"Everyone changes. Immortality would be bland if we all stayed the same. We'll figure it out," Niall said, his hand still moving slowly over my back. "Her power's picking up. I think she'll wake up soon."
I didn't move right away.
Mostly because I still hurteverywhere, and I didn't really want to talk to anyone. I just wanted to bask in this probably-temporary relief from the constant stress of my magic. It was strange, but not in a bad way.
There wasnoanxious energy. I always had at least a little. At the best of times, it was a small amount that I could ignore for the sake of pretending everything was fine.
So why did I feel so calm? Even when I'd been recovering from burnout after the last time I helped Larson with the rain spell, I had felt that anxiety. Things were different then, considering everything that had happened, but still.
The only thing that should be able to chill me out like this was a mate bond, but it couldn't be that. We hadn't made a bargain, or vowed anything to each other.
"How long did it take her to wake up last time?" Merrily murmured.
"About five hours," Niall said. "She wasn't ready to wake up then, but her magic forced her to."
"And she's at twelve?" Darius checked.
"Yeah. This time, the spell was significantly worse."
"You'll need to have at least two more of us here if you're going to attempt that again," Callum warned. "It should never have gotten this close."
"Agreed."
I dozed in and out of consciousness while he talked to my family and Rob, until hunger finally woke me up for good.
My energystillwasn't jittery.
"This is not normal," I mumbled, peeling my face off Niall's chest. "Something is seriously wrong with my magic. I'm not sure what—" I cut myself off when I saw the large, swirling mark on Niall's shoulder.
It partially covered a bunch of his tattoos as it spread up the side of his neck and down part of his chest and bicep, barely leaving his battery tattoo exposed.
I stared at it for a long moment, my mind spinning but not processing what I was seeing.
"Who the fuck is your soulmate?Darius?" I finally demanded. "I'll kill him. I swear, I'll?—"
Someone snorted behind us as Niall held my gaze, his lips curving upward. His expression was more relaxed than I'd seen it in two years.
"You, Livvy. You're my soulmate. Looks like you're stuck with me after all."
I stared at him. "How?"
"The spell to fix the rain will take more energy to establish than you have to offer. You were dying, and Larson was unconscious. The failsafe they put in wasn't going to work without a power source, so Rob used me. Having our life forces power a spell together was enough for your soul to identify mine, I guess. I don't think this has ever happened before."
No.
It hadn't.
Not that I'd ever heard, at least.
Not that most fae ended up melding their magic with anyone else's to that extent, either.
"You were right?" I asked.
"Try not to sound so surprised."He was amused, not bothered.
Someone in the room coughed, trying to hide a laugh.
"You really could feel my magic well enough to know I wasn't going to die that day," I said.
