"But you have no chance of being mated again?"
"Let's just say, I have a better chance of dying from grapefruit poisoning."
She laughed at that. "Oh, yeah, the Fates are definitely women. I love it."
"I'm glad you do, but I have to say it doesn't appeal to me. The idea of being impotent rather blows."
She could understand that. "So what makes the mark appear? You reach a certain age? You cross the street?"
"We have sex." He gave her a wicked grin.
"Yeah, right."
"No, seriously. The mark only appears after you've had sex with your predestined mate. Within a few hours it'll show up."
"And if you never have sex with your mate?"
"Then you never find your mate. You go the whole of your life without the chance of having children."
And she thought being human was hard. At least she had a choice about marriage and procreation. "You really have no control over the mating?"
"None whatsoever. Believe me, if we did, I would have never chosen a human for mine."
She didn't know why, but those words stung her. "You know, we're not all so bad."
He made a rude noise. "Pardon me if I reserve judgment on that."
Well, honestly, she couldn't blame him for his feelings. He'd been damaged rather badly by the actions of a single human. And it made her wonder what kind of woman would toss away a chance to have a man like Ravyn in her life. "So did you and Isabeau do the deed to finish off the mating?"
"No, I stupidly chose to be noble and to tell her what I was before I finished the ritual with her. Since she was human and it was the Renaissance period, she got a little... wiggy on me."
To say the least. "And the rest is history."
He nodded.
Man, she felt for him. How awful to lay himself bare before someone and have her betray him so badly. It made Alex leaving her because he didn't want to be tainted by her soiled reputation seem mild by comparison. His actions had been insensitive, but Isabeau's had been downright cruel.
"So what was the bonding thing you mentioned to Phoenix?" she asked.
"It's a special bond that we can make with our mates if both parties choose it. It combines our life forces together so that if one of us dies, the other dies, too. Instantly."
"Romantic and scary."
"Yes, it is. On the night our village was attacked, it was how we knew what was happening. Several members of our clan who were with us just keeled over. One minute they were with us and the next, they were dead at our feet for no known reason. Since so many of them fell, we knew someone was killing our families."
She let out a long breath as she tried to imagine the horror of that. "I'm really sorry, Ravyn."
"Thanks." But still she noted the way his grip tightened on the steering wheel and it made him ache for him.
They fell silent while they made their way over to Angie and Jimmy's. This time of night, the neighborhood was absolutely silent, with only an occasional house showing a light or TV on. Susan had always liked staying up late at night. There was something peaceful and pristine about the world. The silence was almost tangible.
As they neared the house, Susan spotted a patrol car parked on a curb. "Looks like they're watching the place."
Ravyn nodded. "After the day we've had, I'd expect no less."
Well, there was that.
He drove them past the patrol car, down the street, turned the corner, then parked. "We can go in the back way on foot."