Page 36 of The Stone Survival
She lifts a brow and looks pointedly at my hand wrapped around her arm. “I see…”
Fuck. I let go. “I’m sorry. I’m not sure why I did that.”
“Oh, I understand, child. You have feelings for him. But I’m afraid that he may not be free to return them.”
“What?”
She peers up at Derek through her lashes almost coyly. “You’ve been marked, shadow sylph. I can see it in your aura.Hermark.”
“Whose?”
“Aine, one of the first of our kind. The maker of most, or so she likes to claim.” Mirrowind chews on her cheeks. “You have the scent of the wildlands on you also, and if you were somehow called there, to her, it can only mean one thing…that the doorways to Faerie are opening once more, which means that the taint that plagued us for centuries has been vanquished.” She walks away, sipping on her drink. “This changes everything. There will be a resurgence of the old ones. Bids for power…room for…” She breaks off, laughing softly. “I’m getting ahead of myself. You came to me for help, so I will give you the only advice that I can.” She looks Derek in the eyes. “Donotgo back there.”
“Why?” Flora asks before I can.
“Because she will keep you. I’m not sure how you escaped the first time, but?—”
“He’s bound to Cameron,” Flora says. “Maybe that helped?”
“Yes…Yes, that would do it. You slipped into the wilds when you took the chimera form, a form which is the epitome of thewildlands. It would have attracted her. You must not take that form again.”
“I have to protect Cameron,” Derek says. “If I have to go chimera to do that, then I will.”
Mirrowind sighs. “Yes, I suppose you do. She is defenseless without you, and after all that’s happened…”
“But Blake has been teaching Derek how to be his own entity,” Flora says. “To sever the connection that forces him to rely on Cameron to fuel him.”
“That will be a problem,” Mirrowind says. “And also explain why the wild was able to claim him, even if only for a moment.”
Shit. “What do we do?”
“Simple. We forge a new bond,” Mirrowind says. “One that Derek wants. One that will allow him to be his own entity but still tethered to this world.”
“How?”
“By having him take a mate.” She fixes her eyes on me. “A mate like you.”
CHAPTER 17
CAMERON
Now that Serath was back, time seemed to fly by. Waking up together, having breakfast, training, lunch at Stone Comfort—where the prying eyes didn’t seem to matter as much—followed by a couple of hours in bed, necessary, of course, for medicinal purposes.
I spent the late afternoon with Melanie, sitting in the observatory watching the world go by, talking, simply talking about my childhood and hers. Learning where we connected, where we were alike in so many ways.
Before I knew it, we were setting the table for supper.
There was a giddiness inside me. The flush of love and contentment that was unshakable. Yes, there was bad shit hovering on the horizon, but it didn’t matter because we were together, and we’d deal with whatever came our way. Together.
Right now, in these present moments, I wanted to enjoy being mated. Enjoy being loved. Enjoy being with my family.
The kitchen buzzed with activity and the hum of conversation as we got ready to eat together.
“Is Melanie not joining us?” Ginia asked.
I shook my head. “She manifested for a long time today. She’s recharging.”
“How’s it been?” Touron asked. “Spending time with her now that, you know…”
