H’ry emitted a low whistle. “Incredible. A human life span is about eighty years and caps out at about a hundred.”
He still didn’t understand. “Because we mated, our lifespans synced,” she said. “You will live as long as I do.”
“What?” His jaw dropped, and his incredulous gaze swept her face. “You’re serious?”
She nodded.
He turned away from her and began to pace.
Her heart shattered. She deserved contempt, but the irony was that while he could hate her, he could never reject her. The bond couldn’t be severed; they would always be connected.
She lifted her hands and let them fall. Apologies were worthless.
He ceased pacing and stopped in front of her. “I guess, this means we have more than a week together, then, huh?”
It took a moment before ramifications, the complications sank in. She’d promised him her time until completion of the temple. But they hadn’t been mates then.
Now they were. She was bonded to him.
And to the Eternal Fyre.
She couldn’t be both. The hopeless had become the hopelessly complicated. There would be a steep price for what she had done.
He stood there, his expression expectant, waiting for the reassurance she couldn’t give.
She buried her face in her hands as she broke into tears, the enormity of the situation too much to bear.
“Hey, hey…” He pulled her into his arms.
She hid against his broad, strong, naked chest and wept.
Stop crying! the dragoness snapped.
Butt out. Mind your own business, H’ry fired back.
The dragoness reeled with such shock, O’ne almost laughed, except it wasn’t funny. Tears burned. Her dragoness still bore the scars from how she’d wept for the daughter left behind. She would gain a few more burns over H’ry because O’ne couldn’t stop sobbing.
His arms felt strong as he murmured senseless yet somehow soothing words. When her tears subsided, he still continued to hold her. “It’s okay. I’m not mad. It’s all right.”
No, it wasn’t all right. She’d made the situation worse. And he should be mad. “You’re not angry I stole your right to choose?”
“You gave me what I chose,” he said. “The ramifications floored me at first—and I’m still processing—but the moment I met you, you intrigued me. From the second moment, I loved you. I’ve been bonded to you since we met.”
“I feared you’d hate me.”
“Never.” He kissed her tears one-by-one.
She hadn’t ever foreseen a mate for herself in any vision. Perhaps it was well she hadn’t because she would have tried to run from fate. Whatever sorrow the mating caused, he brought her a joy she hadn’t experienced since cradling her baby in her arms. Maybe that’s what love was—a bittersweet joy, a pleasurable pain.
She couldn’t accept her mate would be torn away from her the way her child had been. She would have to believe they would find a way to be together. The temple hadn’t been erected yet. Surely between now and then, the answer would be given to her. She would receive a vision to guide her. The unexpected had a way of happening.
She clung to him, drawing a comfort she didn’t deserve. His love smelled like a crackling fire, soothing, alive, and hot. She could bask in it for the rest of her life.
Unworthy.
She still had more to tell him, but how did one explain the inexplicable?
So she hid in his embrace, until he spoke. “Is a priestess allowed to take a mate?”
Steeling her courage, she slipped out of his arms. “That is the problem. Short answer—no. As priestess, my fyre merged with the sacred flame—I am mated to it. The bond cannot be severed. We dragons mate for life to one entity. Dual bonding is an impossibility. But…now I am bonded to you.”
“A paradox.” He pursed his lips with speculation. “Is there a sacred book you can refer to?”
“I am the body of sacred knowledge. The wisdom of the Eternal Fyre is in me. What I am supposed to know, I know.”
“The Eternal Fyre burns inside you, doesn’t it? That’s how you transported it from Draco to Elementa. It came with you.”
“Yes, I am the vessel,” she admitted, unable to lie to him, although not even the acolytes knew the secret. “How did you know?”
“I wish I could say I was smart and figured it out on my own, but Helena guessed.”
“Well, she is my daughter,” she replied, surprised to find a modicum of humor in a very grave situation. It wasn’t a certainty that the Eternal Fyre would destroy her after she rebirthed it, but it was a possibility. With the mating bond severed by her death, H’ry would live only the normal human lifespan.
He caressed her cheek with a gentle finger. “Will you stay with me tonight?” He winked. “I don’t promise much sleep though.”
“I would like that.” She grasped his wrist and kissed his palm. They had a lifetime of living to do in a week.
She’d been anxious to get the new temple constructed—now she wished she could delay it, but she couldn’t carry the Eternal Fyre much longer. The intensity of pressure and burning inside indicated rebirth was imminent. If she didn’t release the sacred flame soon, it would erupt on its own. Though powerful, it was also fragile, and without a temple to house and nurture it, it would die.
Barefoot, he collected his boots, shirt, and towel, and they left the pool, walking hand in hand. She veered right at the passage leading to his bedchamber.
His eyebrows shot up. “You know the way? Ah, I keep forgetting you’re the priestess and know stuff.”
“I’ve been visiting you at night,” she confessed.
“I knew it! Well, not that, but I’ve been waking up every night, sensing something. Did you visit me tonight before you came to the pool?”
“Yes.”
A slow grin widened to
