Bowe hesitated, then said, "She put another spell on me besides the weakening one. A spell to make me feel things for her. I think it's triggered me to think of her as... my mate."
"You are sure it's a spell?" Lachlain hastily asked. "What if it's real?" He could only hope. Emma had told him that aside from a bit of a wild streak and a pinch of a witch's natural deviousness, Mariketa had a good heart.
Lachlain didn't know if he could say the same for Bowe's mate from before. He'd met Mariah on occasion when he and Bowe had traveled to convene with her father, the king of a large faction of fey. Lachlain had always found Mariah to be a spoiled sort, and though she'd been beautiful, tall and blond, she'd seemed to show disdain for all the elementals that the Lykae celebrated - food, touch, sex. But Bowe had been content with her, so Lachlain had remained silent about his misgivings. Yet now... "Bowe, it could be that you were given two."
"Have you ever heard of that happening?" he asked, his tone growing frustrated.
"Well, no, but - "
"In five thousand years of the clan's record keeping, there's never been an instance of it. Five millennia, Lachlain. I know because I took half a decade to comb through every line of every single record. Every bloody one."
Lachlain knew Bowe had been dogged in finding a way to have Mariah back, but he hadn't realized he'd sifted through all those records.
Bowe added, "The witch put one spell on me - why would I no' think she'd hex me twice?"
"But why would she do it?"
He ran his remaining hand over the back of his neck. "There was a short window of time when she... when she wanted me for herself. She made me kiss her - "
"Made you?" Lachlain raised his eyebrows.
"Enthralled me to do it."
"How can you be sure you didn't merely desire her?"
"Because I could feel it happening. And I have been true to Mariah all these years... until that witch toyed with me."
The fact that Bowe hadn't bedded another for so long didn't shock Lachlain. Though the Lykae were notorious for their insatiable appetites, their kind revered few things above loyalty. "Emma knows the witch and has seen her without her cloak. She says Mariketa is a beautiful girl. Did you no' find her so?"
"She had a glamour on. I canna recall her looks clearly."
"What did the Instinct tell you?" A guiding force with which all Lykae are born, the Instinct was like a voice in the mind directing the individual toward what would be best for him, as well as for the collective clan.
Bowe hesitated before admitting, "The Instinct has long been quiet in me."
Lachlain glanced away. The idea that his cousin had been denied the comforting presence of the Instinct was painful for Lachlain, but he didn't want Bowe to think he pitied him. Even when Lachlain had been tortured, the Instinct had never forsaken him.
Bowe added, "The bottom line is that the gods could no' be so cruel as to pair me with a witch."
This was a good point. All Lykae mistrusted witches - the Instinct cautioned continually - but Bowe's dislike had always been more marked than others'. Ever since he was a lad he'd had a pronounced aversion to them, even before Bowe had learned of his father's tragic encounter with one.
Still Lachlain said, "I was given a half-vampire, half-Valkyrie as mate, and I could no' cherish her more."
"I could handle anything... just no' a bloody witch, Lachlain."
Lachlain let that rest for now. "You canna travel until you've built up some strength. And think, if you do in fact recognize her as your mate, for whatever reason, you canna go for her yet. Today's Wednesday - the full moon's on Friday night." And all mated Lykae turned in the heat of the moon.
"Christ. When I change I might pursue her as my mate and claim her."
Bowe made the comment as if this was a scenario to be avoided at all costs, yet Lachlain had seen a flash of pure anticipation in him at the imagined prospect. His entire body had tensed. Lachlain hadn't seen excitement like that in his cousin in nearly two centuries.
"You'll have to wait."
Bowe shook his head. "I'll get her to remove the spell before then."
"And if she refuses?"
"I'll throttle her."
"Damn it, Bowe, I'm going in your stead."
"When the full moon nears? You'd be away from your female?"
Bowe didn't know that Lachlain had just missed the last one with Emma because she'd been on the other side of the world holding vigil with her family for Kaderin. Being without Emma had been grueling for Lachlain, and he dreaded the repeat prospect, but he'd not see his cousin walk into a trap. "There will be more. Emma will understand."
"And why would you no' send Munro or Uilliam?"
The Lykae twin brothers were among Lachlain's most trusted soldiers. "They have no' returned from the last task I sent them on."
"And Garreth?"
Lachlain's younger brother had called just two days ago. "He still pursues Lucia, his Valkyrie huntress. She's proving to be elusive quarry, even for him. And there's no one else I'd trust to do this. I'm going. This is my final word on the subject."
Bowe's expression darkened. Lachlain was so used to giving orders that he sometimes overlooked the fact that Bowe was an alpha himself - a strong one who was far more comfortable giving orders than receiving them. Not to mention the unspoken fact that Lachlain was king only because Bowe's father had ceded his heirdom.
"I'm no' off to fight the goddamned Hydra, Lachlain. I fly, I drive, I collect a witch. Do you truly believe I'm incapable of this?"