Page 41 of The Librarian’s Familiar

“Like a bond breaker?” They had the ability to break the fated mates’ bond.

“No, not like that. Though I can obviously do that subconsciously on myself. I don’t know if I can do it for another person…” He shook his head, not wanting to get sidetracked. “Unraveling clothing is my magic at its most simple form. At its most intense, I can unravel the molecules that hold things together. Everything you see around you, living and dead, is simply molecules that can be broken apart into atoms.”

August became aware of the way his mouth was hanging open. He closed it as he had no idea what to say to that.

“So when I say I create chaos from order, it can be as simple as knocking over a glass of water or as complicated as⁠—”

“Making that glass of water no longer exist.”

“It still exists. It no longer exists in that form.”

“What does it become?”

“Hydrogen, oxygen, silicon…whatever the item is made of.”

“Have you ever unraveled…a living creature?”

Charlie was silent, his thoughts and emotions spinning around him like a storm that ricocheted through the disintegrating bond.

“I’m going to take that as a yes.” August sat back in his chair. “Shit.”

“It wasn’t a person.”

“It wasn’t when you were finished.” He snapped a bit too fast.

Charlie pressed his lips together, his gaze hardening.

August had wanted to learn and understand more about his witch’s magic; he needed to if they were mates because the bond meant that they should be able to share magic. He hadn’t only chopped wood and jerked off. He’d spent some time on the Coven database learning about the bond. He was sure his search had been flagged…hell, maybe somebody had flagged his entire search because he’d also looked up anarchists.

There’d only been a little bit about them, and most of it was unconfirmed speculation with some of the reports suggesting that they could incite chaos, protests, and rebellions. The French Revolution was cited as one example that may have involved an anarchist, even though they couldn’t name any names.

“The first time, it was a scorpion in my room. I was a teenager, and I didn’t know what else to do. I panicked, and my magic took over—which was far more terrifying than the scorpion had been. The second time, it was during my training with the Coven.”

“What was left?”

“Most living things are carbon and water, so a kind of goo that turns to dust as the water evaporates or breaks down to hydrogen and oxygen. Don’t worry, you’d be able to kill me before I got very far. It’s not instant.”

“That’s not what I was thinking. The fact that it’s not instant makes it worse. You could start with my toes and unravel my legs…”

“And when you shift, you heal. One swipe of your paw would end me.”

How had they gone from kissing to killing? He didn’t want to talk about the many ways to die. He wanted to talk about the many things they could do naked while they experimented with how quickly the bond formed and dissolved.

From the way Charlie talked, the only way that bond would become permanent was if he prevented his magic from touching it, which he should be able to do…he’d just never wanted to. Perhaps he wasn’t ready to face the idea that he was in complete control of his magic because it was easier to believe he didn’t deserve the fated mate.

Or maybe August was so desperate to belong to someone, or something, that he was projecting a little too hard. He didn’t know how to exist as an adult on his own because he had always been part of a team. There had always been people around him, all working toward the same thing. Now he was goo, slowly turning to dust because he had no connections.

“Still want to risk being my fated mate forever? Sharing my magic and being able to feel the connections and living with the desire to break them?” Charlie swept his arm around the house. “Have you not noticed how ordered everything is? Here and in the library? Did you look at my desk? I create order around myself because then I know I’m not accidentally going to hurt someone.”

“I thought your desk setup was a bit OCD.”

Charlie gave a hollow laugh. “Yeah, it’s easy to play it off as that. The librarian who likes everything just so. Blue pens with blue pens. All the sticky notes lined up. All the books in their correct spot. My socks are in a neat row in my drawer. Go and look at my pantry, the spices and tins are alphabetized, and everything has a place. It’s not a quirk, it’s not something I need treatment for, this is something I need to do so my magic doesn’t go looking for other things to mess up.”

“It messes up your order first?”

“Yes. I give it something to do, like it’s a dog in need of a chew toy.”

“And at the moment it’s chewing on the bond?”