The Darkness in Dreams (Enforcer's Legacy, #1)(21)
“The disastrous meeting in my office.”
“Yes.”
Lexi chewed on her lower lip. “I’m not clear on this sensing aspect.”
“Each female has an extension of her warrior’s energy. It’s an essence—I’ve described it as a silver thread, leading the warrior to his mate when she enters a new lifetime. With billions of people in the world today, this is the primary way they have of identifying us, since we don’t always look the same in each reincarnation.”
“What other ways do they have?”
“The color of our eyes stays the same, and the first letter of our name. I’ve always had a name starting with M. Your eternal name starts with G.” Gabrielle. Galaxy. What other names were there?
“You said I was bound to an Agreement.”
“You are, and whether Christan bound you to that Agreement without telling you, or you did it knowingly, there wasn’t time for debate. The warriors had to swear allegiance to a Calata that was on the verge of killing their mates.” Marge paused. “They gave up a vital part of themselves so that we would be safe.”
“And in return we have to deal with them in every lifetime?”
Lexi couldn’t help the bitterness. Her emotions were in shreds. Raw and aching. She wanted to be anywhere but here because he was here. Marge was watching, and Lexi saw the sympathy in the woman’s eyes.
“Don’t blame this on the Agreement,” Marge said. “You have the choice before every lifetime whether or not to back. The Agreement doesn’t force you, it simply provides the energy signal so he can find you. In return, he agreed to do whatever the Calata asked him to do, whenever they asked, and for as long as they asked.”
Lexi lifted the mug of tea, held it in both hands with her elbows on the table. She watched the steam curling upward and wanted to argue but stopped herself. “Then fine, I chose to come back and I’m stuck in an agreement and he’s found me. I’m alive and well and he can move on and leave me alone.”
The statement sounded both sad and defensive, which it was, and Marge responded gently.
“It’s not that simple. Immortals form bonds that are symbiotic relationships. It’s a physical link, a mental connection and an emotional source of energy that makes both of you whole. He needs that from you, and you need it from him.”
“I don’t need anything from him.”
“Lexi,” Marge said, “you’re dealing with a connection that was created eons ago, by magic lost from the world.”
“Connections can be broken, Marge.”
“Yes, they can. But even in those cases where the relationship has shattered, both the warrior and the lover will feel the loss of the connection, both physical and emotional.”
Lexi breathed in deeply, trying to ease the tightness in her throat. “What else should I know?”
“This is magic considered so dangerous the alchemists said they’d destroyed it. More than likely, they hid it from the world. But in theory, a mate bond can be transformed into the contract called the blood bond. The warrior grows more powerful and the lover becomes immortal like her warrior. No one knows if that will happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because the relationships haven’t always turned out as expected. And even if they had, no one has trusted the Calata enough to do it. The blood bond could kill the human lover as punishment for desiring the immortality that started it all.”
“Then you never really know if you love each other, or if you suffer from an unfulfilled immortal need.”
“Love is always an act of faith.” Marge paused, and then said, “There’s one way the original bond can be irrevocably broken.”
Lexi tried to sip the tea, found it difficult to swallow. The energy inside her head felt primitive. Animalistic. Dangerously wild and twisting.
“Don’t tell me, Marge.
“You said you hated him. He said it was easy to do.”
“No.” Lexi was suddenly afraid. “I don’t want to know.”
“You already do.” Marge set her mug down hard on the table and shoved it aside. “You wanted to know what happened in those rocks today? Christan happened. There’s a one word that can kill him. That is how you irrevocably break the bond, Lexi, by killing him, and he gave that one word to you. What I want to know now is whether you intend to use that knowledge or not.”
Marge waited a beat as if debating the need to test their relationship with a harsh truth. She decided too much was at stake.
“Your life can no longer be a pity party because your deadbeat mother left you alone. You were offered all the love in the world once, and you refused to accept it. Don’t make me choose between you and Christan because I’m not sure which way I will go.”
CHAPTER 9
There were ten steps from the bed to the adjoining bathroom. Lexi knew, because she’d walked back and forth for the past hour.
She needed a shower. Needed to change into the clothes Marge said were waiting in the closet. She needed a lot of things she wasn’t going to get and she was sick with needing things. Marge was right, she liked the pity parties. Now that she realized the truth of it, she didn’t like them so much anymore. And that was the trouble with your holier-than-thou belief system because it always came back to bite you in the end.