The Five Cursed Witches: Volume 2 - Crimson, the Witch of Night

Chapter 25 Mate bond

Crimson

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Another week went by and I was not made for sitting around. I was used to being out hunting vampires every single night, so even though I could use my magic to access things to do, staying in the room had been slowly driving me crazy.

Finally, I had cracked and started leaving it, though constantly being on high alert to not run into any vampire, especially not the vampire. I had only been to two different other parts of the house though. The kitchen one floor up where Kyle spent most of his time. And the kitchen one floor down which contained their stock of donor blood that Aideen drank. And to Aideen's room to get her when I wanted company, with Kyle it was easier as he seemed to spend all his time in the kitchen.

The first few times, I had simply followed them there. But once I could find my way, I had decided to rebel against the rule the vampire had given me and I would walk on my own. It gave me a sense fearlessness, though it was mixed with feeling pathetic over that it was the only thing I did to rebel against the asshole of a mate.

I was in the kitchen a floor below my room with Aideen. After the conversation a week before, she hadn't mentioned the vampire in my presence. I had expected her to be upset with me or to try even harder to change my mind after it. But she had showed up the next day and seemed upset about something, though not with me, and instead done her best to happily chat about random things like movies and books.

She had since then confided in me that she wanted to learn more about different magical creatures now that she was one and asked me to teach her. So that was what most of our conversations were about since.

"So faeries are immortal?" she asked, taking a sip from the cup in front of her.

"It depends on your definition of immortal," I answered. "You can sort of say that they are immortal like a vampire is immortal. A vampire can die but only if killed, but their lifespans are infinite. As far as I know at least. Same with faeries. They have the potential to live for forever, but they can still be killed."

"What about phoenixes? Because they do exist right? Are they completely immortal?"

I laughed lightly at the inquisitorial nature she displayed. "Well, I don't know much about them. They are so rare and there's hardly any reliable information on them so some claim that they actually don't exist. But if there's any truth in children's stories, then phoenixes lifespans are connected to their mate's. When their mate dies, they die too."

I saw something shift in her eyes at my words. It almost looked like anger, but I couldn't understand what I would have said that would have angered her, so it had to have been my imagination.

"So I've read a bit about mates, but like, I'm not sure I completely understand it," she said and I felt my heart sink. I had done my best to avoid bring up the topic of mates with her. It was just too painful and I didn't want her to know that the jerk was mine. I could already imagine her reprimands if she knew and it would certainly lead to a fight. I also felt so pathetic over how he treated me and was afraid of receiving pity if anyone found out the truth.

But it had only been a matter of time before I either slipped up, like I had done, and mentioned mates, or she simply asked about it. I knew that if I tried to avoid the topic now, she would grow suspicious and press the subject more. It would then be more likely that I would be forced to tell her, than if I was forthcoming to start with.

"What do you want to know about them?" I asked and took a sip of the coffee that I had made for myself.

"So like most magical creatures can recognize that a person is their mate the moment they meet?" she asked.

"Yeah. Or well, it's a bit more complicated than that. The way magical creatures recognize their mates differ from creature to creature. For a witch, we need to look into the eyes of ours to know. So if we for some reason would spend time with our mate without looking into their eyes, we wouldn't know they are our mate."

"What would happen if that happened? I mean, could you meet your mate and not know and then end up never meeting them again?"

"Well," I said contemplative and figured out the answer as I spoke. "Your mate is supposed to be your other half, the one that makes you complete. So even without knowing they are your mate, you'll likely find them attractive and feel drawn to their personality. My guess is that even if you wouldn't know, you would still be drawn to them enough to want to meet them again."

"And if you for some reason absolutely don't want your mate, can you do something about it?"

I felt how everything inside of me darkened as I answered. "Yes. You can reject them and then they have to accept the rejection. The bond between you will then be broken and the magical pull that was there before wouldn't exist anymore."

"And if broken, could it be mended again?"

"I assume technically yes, or rather I'm assuming that if such a situation were to arise, magic would heal the bond. But I doubt it ever has, or if it has, then only a handful of times. Rejecting a mate takes a lot of determination and I can't see how something would cause that determination to change. Especially since it takes equally much to accept it, and for it to mend, I assume both people would need to regret the decision and be willing to accept the other."

"Do you think you would..." Aideen started to ask a question, but she was interrupted. I was tremendously relieved by the interruption. I felt certain she was about to ask if I would be able to reject my mate, and the truth was that no, I wasn't able to. If I was, I would already have rejected the vampire, would have rejected him the moment I woke up. But I couldn't find it in me to say the words needed. I didn't want him, but I also didn't want to lose him.

I wasn't happy about the form the interruption took though as two vampires stepped into the room.