Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Everett
When Everett woke that night, it was to find Dax no longer in the bed with him. Something was up with the ogre and had been since he’d had that conversation with his boss in the office. Everett quickly threw on some clothes and went to seek him out.
Everett found Dax in the family room on the couch, leaning forward with his head buried in his hands. There was such an air of defeat about him, it broke Everett’s heart.
“You need to talk to me, Dax. I can tell there’s something going on. What is it?”
Dax lifted his head. It was too dark to see his expression, so Everett flipped on a lamp.
Sure enough, his features were tight with something that was obviously bothering him.
“What is it?” Everett repeated as he hurried over to sit next to him.
He placed his hand on Dax’s thigh. “You can talk to me about anything.”
Dax sighed and placed his hand on top of Everett’s. “I’m not sure where to begin.”
“Does it involve me?”
He nodded.
“Then I deserve to know. Talk to me, Dax. What was that conversation with Xavier about?”
It took him a few moments before he started speaking, his voice low and soft. “I care about you, Everett.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I’ve fallen in love with you.”
Everett was hit with a surge of joy so profound, it felt like a physical punch. He opened his mouth to tell Dax how he was feeling but closed it when Dax continued speaking.
“But there’s more. You see, preternaturals can have soulmates.
Soulmates share a deep bond that goes beyond a normal relationship.
It’s like being two halves of a whole, where you can deeply sense each other’s emotions.
It’s hard to explain, but it’s a kind of bond most preternaturals search for their entire lives.
I only recently learned that those soulmates can actually be humans.
In all my years, I hadn’t known this. But it has to be a certain… kind of human.”
Everett frowned in confusion. “Um…what kinds are there?”
He shook his head. “Kind of wasn’t the right phrase to use.
They need to have certain abilities. The ability to see past glamours, to be specific.
Everything in me is telling me you’re my soulmate, Everett, but you don’t have that ability.
I overstepped and should have talked to you before I went to see Xavier.
I just wanted to find out if there’s something that can be done about that. ”
“Like what?”
“Like a spell. I’m sorry. As I said, I should have talked to you first. Told you what I was feeling.”
“Dax,” he squeezed his leg. “I’ve fallen for you, too. So much. But I’m confused. You can’t be with me if I’m not your soulmate?”
Dax took Everett’s hand in his. “No, we can be together, and if that’s what you want, I would be happy with that.
Very happy. I want to be with you no matter what.
I’m just torn because you do feel like my soulmate.
If you are, we’d be connected on a deeper level.
Not that what we have isn’t enough, but… you’d also live a very long life.”
“Oh.” Well, wasn’t that something? He couldn’t imagine having his life extended, but the thought certainly was appealing. “So, for us to try and make a life together as I am—that means you get to watch me age, and you’d eventually be left alone.”
“Yes.” Dax squeezed his hand and gave him a sincere look. “But that would still be enough. Any time with you would be.”
But they could have more than that. He didn’t totally understand, but it sounded…well, amazing. “So was there a spell?”
“There is one to open your eyes to the preternatural world, yes, but it would only work if you had a preternatural in your family line. And Xavier also told me that it wasn’t a guarantee—that we’re soulmates. But either way, it would change your entire world, which could be risky.”
Everett squeezed Dax’s leg hard as a current of excitement burned through him. “But a soul bond sounds like something special. Even priceless.”
“It is. I’ve longed to find my soulmate for hundreds of years, Everett.
” Dax took his hand, staring hard into his eyes.
“But I need you to understand that you are what I want. I was being selfish, wanting to have you for my entire lifespan. What I’m feeling for you is still so much more than I’ve felt for anyone else.
We’re already bonded, and that’s enough. ”
“If it is, then why is this bothering you so much?”
“Because in my heart, I know you’re my soulmate.” Dax gave him a soft smile. “Of course, I would like you to live as long as I do.”
“Then we have to try.”
“Everett, the humans who can see past glamours have been able to their entire lives. You’d be thrown into this, and it would change everything for you. It’s a lot to ask. Besides, it might not work. Like I said, you’d have to have a preternatural ancestor.”
“Well, my grandfather swore up and down we did. In fact, I believe that’s what he was searching for his entire life. Proof of that. He was obsessed with the supernatural world, and that’s without proof that it existed. I say let’s do it.”
“You need to think on it for a time.”
“What’s there to think about?” He leaned in and cupped his hands around Dax’s face.
“I’m fully, one hundred percent in love with you and I want us to be together.
Do I want that to be during a long, long lifetime?
Of course. I’ll take you even if it turns out I’m nothing more than a human in a long line of humans only.
Because even if we have forty or so years together, that’s better than nothing, isn’t it? ”
“I’ll take any time with you, Everett.”
“I’d still like to try the spell. Will Xavier do it tomorrow?”
“I can ask. I don’t know what he’d need for it. Or that he’d even do it. He believes that opening your eyes at this stage in your life would come with risk.”
“What kind of risk?”
“That seeing all of us might be too much for your mind. That you could react badly to the wrong preternatural. Just as there are bad humans, there are bad preternaturals, and they can be dangerous.”
“I’m still not seeing a risk here. You’ve walked among us all this time, and surely the humans who can see that have reacted.
The risk doesn’t make sense to me, and the reward should the spell work would be…
everything. Dax, spending a long lifetime with you would be a dream come true.
I know that’s sappy as hell, but I want us to truly be together.
To have that soul bond.” He bit his lip as one important thought occurred to him.
“But what if I’m not, and your real soulmate shows up? ”
Dax softly touched his face, love shining in those beautiful green eyes. “Then they’ll have to wait a century because I’m yours.”
His heart just melted. It may be selfish of him to be with Dax if it turned out they were wrong. Be selfish to ask the ogre to go on living and grieving, but he wanted him so much. The spell had to work. “Please ask your boss to do the spell.”
Dax nodded. “I will.”
They were quiet for a few moments, until Everett could no longer suppress the happiness he felt.
He pushed Dax back and crawled into his lap, wrapping his arms around his neck.
“I’ve been stressing how to talk to you about how I was feeling.
I wasn’t sure a supernatural person could ever be interested in actually dating a human. ”
“You’re everything to me, Everett.” Dax pulled him close and buried his face in Everett’s neck. He nestled there for several moments before he pulled back to cup Everett’s face. “Even if we don’t do the spell, I want those years with you and every one of them will be precious.”
Everett said nothing because he had every intention of asking Xavier to work that spell. Maybe this was selfish, too, but he wanted all the years with Dax.