“Does it have anything to do with the pretty witch baking upstairs in your apartment?” Jason sniffed. “Blueberry muffins, I believe,” he said with an amused glint in his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’ve been domesticated?”
“You don’t know the half of it.” Brandon raised his gaze, allowing Jason to see his eyes. As both a mage and a vampire male, he would understand the significance of the green flecks in his blue eyes.
Jason whistled softly. “Mate bond?”
Brandon nodded.
“That's... rare.”
“Astronomically.”
“Lucky male,” Jason murmured. “How is Muriel handling it?”
Brandon hesitated. “She doesn’t know.”
“Excuse me?”
“She doesn’t know. It just happened.”
Jason smirked. “So, you two were just holding hands and the next thing you knew, your magic justaccidentallyslipped into hers?”
“Dick,” Brandon muttered. “But yes, that is exactly what happened.”
“Surely she must have felt something.”
“She thinks it’s the resonance.” When Jason blinked slowly, Brandon explained, “She’s been very sheltered.”
“Clearly.” Silence stretched between them, then Jason said quietly, “You know this isn’t something you can hide forever. You must tell her before someone else does.”
“I know,” Brandon agreed. “And I will. But not yet. She came to me for help. Telling her we’re now soul-bound gives her another reason to believe mages are untrustworthy.”
Jason scoffed. “You are the opposite of untrustworthy. Secretive, perhaps, but aren’t we all? Besides, mate bonding isn’t achoice.You know that.”
“I do, yes, but she doesn’t and she’s not going to see it that way.” He’d been thinking of little else since the bond snapped into place. He’d approached it from every possible angle and kept coming up with the same result—with Muriel feeling tricked and betrayed and hating his guts.
“So explain it to her,” Jason said patiently.
Brandon shook his head. “It’s not that easy. This is all new to her.”
“The longer you wait, the worse the fallout is going to be.”
Yes, he knew. But that was a tomorrow problem. He’d rather have Muriel hate him later than end up in the hands of acquisitional operators because she panicked and ran away. He said as much to Jason.
The vampire laid a sympathetic hand on Brandon’s shoulder in silent support, then wisely moved on. “Speaking of the Collectors, they’re definitely circling. Corvus and a few others have been skulking around the Shenandoah area. Is the book secure?”
“For the moment.”
“So it’s here?” When Brandon nodded, Jason leaned forward. “Have you seen it?”
“Yes. Muriel keeps it with her, toting it around in a leather satchel.”
Jason’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. She doesn’t know what it is, only that it’s powerful and somehow connected to her.”
“Are you certain it’s theCodex?”
“As certain as I can be. The runes match sketches I’ve seen. They’re unlike anything I’ve come across before.”