8. Lyndon

Chapter 8

Lyndon

T here were six pizzas sitting on the large worktable when we came out.

"Do I want to know how you managed to get pizza delivered all the way out here, to a licensed witch's land, in the ten minutes we were gone?"

Ambrose waved his hand lazily. "I don't share trade secrets, cousin."

I snorted and opened the box, smiling when I saw it was tomato and basil with fresh mozzarella. This was why I tolerated Ambrose. He was insane and drove me up the wall, but he also remembered what my favorite pizza toppings were and made sure to get them.

I looked at Darcy. "You do like pizza, right? We probably should have asked."

Darcy looked scandalized. "Of course I like pizza! It's my second favorite human food." He glanced at Ambrose. "Did you happen to get meat lover's?"

"Of course. Only Lyndon prefers vegetables on pizza."

Darcy's tongue poked out, something I was noticing he did when he was nervous. "I, um, vegetables are okay too."

I went to pat Darcy's shoulder but stopped myself just in time. What had happened before, it had been overwhelming . . . to say the least. I had to be careful. This felt different than what most of my coven described when they'd found their soul mates, but then again, I was the only one I knew of to have one from a different species and a different world. Maybe the same rules didn't apply.

Either way, I had felt my magic enter Darcy and join with his soul. Just from the smallest of touches. Until I could get a handle on everything, we had to avoid that, even gestures as small as a brush against his shoulder.

Instead, I just smiled. "It's okay. You don't have to like my pizza choices. More for me."

We all ate in silence. It wasn't heavy, but there was this air to it, like we knew once we finished, everything would change. Everything would be out in the open and Darcy would understand that the goddess was trying to trap him to my miserable ass for eternity. The good thing was at least he'd understand why I kept being an asshole to him. I was sure he would be relieved I wanted to break the bond—he just didn't have all the information yet.

The meal ended too soon. It had been the one barrier that had allowed me to push off the inevitable just a little longer. But with the pizzas devoured, I had no choice but to face Darcy.

I glanced at him. He was staring at his plate and pushing around uneaten bites of crust with his clawed fingers.

Ambrose cleared his throat and jumped to his feet. "Lyndon already filled me in on everything, so I'm going to check out where the portal was formed and see what I can figure out while you two chat."

What? Ambrose was actually being mature and not staying to be nosy? That was probably the most shocking thing that had happened.

"There's no magical residue," Darcy announced seemingly out of nowhere, but it stopped Ambrose in his tracks. He tilted his head to the side, thinking.

"At the site the portal was found?" What were they talking about?

Darcy nodded. "Yesss, I went back there earlier. I can, um, taste magic? I guesss that'sss the best way to explain it. But there wassss nothing. Only Lyndon'sss."

He had tasted my magic? I wondered what it tasted like. It sounded disgusting, but Darcy didn't seem bothered. Ambrose looked fascinated. "Okay, when you're done chatting with my cousin, we're going to talk. I have many, many questions."

Darcy looked a little overwhelmed, but he nodded in agreement. "In the meantime, I'll go check it out. I have no doubt what you're saying is correct, but portals are kind of my expertise so maybe I'll find out something. I'll also reach out to my sister."

"Ambrose," I warned, but he ignored me.

"You're having visions, Lyndon. I may be a seer, but you know I don't pay much attention to all that. You need to speak with Aria. Besides, you know she won't tell Mother. She loves knowing things Mother doesn't. It's the highlight of her life."

I snorted. That was true enough. Ambrose walked away with a nod, leaving me alone with Darcy.

I shifted in my seat, feeling uncomfortable. Enough stalling, Lyndon, it's time to get this over with.

"I'm not disgusted with you. That's not why I've been staying away from you. Every time we touch, things get more real. Surely, you felt that before?" Darcy nodded mutely. "My magic joined with your soul, Darcy. I can't allow that to happen."

Darcy did that thing with his tongue again. Why was that so fascinating? "Sssso, um, what Ambrose sssaid was true? We're matesss?"

Fucking Ambrose. "It does seem like the goddess has a sick sense of humor and paired us together, yes."

Darcy flinched, once again making me feel like an asshole. Why was I always hurting this man? Reason number 7,532 why I shouldn't have a mate. "Not because of you, Darcy. Trust me, you don't want me." Nobody wanted me once they really got to know me. He'd understand that soon enough.

"Why not?"

Why not? I let out a defeated laugh. "We don't have enough time to list all the reasons. It's just a bad idea. I'd be a terrible mate. You deserve better than me."

"It sssseeemsss like your goddesss doesn't agree."

I grunted and stood to start cleaning up dinner. I needed to do something with my hands. "Yes, well, she doesn't know everything. Even if I wasn't a terrible choice for a life partner, there's the little fact that we're not from the same world. Don't you want to get back to your family? Your life?"

"Well, yesssss, but . . ."

I dumped the plates I was holding into the sink. "No buts. You belong there, where you have people who love and care for you. Where you can at least have a semblance of normalcy. Here, you'd be in hiding pretty much always. Being different is not accepted, Darcy. Most of us parahumans can pass as mundanes and even we're fighting to keep our basic rights. Things are so unstable, someone like you couldn't survive."

Darcy stiffened up, and for the first time since I'd met him, which goddess, had only been a day ago, he looked pissed. "You have no idea what I could sssurvive, Lyndon. What I'd be willing to survive for my mate."

I turned to him, feeling just as pissed. "But why? Why do you even care? You don't know me. I've been nothing but an asshole to you. You should want to run as fast as you can away from me."

Darcy stood and walked toward me. I shifted so my back wasn't against the counter and I had room to move. He could not touch me again. I saw the hurt flash across his face, but I ignored it. It was probably better that I kept hurting him, then he'd get this stupid notion out of his head.

"I don't know why, but I'm drawn to you. I can't ssseem to stop thinking about you. As much as I know I should be focused on figuring out a way home, I find I'm not as eager as I ssshould be. And yeah, you haven't been nice to me, but I know it'sss your way of protecting yourself. My best friend, Rafe, is the same way. I can deal with grumpy assholes. I'm surrounded by them, Lyndon. As far as the ressst, about your world, I don't really know enough. I'm not sssaying I want to live here forever, but if Ambrossse comes back right now and says he reopened the portal, you'd be okay with me leaving? With all these unanswered questions and feelingsss and a portion of your magic running through me?"

The question shook me more than it should. "Yes," I lied, knowing we both saw right through it. "It would be the easiest thing."

"Easy isn't alwaysss the right answer."

Who knew this freaking man could be so insightful. "Yeah, well, I rarely do the right thing, so it fits."

Darcy watched me with an intensity I didn't know was possible. I thought he was going to continue arguing, but after a moment, he deflated and shrugged.

"Okay, fine."

"Fine?"

"Yeah, fine. You don't want to be my mate. I'm not going to force you. I may be part reptile, but I know what consent is. No point in fighting you about it. You're not going to change your mind. It'sss better to know now, before I get attached. We'll find a way to break the bond, and as sssoon as Ambrose figuressss out how to get me back to my world, I'll leave."

I narrowed my eyes at him. That was it? Two seconds ago, he'd been trying to convince me to give this a shot, and now he was just ready to drop it and leave? Something wasn't adding up.

But . . . I wasn't about to argue against what I wanted. If he was willing to drop it that easily, then I'd made the right decision to try and find a way to end the bond and move on.

"I do have one quessstion though." Was he forcing his voice to sound that cheery?

"What is it?"

"Ambrose sssaid something about visionsss?"

I sighed. I'd hoped he'd forgotten that. "Yeah, I've been having some since you came here. It's not something that typically happens to me. We're trying to figure out what they mean."

"And I'm in them?"

Ugh. "Yes. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything. The goddess likes to be cryptic." Except my visions weren't cryptic at all. They were a little too on the nose if you asked me. Which was why I was convinced they didn't mean what they were saying.

"Okay," he agreed again.

"Okay? That's it? You're not going to ask any more questions?"

Darcy shrugged again. "Nope. What'sss the point? I'm going to leave here as sssoon as possible, right? No sssense in worrying about anything else."

What. Was. Happening? "Um, yeah, you're right."

"Great. I'm going to catch up with Ambrose, sssee what we can find out."

With his tail flicking, Darcy walked away from me, and a few seconds later I heard the front door open and close. I stood there feeling like I'd just been hit by a car that had backed over me again and again. What in the everloving fuck had just happened?