Leaving my room, I entered the bathroom. Throughout the entire shower I thought of nothing but what had happened st night. From the sex to the bond fully settling into me. It felt like I was in a dream. A dream that would end at any moment. Where my mother would wake me up to head to school. Honestly, I had no clue if I could handle returning to such a scenario.

  Actually, the more that I thought about it the more I realized such an event would allow me to be less forceful and take my time. Letting our retionship develop slower. Not that I had to worry about that, at least not unless such a thing happened. Forcing my mind back to the present and not what-ifs, I finished washing the conditioner out of my hair before drying off.

  Wrapped in a towel, I opened the door to find my mother leaning against the opposite wall. “So, I see you marked him.” She said, following me into my room.

  “Yeah, but how did you notice?”

  “You think I wouldn’t notice the amount of your magic tied to his soul? That’s not even to mention the bite mark you left.” Her arms folded as she sat against my door. Tossing the towel into the hamper, I pulled out one of the outfits and started to put it on.

  “And let me guess, it will make him more of a target,” I stated.

  “Well, there is that,” my mother didn’t mince words as she continued, “But that isn’t the problem. No, now you have a short window of time to unlock his magic before yours completely overwhelms his body.”

  Still bending down as I pulled my pants up, I froze. Turning my head to look at her. “What do you mean? I thought the bond was already magic. How would the mark do this when the bond wouldn’t? How long do I have?”

  My mother held up 4 fingers as she counted out the answers. “One, his body has no outlet for the magic. It will build up until he dies. Two, it is a weak form of magic but still magic. Three, the bond would have done so but over the course of months if not a year or two. And four, two days. A week if you are lucky.”

  My mind went numb as I pulled my pants the rest of the way up, buttoning it as I walked over to the bed. I sat on it as my mind worked to restart. When it finally did, I asked her, “What can I do? I don’t know if I can do this.”

  Her arm wrapped around my bare back, pulling me toward her as she softly said, “Today we will go over everything you need to know. After dinner, we can do a dry run. Tomorrow was supposed to be a css on the basics of Avalon. Instead, we will go through with the ritual.”

  I nodded at the pn. I would have to make it work, not that there was any other option. After sitting there for a few more minutes I got up and finished getting dressed. She walked directly to the basement while I stopped in the bathroom to drop off a pair of clothes for when he finished his practice.

  For the next few hours, I tried to follow along as my mother went over various parts of the human body. These included the physical parts and the metaphysical which was something that none of my science teachers had ever gone over. She pointed to spots that I would have to look for and keep clear as well as pces that would need to be cut or bridged.

  Mind stuffed full of information, she finally released me. Hearing the sounds of someone struggling up the stairs, I knew why. Not even bothering to put my stuff away, I ran up both flights of stairs. Stopping at the door, I took a deep breath to calm myself before opening the door.

  Steam was already filling the room as I walked in. Stripping as I approached the shower. His silhouette just standing there under the water. Sliding the shower door open, I closed it behind me. Gently, I put my hands on his back. Running them up to his neck to softly rub some of the tension away.

  Over a few minutes, I managed to get some of the tension to leave his neck. Finally, I pulled him out from under the stream. Grabbing my body soap, I thered my hands before rubbing his back. Working to get every bit of sweat and dirt off his body. Making sure not to miss a spot before finally pushing him back under the water. As I watched the dirty bubbles ran down his body, he slowly turned. Using his thumb and forefinger, he lifted my chin as he bent down to kiss me.