Mate Bond

Kenzie stared at him. “What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t feel it until later, and only figured it out when I was trapped in the mists.”

Gil shook his head. “I’m sometimes amazed at the things I can see, but I’ve stopped letting it bother me. I wasn’t completely sure what I was looking at when I saw the sparkling threads coming out of your chest. When the warmth inside me built . . .” He again pressed his hand to his chest. “I thought about how you and me seemed to connect so well, and I let myself believe . . .”

“Oh.” Kenzie had been wanting to gut him for making her think they shared the bond, but her anger turned to sympathy. Remembering the anguish she’d felt, she could imagine Gil’s dismay when he discovered he’d been mistaken.

Gil’s eyes held a sadness. “I saw the threads in Bowman too, when I met him. But neither of you seemed to notice, so I let myself believe. A thousand years is a long time to be alone.”

Bowman had gone silent, but Kenzie looked at Gil in compassion. “When did you figure out you were wrong?”

“When I saw Bowman after you got trapped. The threads around him were—I don’t know—desperate. They were stretching out, looking for you, crying out for you. It was heartbreaking. I knew then that you two had always shared the bond—that you had a powerful and profound connection. It was such a natural part of you that you didn’t even know it.” Gil shook his head. “It took both of you being in terrible danger for you to realize it. You two were trying so hard to feel what ordinary Shifters felt, that it didn’t occur to you that the pair of you are extraordinary.”

“Oh,” Kenzie said. She glanced at Bowman, remembering every encounter with him since the first, her constant awareness of him, her need to tease and dare him, the way she’d so easily accepted that they would be mates. She’d made him persuade her the day he’d come to mate-claim her, but Kenzie had already known, in her heart, that she’d go home with him.

Bowman still had to growl at Gil. “And it took you, oh wise one, to show us the way?”

Gil grinned, his humor returning. “Nah, you would have got there. Eventually. Goddess, but you two are stubborn.”

“And you are a pain in the ass.” Bowman gave him a growl. “Are you sure you’re not some kind of Fae?”

Gil held up his hands, and deep pain flashed in his brown eyes. “Don’t ever call me a Fae. Those bastards wiped out everyone I held dear—don’t ever confuse me with anything Fae.”

Kenzie gentled her tone. “Or a ghost?”

Instantly, Gil’s rage departed, and his amusement returned. “That’s just fun. That family really did adopt me a hundred and fifty years ago and left me the house. And everyone loves a ghost.”

Bowman said nothing, but looked slightly less angry. Kenzie looked Gil over. She didn’t understand him, and thought she might never, but he’d helped them every step of the way.

“Is your name really Gil?” Bowman rumbled at him. “Graham called you Ben.”

Gil shrugged. “Neither.” He winked at Kenzie again. “You couldn’t pronounce it.”

“And why didn’t you tell us?” Kenzie asked. “Why pretend to be the cop? Why the glam?”

Gil let out a breath. “Well, to be honest, gnomes or goblins—whatever you want to call me—are not that good-looking to humans. And I’ve lived in stealth mode so long that it’s my natural state. I don’t know how to open up and be myself. When I heard about the attack of the beast, I knew I needed to investigate. It smacked of Fae. And if I’d told you I was from Faerie, you’d have gone for my throat first and asked questions later. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t. So I used a persona you’d find agreeable. When the creature turned up dead real quick, I planned to move on. But then . . . I thought I had a connection to you, Kenzie. I wanted to stick around and see what was going on, and I wanted to help.”

“Do you still feel it?” Kenzie asked him softly.

“Yes,” Gil said, his eyes quiet. “But I know it’s not with you.”

Kenzie’s anger had gone, and now she felt sad for him. “That means she’s still out there,” she said to Gil. “The other half of your mate bond.”

“If it even is a mate bond,” Gil said. “I’m not Shifter; I’m not even human. What I am feeling, the person I need—it might not be that simple.” He shrugged. “I guess I keep on looking. Maybe someday . . .”

Kenzie was still curious about the enigma that was Gil, but at the moment she was restless, wanted to go home, and wanted to see her cub. “When can I get out of here?” she asked.

Gil took a step to the bed and touched the handcuff around Bowman’s wrist. The locks clicked, and the cuff fell away from him and the bed, Bowman jerking in surprise. Gil caught the cuffs before they hit the floor and tucked them around his belt.

“You’ve got some healing to do first, young lady,” Gil said sternly to Kenzie. “Do that, then have your fun with Bowman. Maybe once you feel better, I’ll tell you my life story.”

Bowman rubbed his wrist and gave Gil a hard stare. “Can’t wait.”

Gil laughed. He turned away and beckoned to someone outside the door. “Another person to see you. She’s been hoping you’d wake up soon.”

A woman in a white coat breezed in, her eager smile in place. “Remember me?” she asked. “Dr. Pat, the vet?”