Chapter Forty-Two
~Leo~
Euphoria lingered beneath my skin long after the words were spoken. I love you too. Even with Kalo curled against me, the memory of hearing him say it sent another wave of disbelief rolling through my chest.
Silo was no help whatsoever. My wolf was practically beside himself inside my head, yipping excitedly and darting in frantic circles like an overgrown puppy who’d just been told all his dreams were coming true at once.
He loves us.
That’s what he said, I agreed.
He’s choosing us.
“I was right here,” I muttered aloud before I could stop myself.
Kalo tilted his head up from where he rested against my shoulder, amusement flickering in his amber eyes. “Talking to your wolf?”
At least he didn’t think I was just talking to myself. “He’s excited.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Three,” I corrected softly as I kissed the top of his head, unable to stop smiling. Honestly, if the world had ended right then, I might have died happy.
But that was exactly the problem. The world hadn’t ended, and our problem still wasn’t solved. The full moon was still coming, marking one of us for death, and my thoughts reluctantly dragged me back towards reality.
Kalo shifted to sitting, studying my face carefully. “We need to keep talking now, don’t we?”
“I’m afraid so. Am I that obvious?”
“Yes,” he replied immediately, sounding far too entertained by that fact. “But I like it.”
And I liked his lighthearted teasing, and the way it made me feel both seen and appreciated.
Reluctantly, we untangled ourselves and got dressed again. We might be called back to join the others at any moment, so remaining naked wasn’t really a practical option, no matter how much I appreciated the view.
With Kalo seated on the bed once more, I crossed to the closet and pulled out the flipchart I kept there. When I turned back, I caught him biting down on his lip to keep from laughing.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he tried to claim just before his smile broke free. “Just wondering how many office supplies you have in there?”
“Sometimes I have an idea at night and I need to…”
He barely held back a snort, and I shook my head.
“Well, it’s coming in handy now, and that’s all that matters.”
Grabbing a marker, I drew a line straight down the centre of the paper. On the left side, I wrote: BOND brOKEN, and on the right: BOND MADE PERMANENT. The marker squeaked as I drew lines beneath both headings.
Exhaling slowly, I turned to face him. “Now that we know what we would choose if there were no additional complications, we can remove emotion from the equation and focus on logic.”
Kalo folded his legs beneath him. “I’m ready to be entirely rational.”
Somehow, I felt like he was still teasing me, but I couldn’t quite figure out how.
Clearing my throat, I pointed at the first column. “If we do nothing before the full moon, the bond breaks automatically. The mark disappears, and according to Visenya, you become the one she claims for Death.”
Kalo nodded slowly. “That’s assuming that we’ve freed her and she’s free to take me.”
“Yes, but even if she’s still trapped, Death might intervene directly.”
I could tell from Kalo’s grimace that he didn’t like that idea very much. “If the bond breaks and we somehow manage to evade Death, could we restore the bond afterwards?”
I shook my head. “Not fully. We could still become chosen mates, and wolves can form powerful bonds that way too, but it wouldn’t be the same thing as a fated mate bond. It would never feel exactly the same as it does now.”
Pain flickered across his face in anticipation of that loss, which I understood completely.
Moving to the second column, I tapped the marker against the paper. “On the other hand, if we complete the bond, then I become the one marked for death instead. Again, Visenya wouldn’t be able to claim me herself while trapped, but we’d still risk Death taking matters into his own hands.”
Kalo’s jaw tightened. “I’ve heard losing a mate is devastating for werewolves. Excruciating, really.”
“So I’ve heard,” I had to agree.
The thought alone made Silo whine softly inside my head.
Kalo looked back towards the chart. “That’s a point in favour of breaking the bond, isn’t it? Because if I die after it’s already broken, it won’t hurt you as badly.”
Pain twisted sharply through my chest at how calmly he spoke of his death. So much for putting emotion aside.
“But you’re human,” I reminded him. “Even with the bond solidified, you might not feel my death as strongly as another werewolf does.”
“But you don’t know that for sure,” he reminded me.
No, I didn’t, so I tried another angle instead. “The bond breaking is painful too.”
“But not as painful as the mate’s death,” he pointed out.
“No, not that much,” I had to agree.
Kalo pointed towards the chart. “You should write that down.”
Reluctantly, I added it beneath the first column, even though I hated seeing the words in black and white. Death less physically traumatic for surviving mate after broken bond.
I left the implication there that his death would hurt me emotionally, no matter the status of our bond.
Kalo stared at both columns for a few moments, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “We’re not really worried about Visenya, right? She’s going to try to help us.”
“If she’s able to, and that depends on us finding a way to break her bond. I don’t think that’s something we can rely on.”
Kalo was undeterred. “So, it’s just Death we need to worry about.”
Just Death? “That’s a pretty big thing.”
He rolled his eyes at me. “I get that, but let’s think big. Do you think we can hide from him? Maybe Calista can find a way…”
“I don’t think so,” I cut him off. “Visenya found us here even though she was originally sent to Ravenstone for you. She tracked you here even though you’d changed species. And if what she said is true, her task remains unfinished until she leaves with a soul, so I don’t see how…”
What I’d just said hit me with full force halfway through the sentence, so suddenly that I stopped speaking altogether. Silo went suddenly still too, both of us hearing it at the same time.
Holy fuck.
“Kalo, that’s it. That might actually be the answer.”
His brows drew together in confusion. “What is? You didn’t say anything.”
I supposed I hadn’t, but my thoughts were racing so quickly, I could barely keep up.
“Death needs a soul to restore balance, right?”
Cautiously, Kalo nodded. “That’s what Visenya said.”
“But does it absolutely have to be one of ours?”
His confusion deepened instantly. “Are you suggesting we kill someone?”
The horrified expression on his face would have been funny under literally any other circumstances. “No, that’s not what I’m…”
“Because everyone else already has their own natural deaths scheduled,” he argued. “Killing someone early would just disrupt the balance further.”
“I understand that, and I’m not talking about murder, exactly. I’m talking about someone else who evaded their own death, someone we could turn over in our place.”
Kalo just stared at me blankly, reminding me that he didn’t know all the details like I did.
“When we were just in there, talking with Visenya, Evalina mentioned a fae prince, the one whose heart she cut out.”
“I remember that,” he assured me drily.
“He made himself immortal,” I explained. “Even now, he’s technically still alive as a disembodied heart. That’s unnatural too, right? It has to be. It’s another violation of the natural order.”
Silo was practically vibrating with excitement, and it was contagious.
“If Death wants balance restored, maybe he’ll accept correcting that discrepancy instead of ours. Maybe that will even the scales enough that he’ll leave us alone.”
Kalo stared at me for several long seconds as he processed all of that. “You want to offer Death a substitute?” he summarized slowly. “Do you really think that would work?”
“I don’t know for sure,” I admitted. “But luckily for us, I know where there’s a reaper we could ask.”