gave up, but in my mind, you were always there. You. Not some other woman. Had I wanted other women, I would have had them. I want you. You are my choice. Lifemate aside, you are my choice.”
She hugged his reassurance to her. “Tell me about Ferro. What’s he like?”
For the first time, Isai hesitated and at the same time, pulled out of her mind. It was abrupt, so she felt his exit. It was impossible to reach him when he didn’t want her inside. For a moment she was hurt, which she knew was silly. She really did have insecurities if she couldn’t stand not being alone even for a few minutes.
“Ferro was the oldest among us,” Isai said with obvious reluctance. “He is tall, taller even than I am. His shoulders—” He broke off, shaking his head. “Very wide. His eyes are very unusual, the color of iron and yet there are rusty spots within the iron so that his eyes pierce right through you. He always has an aura of danger clinging to him. He is not a man to cross. He was the most respected among us, and yet also the one we all were careful to watch. It is good that he has a lifemate. She will ensure that he cannot turn.”
Julija was silent, trying to process how she felt about what Isai had told her. Her friend was very vulnerable. On the other hand, she would need a very tough and dangerous man in order to keep Sergey away from her. Everyone knew the vampire would do anything to get his prisoner back. Elisabeta’s lifemate would have to be extremely powerful to match a vampire with splinters of the high mage embedded in him.
“I’m afraid for her.”
“That is natural, Julija,” Isai surprised her by saying. “You are her friend. You want what is best for her. Ferro will be best for her.”
She had closed her eyes and pressed back against him. “You are always so certain.”
“They are lifemates,” he said complacently.
“Yes,” she admitted, “but the course of both their lives changed, which means they have been altered. If the soul was split in half at birth and she has been born more than once, or at least one other time so lived other life cycles, and this time Sergey managed to kidnap and keep her, holding her prisoner for centuries, her life has to be shaped by that. She’s different. He’s different as well. Whatever they were supposed to be, they no longer are.”
He pressed kisses along her bare shoulder, sending shivers through her body. “That is one way to look at it and I can see how it would cause you to worry, but it is truly for nothing, Julija. Her soul calls to his. His soul calls to hers. Each will be what the other needs.”
Julija rubbed her fingers along his thigh, feeling the casual strength running beneath the surface—strength he took for granted. He believed deeply in the connection between lifemates. She wanted to believe. Certainly, Isai was an unexpected gift.
“I like that,” he teased.
“You would get back into my mind just at the perfect time.” She turned her head to give him a mock glare. It was strange. She was so used to him that she hadn’t felt his presence. “I want to have that light of a touch.”
“You will. It just takes a little practice,” he explained. “Just like flying or shifting.”
“I love flying,” she said. “I used to think, at night, I would fly away in my dreams. If I left my bedroom window open, I could feel the night air surrounding me and ruffling my hair. Whenever I woke, I was always in my bed.”
His arms tightened around her. “That kind of thing is very dangerous, Julija. When you fly, you need to know what you are doing at all times. It is called sleep flying. We are never allowed to do such a thing.”
“I had no idea it was real, not until I started coming home with bumps, bruises and scrapes.” She forced herself to sit up. Staring across at the pool of water, she decided hot would be good. She tried waving her hand toward the pool and thinking of the perfect temperature, but no steam arose. Exasperated, she sketched a quick pattern in the air and chanted.
Energy to molecules,
Liquid to steam,
Bring forth your heat,
To meet my need.
“If you persist in cheating, you will never learn.” Isai waved his hand toward the water, and