However, she’d been awake for about three minutes, so he really couldn’t be sure.
She blinked up at him with those dark blue eyes of hers, and he had to keep his breathing in check. Even after a year of being in a magically induced coma, she still looked stunning. Her high cheekbones and porcelain skin begged for his touch. Her raven-black hair had grown in the past year so it reached over her shoulders, rather than the blunt bob he’d first seen her with. It was odd how magic worked. While she was in the coma, her body healing from the damage caused by the dragon’s claw, she hadn’t needed food or water, and nothing else had truly changed about her other than her hair—and her newly healed skin.
When the attack happened, he’d had only a split second to make a decision. She’d been lying on the ground with her friends surrounding her, her body ripped open and bleeding. She was close to dying, and he knew she might have already lost that fragile hold on her soul. Because he was a wizard of royal blood, he’d been able to save her using his magic. It was through the sheer strength of his magic and the will of the woman in front of him that she’d lived.
Of course, he’d had to force a mating bond on her.
That was something he wasn’t sure she’d forgive him for.
Wasn’t sure she’d forgive her friends for.
The day of reckoning had arrived, and now Levi had to deal with the consequences of his actions.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Faith snapped then coughed again.
He quickly held out another glass of water, hoping she wouldn’t use the glass as a weapon, and watched her gulp it down. “I’m not kidding you, Faith,” he said simply. He was a man of reason, a man of lineage. He wasn’t going to fight with the woman in front of him, but they had a lot to discuss.
“I’m not your mate, Levi.”
His name coming from her lips did an odd thing to his chest, but he ignored it. He’d ignored most feelings, and anything else that would set him off his path, for so long it should have been easy. For some reason right then, it wasn’t.
This didn’t bode well.
Levi was a hard man, a wizard of the Conclave—the secret working body of leadership and decision-making—who had to make the tough decisions when no one else did. There were only two people in the world he softened for, and Faith was not one of them. Once she was fully mobile and able to live her life again, she might not ever need to see him again. He held back a wince at that. Just because they were true halves—fated mates who could complete each other’s souls—didn’t mean they had to act on it. From what he’d heard of Faith and her friends—the other lightning-struck victims—there might be
one
time they’d have to face the music, but he’d rather not think about that right now. Instead, he’d focus on Faith’s health and ensure she could survive on her own.
He’d already taken her choice away once; he wouldn’t do it again.
It was why, until that moment, he hadn’t set foot in her room. When he’d healed her as best he could, Faith’s friends took her to Amara’s inn. Well, it wasn’t technically her inn, but an abandoned home where Amara, Faith’s friend, had once worked. The rooms were empty and on neutral ground within the human realm, so they thought it best to keep Faith there. Amara and the others had taken care of Faith, and Levi never moved past her door. He hadn’t wanted to make her feel as though he was encroaching. It didn’t make sense that he would even feel that way considering she was unconscious the whole time, but he hadn’t wanted to hurt her or take away anything that she couldn’t control on her own.
He’d burst through the doors only when he heard her stir. Amara was out at her new job since the inn was closed down, and she had left Faith in his keeping. Who could have known that she would choose that time to wake up? According to her friends, those Levi had gotten to know better, this sounded like Faith. The woman did what she wanted,
when
she wanted.
Now, she was awake and staring at him as though he’d gone crazy.
Considering he hadn’t spoken in a couple minutes, he didn’t blame her.
He needed to make sure she was okay, wait for Amara to return, then get the hell out of there so he could get a rein on his thoughts and whatever feelings were running though his chest.
“Levi, are you there?”
He shook his head then winced, nodding. He wasn’t an idiot, but he was damn sure acting like one. “We’re mates, Faith, but we can talk about what that all means once you’re out of bed and your mind is where it should be after losing so much time.”
She narrowed her eyes, her hands fisting in the comforter at her sides. “What do you mean time? How long was I asleep?”
Levi cursed and ran a hand over his head. He wished Amara or the others were there. They’d handle this better than he could. They actually knew the woman rather than being intrinsically tied to her with a bond that could never break.
“The damage was bad, Faith,” he began.
She paled a bit then rolled her shoulders back. He admired the way she faced what was coming, rather than breaking. He’d heard that about her, but seeing it was a whole different matter.
“I remember the fight and the dragon,” she said, her voice holding more strength than he’d thought she’d have in her. “I relived it. A lot.” She blinked quickly as if holding back tears, and it took everything in his power not to reach out to her.
He cleared his throat. “When you fell, I ran to you.” He met her gaze, trying not to fail at this. This mattered more than he thought possible. “I’d seen you across the field before that and well…” He sighed.
“I remember,” she whispered.
He almost smiled, but she glared at him.
“That doesn’t mean I understand it,” she snapped, and he didn’t blame her. Mating was sacred, intimate, and he’d forced it on her. To save her life, yes, but it didn’t negate the harm he’d caused.
“I saw you then, and I knew, but we were in battle, and it wasn’t the time to think about it. Then you fell, and I didn’t have time to think about what I needed to do.” He reached out for her hand then pulled back at the look on her face. Awkward didn’t even begin to describe the feeling just then. “Because of the magic in my veins and the possibility of a bond between us, I was able to save you. But the damage was so severe, it took a while for your body to catch up to the connection I made.” He let out a breath. “It’s been a year, Faith. You’ve been in a coma for a year.”
She looked as if the wind had been knocked out of her, and she blinked rapidly once again. “A year?” she gasped. “I lost a
year
?”
“I’m so sorry, Faith. I know it doesn’t mean much from a man you don’t know, but I’m sorry you lost so much time.”
Time that meant little to the world of supernaturals, but Faith was still human. She wouldn’t, according to how the other women had reacted, become a paranormal creature until after she had sex with her mate.
And from the look on her face, that wouldn’t be happening. Ever.
He would ignore the loss and focus on the woman in front of him before he had to focus on other matters in his life, the ones he’d been forced to put on the back burner while waiting for her to wake up.
“I…I can’t think right now.” She looked up at him, her eyes so lost he wasn’t sure he could help her. He was a fixer; that’s what he did. He’d tried to do it with his family, the Conclave, and so many others, but right then, he was helpless.
“Faith? Oh, my God, Faith, you’re awake!”
Levi turned to see Amara. The auburn-haired woman had done the brunt of the work to ensure Faith’s comfort during the year. She dropped her purse on the floor at her feet then ran into the room, tears streaming down her face.
Amara embraced Faith, and the two hugged as though they hadn’t seen each other in ages. That would be right though, now that he thought about it. He sighed and slowly backed out of the room. He didn’t like running away from a situation, but he didn’t think he had another choice in this case. Faith wasn’t ready to speak with him, and now that she was awake, Levi wasn’t sure what he was going to do anyway. Matings and true halves weren’t supposed to be this way. He’d gone about it all wrong, and now, he had to figure out what the next step would be.
The women didn’t seem to notice his exit, and he buried whatever pang he felt at that thought. The woman who was permanently connected to him didn’t even know him, and he couldn’t fault her for never wanting to see him again.
It didn’t make his future easy though.
Considering his past, he wasn’t sure why he thought it would be easy in the first place.
Knowing what he had to do next, he waved his arm in front of him and created a portal to the wizard realm. Not every creature could do that, not even every wizard, but Levi wasn’t an ordinary wizard.
He stepped through the swirling vortex, which didn’t disrupt the hallway around it, and landed on the other side. The portal closed behind him with a snap, the displacement pushing a slight breeze through his hair.
He took in a deep breath, the crisp air of the wizard realm burning his lungs. He’d been back and forth between the two realms almost daily for the past year, as well as going to the Conclave, which was in a realm in and of itself. His bones ached from the traveling, and he was only slightly over four hundred years old, a mere young man in wizard terms.
However, he didn’t see an end in sight to the moving around. He was
still
a Conclave member and had to help rule because it was his duty. When he’d joined his best friend, Tristan, a fae who hung out with wizards and other paranormals, he’d done it because it had been the only way to ensure his family’s safety.
When one joined the Conclave, they were required to leave their old lives behind for up to a century depending on the type of paranormal creature they were. Levi had made the tough choice to do just that, knowing he’d make the sacrifice for the good of his people.
Now that the Conclave was in its own sense of disarray, thanks to the backstabbing and betrayal that culminated in Faith almost dying, he was now free to spend time in the wizard and human realms again.
Only it wasn’t so easy to step back into a life that he’d given up for the full year since he’d met Faith.
He’d left his responsibilities as a royal blood member, a wizard prince, behind.
He’d also left his daughters behind.
He sucked in a breath, rubbing his hand over his heart. Juliana had been eight and Arya four when he was forced to join to better his family and people or risk losing them anyway.
The Conclave did not take no for an answer when they demanded you to be part of their ranks.
Levi had left his daughters and the woman he’d married to save their lives and the lives of his people. When he was forced into the Conclave, they’d taken him from his home and his family. They wouldn’t let him see his girls or watch them grow. He’d been forced to step away from everything he loved because if he hadn’t, the Conclave members at the time would have taken out their wrath on Juliana and Arya.
Now he was back, and they wanted nothing to do with him.
Not that he blamed them.
Between them and Faith, he was fighting an uphill battle, but Levi never gave up—even if the odds seemed insurmountable.
Instead of finding a broom or car to get to the girls’ home, he made his way on foot. Cars streamed around him, and flying brooms zoomed overhead. The wizard realm reminded him of a mix of present day and futuristic London. Many buildings were far older than his parents, yet newer developments popped up daily. People were free to use their magic here with varying degrees of power. The only humans in the realm were the ones mated to wizards—though that was rare as a human’s lifespan was finite. A mating bond did not prolong lives but merely tied two individuals together in a melodic blend of harmony and connection.
Faith would be different because of the lightning strike the Conclave had produced a few years ago. He had been too late to change the fates of those women, but now that he knew Faith was his mate, he was relieved he wouldn’t have to watch her fade away of old age.
Of course, she’d have to
fully
mate with him for that to be the case, but that was a whole other matter they’d deal with later.
The Hughes’ castle glowed in the distance, and he did his best to ignore it. His parents and siblings lived there, ruling the wizard realm, not with an iron fist but close enough to it that he was never sure if he’d be able to take over when he was older.
When the Conclave had come calling, the choice was taken from him.
Now that the rules were changing with the fall of the benevolent ones, he wasn’t sure what he’d do next.
Lynn, his ex-wife, had a large home outside the castle where she raised their two children. She’d wanted to live in the castle and have servants wait on her hand and foot, but his parents were smarter than he’d given them credit for. They understood Lynn’s true nature, though they hadn’t taken Levi’s girls from her grasp.
The woman Levi had married had been sweet and part of a family that should have been a complement to his own. He’d done his duty and formed the contracts that would allow peace and a future. He hadn’t realized he’d married a shrew who wanted only power and fame.
His parents wanted the woman close to keep an eye on her and watch over Levi’s children, their grandchildren, but they weren’t warm enough to take and raise the girls.
Levi had no choice in leaving them, but now that he was back, he didn’t want to stay away too long.
Tonight, he was allowed to visit and take his girls to his home. He hoped that things turned out better than the last time.
It seemed he was forever wishing along those lines lately.
He knocked at the front door, steeling himself for the accusations and barbs. As soon as he could, he’d get his girls out of there. Lynn might have custody at the moment because of his duties with the Conclave; however, now that things were changing, he’d do his best to keep those he loved safe. Even if it took everything it his power—and as a prince of the realm, he had a lot of power.
The door opened, and Lynn stood there, her pointed nose up in the air. She glared at him, folded her skinny arms under her small breasts, and sniffed.