“What?”
“Love,” he said simply.
Marley’s delighted reaction burst around her, a symphony of color. And when she smiled, Ian felt the warmth of the sun as her energy, their energy, broke over him like a desert rain, unexpected and life-giving. She sat up, stretching her arms to the ceiling. “God, I feel amazing.”
She looked amazing, all flushed and rumpled from loving. His gaze skated down the length of her body, catching on the stitches along puckered pink scar to the left of her belly button. Reaching out, he traced it, feeling the wheal of tissue beneath his finger. Barely more than two inches long, and it had nearly killed her. Should have killed her, even with the spell.
Marley caught his wrist and frowned. “If you’re going to start in on that again, you’ll ruin my afterglow.”
Ian wisely swallowed the self-recriminations, focusing instead on observation. “You heal like me now. Probably,” he added. “I don’t want to put it to the test.”
“That’s a good thing, right? Puts me less at risk for…stuff.”
“It’s not a license to do anything foolish or dangerous. You can still be killed. But yes, it should make you slightly less…destructible.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “The thing is…you shouldn’t heal that fast. It’s not how the spell works.”
Marley frowned. “How was it supposed to work?”
“The original incantation isn’t one of balance. It would’ve essentially channeled my energy into you, giving your body enough energy to heal itself, but not at such an accelerated rate. Even with you being half Felis, it shouldn’t have been that fast, that complete. When you changed the words, you changed the nature of t
he spell. We’re connected on a deeper level.” He said it carefully, not sure of her reaction.
“You think that should bother me. It doesn’t.” Her touch on his cheek was feather-light. “I love who are, so the fact of being bound to you isn’t a problem for me.”
The simple faith behind her statement rocked him.
“You might change your mind,” he said unevenly. “Centuries is a long time to be bound, and I don’t know if the spell can be reversed.”
“I don’t want it reversed—what do you mean centuries?”
“If my interpretation of things is correct, you initiated a mating spell.”
She blinked at him. “A mating spell? What does that mean?”
“Your life force is bound to mine. What power I gain feeding from you will be fed back through the bond. That’s why you healed. Even while you were—God, you were dying in my arms.” Ian shuddered at the fresh lash of terror from the memory.
Marley curled her body around him. “I’m right here. All in one piece.”
When he was sure his voice wouldn’t waver, he continued. “Even then, I could feel you…pushing. Freely giving what you felt. It was so huge, so strong. And when the spell kicked in, all that charge went back to you.”
“It created a closed circuit system.”
Ian blinked. “I…yeah, I suppose that’s exactly what it is.”
“Don’t look so surprised. I was a double major in physics and chemistry. I’d have graduated in December.”
Yet another thing she’d been forced to give up. “I’m sorry.”
She waved off his apology. “Water. Bridge. The important part of all of this is that you can’t inadvertently hurt me if you burn out now.”
“If my theory is correct, I’m not sure I can burn out anymore.”
“You’re stronger when you feed from me. Why?”
“Wraiths are meant to be parasites. That’s not a description born merely of my own self-loathing. Our illusory abilities are intended to enhance the entire spectrum of negative emotions in humans, and we’re supposed to take. It’s what we’re taught. What’s known about our kind. But you give. You give so much of yourself and what you feel, and it’s staggering.”
“Wait, I know the answer to this. There was a song about it. The power of love.”
“You joke, but it seems like it’s a thing. A big enough thing that I’m able to use my powers on other Mirus.”