Page 95 of Moody as a Minotaur

Based on the way the death mage studied me, I knew Teague understood that none of that would matter if I didn’t have Parker in my life. “I’ll let you talk it over,” he said.

As soon as Teague disappeared down the hallway leading to the pub, Parker spun toward me. “It’s not happening.”

“Parker…” I cupped his cheek in my hand, like he was fond of doing to me. “Look at me. There. I didn’t want to talk to you about this before now, but I’ve lived a long life. A lot of the people I knew in my youth were immortal like me. And only a few of them still walk the earth. And while I expect some may have chosen to end their lives prematurely, most were taken by accident or unexpected circumstances.”

“What are you saying…?” He clutched at my hand. Parker covered his mouth. “Are you…?”

“We can’t know the future, but I’ve never expected to live indefinitely. What happened with Christos showed me that. So, if I decided to share my life expectancy with you, you wouldn’t be stealing anything from me. You would be the reason I lived longer than I’d anticipated.”

Parker wiped at his eyes, but at least he was smiling. “Why is that?”

“Because you’re worth fighting for. I would fight death itself to stay by your side.”

Parker launched himself at me. He kissed me hard, asif he could keep death away just by the power of his love for me. And maybe he could. When we finally broke apart, I stared into his eyes.

“I think we should do it,” I whispered. “I don’t want to live a minute without you.”

Parker pressed his forehead to mine. “I want to say no, because this might hurt you. But I can’t say no to you because I would never want to live without you either.”

“Let’s think about it for the night and we can get back to Teague tomorrow. It isn’t like there is a deadline.”

“If we’re doing this, we should do it soon. Get it over with. Otherwise, I’ll just be panicking about it.”

When we returned to the pub, Carter pointed at us with a frown on his face. “Your lips are swollen and red. For Magic’s sake, did you two just sneak off to make out while I’ve been waiting for you for the last forever and a day?”

“It wasn’t that long,” Parker said, grabbing his pool cue from the rack. “Let’s finish this game.”

While they played, I considered how much my life had changed in the last few days. It was all because of Parker. This ritual that Teague offered us was a blessing I could never have predicted. I didn’t need to wait to decide. I didn’t need to sleep on it. I wanted to do this.

And, if I was right, Parker did too.

If those hunters hadn’t come to Willow Lake, Parker and I might never have come together, and now I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

Which reminded me…

“Didn’t Van say there was a bet about Parker and me?”

Carter glanced up from where he was lining up his shot. “You know there was.”

“So, what’s the new bet about?”

Paws, that strange but powerful cat creature, jumped into my lap. “About time someone asked that.”

“Why are you standing on me?” I scowled at him.

“I can’t write down the bets, asshole.” He waved his paw in front of my face. “No opposable thumbs.”

“So?”

“So, you’re going to do it for me.”

“Isn’t that usually Jeremy or Ash’s job?” I pointed to where the two friends were talking at a table on the far side of the room.

“Now you’re just being a jerk, waving your fingers in front of me.” He swatted at my hand. “Like I don’t know I don’t have the damn things. Asshole.”

Was he for real? I eyed the creature, who was glaring right back at me. I couldn’t risk getting cursed, not now. Not when I had Parker in my life. Could Paws do that? I didn’t know.

I sighed and dropped my shoulders. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”