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I said nothing for a long while, trying to keep that empty ache from dragging me under. And a lock on a door in a house rattled.
“Yeah.”
“It was a mantra his father taught him.”
“I know.”
I felt Logan’s eyes bore into the side of my face. “When did he teach you?”
“It doesn’t matter.” I shook my head, needing to change the subject. I didn’t want to talk about anything that would derail me from my mission. “What happened back there? It was like you were a whole different person.”
He glanced at me and seemed to understand that I didn’t want to continue to talk about Samkiel. “I can hear her, feel her when we’re close, but what you saw back there, in its most basic terms, is my need to protect her. I would do anything to accomplish that. It’s an instinctual reaction. My body takes over, and I have no control.”
I frowned and tipped my head. “At all?”
Logan shrugged, taking in the narrowing of the cavern walls. “We had a fight one time, like every couple. I don’t even remember what it was about, but we were in the kitchen arguing, and she didn’t realize she had her hand so close to the burner. I placed mine beneath hers before she could make contact. Mortal flames don’t hurt as much, but I would never let anything happen to her. Not if I could help it. I’d do anything for her. That protectiveness is one of many perks of the mark.”
“You mean the Mark of Dhihsin?”
He nodded. “I can feel her now that we are closer. She’s cold and alone and hungry.”
“Can you hear her thoughts?”
“Yeah. We share everything. That’s why it has to be a soul tie for the mark to appear. The closest equivalent in your language would be a soulmate, mate, or fated love, the one person who is your equal in every way. That’s how the old gods spoke of it. The mark appears once the bond is completed and only disappears in death. It was a crime punishable by death to kill someone’s soul tie, but that didn’t stop it from happening. It was a convenient way to kill both. The surviving mate wouldn’t physically die at first, but they would eventually succumb to a broken heart. They just… stop.”
“Oh.” A shudder of disgust went through me as we ducked under a hanging slab of rock. “It sounds terrible.”
“It’s a bond on every level, and in every way, two beings can connect. Have you ever heard of the story of Gathrriel and Vvive?”
I shook my head.
“It is the first recorded incident of the mark. When chaos first erupted, everyone fought for their place in the realms. Gathrriel was a powerful warrior wounded in battle and on the edge of death when Vvive found him. She swore on her blood, body, and soul, praying to the Formless Ones, the ones before creation, to save him. That was when the mark appeared. It was the first soul tie, and it sealed them together in every way possible. She saved him that day, saved the world, really. Dhihsin was the child of Gathrriel and Vvive, hence the name. It was a way to honor their love and one of their greatest joys after the challenges they’d faced. Some of the gods discounted the mark and thought it defied nature.”
Logan glanced at me as if this story was a legend passed down like a bedtime story for fools in love.
“That was the beginning. Your life becomes their life, and your power becomes their power, and so on. Sometimes I feel as if…” Logan paused, looking at his hand and the mark on his finger. “I hope I am keeping Neverra alive. Some of us share the same life force. Maybe I’m healing her. I don’t know.”
I glanced at him as he flexed his hand. “Maybe you are.”
I didn’t know why I wanted to give him that bit of comfort, but perhaps that was what he needed to hear because he glanced at me and smiled.
We were quiet for a while, his words playing over in my head. To love someone so much, you create a mark that transcends time. Gabby would have eaten it up. What would it be to have that perfect person designed just for you? I knew Gabby loved that stuff. She loved watching it and reading about it. Gabby loved love, or maybe just the idea of it.
On the other hand, I had seen love up close and personal. Kaden taught me it was just a dream made by children. Everyone lied, cheated, or sold out their so-called loved ones for the right price. It wasn’t real in my world, but maybe it was in Gabby’s. She’d wanted a soul tie. She’d told me as much, and maybe that had been Rick for her. He was just a mortal, yet he’d fought to the death to keep her safe when I couldn’t.
“You didn’t know all of this?”
Logan’s voice pulled me from my thoughts as we crawled over a slab of overturned stone. Water dripped from the ceiling, and the humidity continued to grow.
I shook my head, keeping my eyes forward and putting one foot in front of the other. “How would I know? They don’t exist for creatures of the night.” I kept my face expressionless, feeling the beads of sweat running down my back. “I will never have a mate.”
Even if by some miracle I did, it was probably Kaden. Another way for the universe to laugh at me and mock my miserable soul. He was just as cruel as I.
“Everyone does,” Logan said, “and they always find each other.”
I snorted, “I’m sure they do.”
“I am telling you the truth, Dianna. It doesn’t matter the distance or time. It’s inevitable, even if it takes a thousand years or more.”
