“Are they all human?” Callie whispered.
I nodded. “Each one is the destined consort of a daywalker. They’ve all agreed to come to the council, but now they need to have everything explained to them. It’s our job to convince them that this is all real, and it’s their destiny. Mira likes to bring in all sorts of different daywalkers so that hopefully, there will be at least one whom each human will connect with.”
“Wow, I guess I didn’t really understand how all this worked.”
“Most don’t. They just let the council handle it. But after bringing enough consorts here and leaving them terrified and confused, I decided one day to take them inside myself and hoped it would make things easier for them. Mira went over everything with me as I watched others do what we are about to do, and it just sort of stuck with me. So, now I help out around once a month.”
“That’s...that’s really amazing, Braeden,” Callie said quietly. I glanced down at her, and my whole body warmed at the sweet expression on her face.
I shrugged, feeling—for the first time ever in my life—a little bashful. It was mortifying, so I cleared my throat and kept going with my explanation. “For those who accept the life and stay, the next step is to try to find their destined consort.”
“What is the success rate?” Her eyes turned a little sad because we both knew what a rarity it was to find your mate.
“Higher than you would think actually. The council has incredible resources at their fingertips. And…” I paused because the next part was mostly kept secret. Except, I would never keep anything from Callie, so I told her the rest. “You can’t share this with anyone else, or the council would be inundated with daywalkers, and the volume would make it difficult to continue.”
She nodded seriously, letting me know she understood the gravity of what I was divulging.
“As you know, it’s only possible for consorts to recognize their bond through touch. Well, what many people don’t realize is that ‘touch’ can be a relative term.”
Callie frowned, her forehead puckering in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“Each council headquarters has a lab attached to it. There are thousands and thousands of live DNA samples. When a consort is brought to them, they give a sample of their own DNA. Then the council uses some kind of process that I’m not familiar with, to expose the consort’s DNA to as many of the other specimens as possible.”
“They can tell by the interactions of their base DNA?” Callie gasped.
“Correct.”
Callie gawked at me, her rounded eyes blinking owlishly. “No freaking way,” she finally whispered.
I laughed and hugged her close. “That was pretty much my reaction, too.”
“But...what about everyone else?”
“Like I said, they can’t exactly do this for every daywalker in existence. It would take hundreds of people to run the tests alone, and even going twenty-four seven, it would never be enough to help all of us. It sucks, but their biggest concern is for the human consorts since their lives are in danger.”
“I guess that makes sense. Wow, I still can’t believe…”
“You know, my cousin Athan found a ring that belonged to an ancestor of his consort, Selena. It was a hundred years before she was born, but something about it called to him and he wore the piece of jewelry all the time until he found her.”
“You think it was because of her shared DNA with her ancestor?” Callie guessed.
“Possibly. I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure, but I’ve seen several instances like that, and knowing what I do, it definitely makes me think that a similar principle is involved.”
Callie shook her head, her face a mask of wonder. “This is incredible. I can see why you want to be a part of it.” She paused, then met my gaze with a hopeful expression. “Do you think I could come with you every month?”
I grinned, happy that she understood my passion for this and wanted to be a part of it with me. “I was hoping you would want to,” I replied, tenderly stroking her cheek. “You are more than I could have ever imagined in a mate, baby. How the hell did I get so lucky?”
Callie grinned and flicked her long hair back over her shoulder. “I am pretty awesome, aren’t I?”
I burst with laughter as we fully entered the room and prepared to help others find the joy we’d discovered together.
If I could only convince her to accept my claim and admit she loved me...my life would be perfect.
Well, nothing was ever perfect, but my Callie came insanely fucking close.
8
Callidora
After spending a couple of hours with humans who were destined to be paired with a daywalker, talking about how special that bond was, I knew what I had to do the moment Braeden and I were alone again. As soon as we teleported back to our house, I wrapped my hands around his wrists and led him into the master bedroom. His bright blue eyes heated with desire when I used my magic to change into a sheer white nightie.