Callum ignored my statement. "What reasoning did he give?"
"He thinks we're fated because we've all told him there's no way he could've known that I wasn't going to die when I felt my magic reaching burnout. But he's not willing to risk losing me, so he's not going to bet on it."
"He wants you to take the bet instead?" Kat's eyebrows lifted. "That's harsh. He sounds like an asshole."
"Heisan asshole," I said with a grumble. "The best kind of asshole."
"Can you imagine Liv with a man who isn't abrasive?" Callum asked Kat, gesturing toward me and the two desserts I'd taken from the fridge.
"That's rude," I shot back.
"Sometimes the truth is rude."
"What's so special about him that you think it's valid for him to want her to take a bet on a mate bond, though?" Kat asked. "After two years apart?"
"They were happy together. Outrageously so. He couldn'tcontrolher power, but he could seem to tell when she was going to spiral, and he always knew what would fix it."
"Not like you two." I gestured between them with my fork. "He couldn't just fix it by touching my leg or whatever. He just knew me well enough that if I was about to lose my shit, he knew my options and would pick one for me. Which doesn't sound completely healthy, but when your magic creates anxiety, it's nice to have someone make decisions that erase your stress."
"That's why you guys didn't kill him when Liv thought he risked her life?" Kat checked. "Because they were so close?"
"No. We didn't kill him because when we showed up to do it, he told us that he would never have let her die, there was a damn good chance he was her fated mate, and that she would eventually take him back."
My gaze snapped to Callum. "What?"
"We had enough questions about that night and his ability to calm you down that we couldn't go through with it," Callum admitted.
Kat's silence told me she must've heard at least part of that story before, unlike me.
"You didn't tell me you tried to kill him." I looked at Callum. "He was your friend. I thought?—"
"You thought we valued his life over yours? We've been family for centuries, Liv. If there had been any less uncertainty, wewould've done it, but none of us have ever met someone who could talk us out of paying the price of our power like he can for you. Even if you're not fated, that's valuable."
I took another bite of my cake.
They sipped their coffee.
"I don't know what to do," I said quietly. "I miss him. I obviously still love him. I just don't know what the future looks like if we seal a bond and we aren't fated. Not five or ten years down the line, but fifty? One hundred? Two? He has to get tired of this eventually." I gestured to myself.
"Why?" Kat asked.
"What do you mean, why? It's relentless. After a century together, you don't think he'll get tired of having to fuck me in a bathroom stall in the middle of every one of his awards ceremonies? You don't think he'll start asking me to stay home? You don't think he'll get tired of rolling me on top of him and talking me through my anxiety? That he'll want to have a lazy Sunday morning every now and then with his mate? One that doesn't require moving between the pool and the hot tub and the gym?"
"I think you should ask him that question," Callum said.
"What if he thinks he can handle it, and he's wrong? That would fuckingdestroyme." I stabbed my cake.
"What if he thinks he can handle it, and he's right?" Kat asked.
I didn't have a response for that.
"This isn't a decision you can make quickly or easily," Callum told me. "Take a few weeks. Months. Years, if you need to. I can'tsee him going anywhere, and if he does, your choice is made for you."
"He's not going anywhere, and he's not going to handle waiting as well as either of you think. He has paintings of us together in his bedroom. He sleeps with the bedding I thought I threw out."
"Why does he care so much about this bedding?" Kat asked.
"I had it enchanted to smell like us. He pulled it out of the bin I put it in, and had it cleaned."
