Page 42 of Taste of Fate

I didn’t see Drace often, but I’d consider him a friend nonetheless. As strange as they seemed to some, marrowers thrived on community. They helped each other out, and generally weren’t a judgmental bunch. And right then I needed to get some shit off my chest that I wasn’t ready to tell the others in my clan.

“Need marrow?” Drace was already grabbing a clean mortar and pestle to work with.

“Please.”

“Any special requests?”

“Just the good shit. The best you have.”

The big marrower chuckled as he pulled open a slim drawer with an array of spongey bone marrow laid out on a parchment sheet. “I never serve anything less.”

I watched in silence as he worked, first crushing the dried marrow with the mortar and pestle, then adding various ingredients as he continued grinding it down into a powder. He splashed in some liquid that made the marrow hiss and bubble, then added what looked like a packet of dried spices, and then a drizzle of some kind of oil. The last thing he did was transfer the marrow mash to a cast-iron pot, which he held over the open flame of a torch for a few minutes.

When he plated up and set the marrow dish in front of me, it looked similar to the mushy breakfast food Tavi sometimes ate when she first woke up. She called it oatmeal.

Tavi, the reason I was here eating bone marrow at all.

I picked up a spoon and brought the smallest possible taste to my mouth. Bracing myself as I swallowed, I waited for violent stomach spasms or my throat closing up, any physical sign of rejection from my body.

But none came. The marrow mash actually tasted good, rich and smooth with a light gritty texture. With a sigh of relief, I spooned a bigger portion into my mouth.

“Good?” Drace grunted, watching with his massive arms crossed.

“You know it is. Thank you for this.”

“Sure.” He kept watching me eat. “You have some bad blood or something? Gotta flush out from having one of those sunlight junkies?”

“No, worse.” I finished my meal first, letting the clean spoon clatter to the stoneware bowl before I sat back and met my concerned friend’s gaze. “I’m pretty sure I just found my blood mate.”

Drace’s brows shot up, his face splitting into a grin. “Are you fucking with me, topsoil?”

“I wish I was.”

He barked out a laugh and would have doubled over if the bar wasn’t in front of him. “So you’re telling me…” He pulled in a breath, started laughing again, then tried once more. “You’re telling me you’re down here eating marrow to sustain yourself instead of feeding from the one person who’s blood chemistry perfectly matches your unique biological needs? Do I have that right?”

“It’s more fucking complicated than that but, yeah,” I huffed. “I can’t feed from her. And now I can’t feed from anyone else without wanting to vomit my organs up. So I gotta live on marrow like you fuckers.”

“Ah, poor little topsider.” Drace finally stopped laughing, leaning in closer to speak more quietly. “I hate to tell you this, but marrow won’t sustain you forever. Even among my folk, once a blood mate pairing is found, nothing else satisfies.”

“Oh, great.” I propped my elbows on the bar and slapped my hands to my face. “I’m extra fucked now, fantastic.”

Drace laughed as he straightened. “What are you bitching about, Cyan? Finding your blood mate is a rare and joyous thing. You celebrate it topside too, do you not?”

“We do,” I admitted begrudgingly. “And I might’ve been happier about it in another fifty, maybe hundred years. But I’m not ready to be tied down to one person yet.”

“You don’t always have that choice.”

“Well, I should! Some days I feel like tasting dragon shifter. Other days, a brusang. If I’m feeling vanilla, maybe a human. I should be able to choose who I fuck and feed from, Temkra damn it.”

Drace did not look impressed. His arms were crossed again with one eyebrow arched. “And what is so bad about the blood mate you’ve found yourself with?”

“Nothing.”

The word left my mouth before a response had fully processed in my head, because it was the simplest, purest truth. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Tavi. She was the bravest human I’d ever met, sweet with a bite of fire in her, passionate, and beautiful. When I impulsively kissed her, she tasted like the first full breath of fresh air I’d ever had.

She was perfect in so many ways. Which was exactly why I could not have her as my blood mate.

“So, what’s the problem?” Drace pressed.

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