“I’m the lie detector, remember? I see runes on people’s chins when they speak, telling me if they’re truthful or not.” He tapped on his own chin to demonstrate. “It’s not easy to turn it off, especially with people who have super strong magic like him. So yeah, anyway, he was lying about not needing to feed. Do with that info as you will.”

My breath left me in a rush. “Thank you.”

He nodded, then slipped out the door. I stared at the closed door for a few moments as I processed what he’d just said. But then I decided I needed to confront my soulmate. Again. My stomach was in knots just thinking about it.

I quietly made my way up the stairs to my room on the third floor. He wasn’t in the bed or the balcony, so I went over to the open bathroom door and found him standing in there gripping the sink and breathing heavily. His eyes were closed tight, his breaths causing his nostrils to flare with each inhale.

My heart sank. Jackson was right. I’d have to thank him later. “You need to feed.”

He didn’t even look up at me. “I am fine.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Jackson said you lied.”

“I will be fine.” He groaned and bent over a little. “I can go a little longer.”

“That is not what I asked you⁠—”

“You asked me to respect your boundaries with your body and I am doing that.”

“You told me the truth, Everest, that threat about boundaries didn’t take effect. Besides, even if it did, this is sustenance, not pleasure⁠—”

“There is no difference between soulmates, Francelina,” he said softly.

My eyes widened.

At that, he opened his eyes and looked to me with the fire of a thousand suns in them. “I could drink from every single other person in this realm and not feel an ounce of passion . . . but feeding from your vein will feel as if I am⁠—”

“Everest,” I whispered and closed the bathroom door, then locked it, the clicking sound echoing around the small space. “You are my soulmate. I will be the one to sustain you so long as my body can handle it. Passion or not.”

His eyes darkened and latched onto where I felt my pulse pounding through the vein in my neck. He licked his lips, revealing the tips of his fangs that had lowered in preparation. “Francelina,” he growled my name.