel through the gate and go wherever you need to in order to deliver souls, or travel with Soren to reap new ones, but it won’t be the same as it is now where you can go wherever you like at any time.”
I blink at this revelation. “And why did Soren not want to be here when you told me?”
Brogan’s expression remains sad as he replies, “He didn’t want to see the look on your face when you realized that by choosing us, you’d be giving up something pretty major. Something you clearly love to do. You’ll be leashed after all. But, look—” He takes my hand in his and squeezes, giving me a far more intense look than I’m used to from this man. I’m used to Brogan being laid back and relaxed, but he’s looking at me so seriously. It’s like he doesn’t want there to be any room for doubt or misunderstandings between us.
“—If you decide you don’t want to go through with it, and you don’t want to tether yourself to the garden, we won’t hold it against you. I need you to know that. You could take Finn and live your life however you please wherever you please. We will not force you into staying just because you’re our mate.”
