Chapter 10

“So that’s it,” Sylvie sighed, taking a long drink of coffee from her speckled mug. Whoever furnished the house had great taste.

“I’ll kill that fucking bear.”

“No, Elias, I told you I want that choice to be mine. Some bad things happened to his wife because of Vampires-”

“That doesn’t excuse it,” Kian interrupted. “You, of all people, should know trauma doesn’t excuse violence and abuse, Princess.”

Guilt burrowed in her stomach at Elias’s furrowed brow and pinched expression.

She nodded, taking another long sip. Caffeine was her best friend, especially if it stopped her from falling asleep and having any more weird prophetic dreams, as Kian called them.

The Fates hadn’t ‘dream-walked’ since the division, so he said, and their little riddles set both her mates on edge.

They seemed assured the triad referred to them and Sylvie’s connection, but she still wasn’t so sure. The Fates, or whatever they were, seemed insistent on her finding him. The identity of the elusive him remained clouded, but Sylvie had a fair idea.

“What about Hex? Did he touch you?”

Sylvie’s heart rate spiked, remembering the few times they touched, her hatred quickly dousing the heat rising to her cheeks. Elias’ sudden narrowing eyes revealed he knew what she was thinking, or at least could guess.

“Tell us,” he said lowly.

“He didn’t hurt me. He left that task to Jace,” she replied with a scowl.

Kian paced the floor before facing her with a frown. “I don’t understand why he would take you in the first place. He didn’t know we were mates when you referred to us as your guardians on that phone call. So why would he take you if he thought you were Elias’ assistant.”

Elias took a swig of his tall glass of crimson liquid and propped his elbows on the counter before steepling his fingers under his cleanly shaven chin. “You don’t want to take a guess?” he grunted.

Did he know?

Kian swallowed and touched her hand lightly across the counter, still cradling her coffee. “Tell us the whole story, Princess.”

Blinking back tears, she finished off the last dregs of coffee and gnawed on her lip.

“You both promise to love me still, right?”

Kian nodded, and Elias tilted his head in disbelief.

“Okay, sorry, stupid question,” she amended. “Listen, I still think it’s all bullshit, but he said- he said we were mates.”

Elias growled and clenched the glass so tightly in his fist that Sylvie was sure it would shatter. Kian, on the other hand, spun and hid his expression from her.

“But he said he was gonna find a way to end the bond. With the artefact.”

Her hopeful tone sounded fake to her own ears.

“The triad,” Kian sighed. “That’s what the Fates meant.”

“No,” Elias growled. “If he wanted to be her mate, he should never have let his followers hurt her.”

She sighed. At least he understood.

Kian grunted. “You saw how Hex attacked the bear when he admitted to hurting her. He couldn’t have known.”

“Bullshit!” Sylvie and Elias yelled back together. Sylvie appreciated the solidarity but hated ganging up on Kian. His crestfallen look only spurred her guilt further.

“I’m sorry, Kian.” She winced and continued despite his disappointed look. “I just don’t buy it. He hates vampires. How could the Fates, or whatever the fuck, make our bonds mate him to me when I’m both half-vampire and am mated to one? Why the fuck would they do that?”

Shaking his head, Kian stepped beside her and wrapped his arms around her body while Elias pulled out his phone and started texting someone. Who the hell would answer at that time of night?

“Mate bonds can’t be dissolved, Sylvie. Not even with the most powerful fae artefacts. There are stories of mates moving countries to avoid each other, especially when the shifter clans were warring, but a bond is unbreakable.

“They would always find ways back to one another. Forgive me for sounding cliche, but it is Fate. It is your choice, though if you want to pursue it, strengthen it like you’ve done with us, with the blood swapping, marking-”

“No. No. I don’t want any of that with him.” Her face twisted in disgust. “I told you once that all I ever needed and wanted was the two of you. I don’t want anyone else.”

“It’s not like that, Princess. If he truly is your mate, then we would accept him-”

“Like fuck I will-” Elias growled. “Just because you feel comfortable trusting the species that slaughtered every Born-Vampire that escaped after the crowning of the King doesn’t mean I will.”

“He isn’t his ancestors.”

Sylvie raised her hands between her fighting men and yelled. “Hey! You said this was my choice, Kian, and I said no. Stop arguing.”

Standing and stomping past both of them, Sylvie ripped open the front door and let the crisp night air cool her fury.

She strolled straight past the porch chair and padded through the dewy grass, revelling in the mist slowly drizzling from the sky. The way the soft rain kissed her hair and coated her rosy cheeks immediately calmed her.

“I hear you, Princess.” Kian took her hand and kissed it, appearing at her side. Sylvie sighed, letting his peaceful energy wash over her, but before she could turn and thank him, a sharp zap electrified her. She jerked away, staring at the offending spot on the back of her hand.

“What the fuck?”

Kian’s eyes searched Sylvie’s face. “What is it?”

Elias appeared then from the darkness, taking her other hand, bearing his ring, scrutinising it. With a furrowed brow, he lifted it to his lips, and the same sharp ping shot down her arm.

“Ow!”

Elias growled, dropping her arm and disappeared back into the house.

“What’s happening to us?”

The energy from him withdrew, and she sensed his nerves. What was he so afraid of?

“Perhaps it’s due to your proximity to Hex’s pack.” Kian’s uncertainty was evident, but she had no idea what he could be so unsure about.

“What?”

“I don’t know, Princess. I don’t-”

“Did you blood share?” Elias asked from the porch, appearing out of nowhere. His eyes flashed red in the dim light, and he waited. “Did you?”

“No,” Sylvie ground between her teeth. “I told you. I fucking hate him, and I’d never do that. I don’t want another mate!”

Their demeanours were pissing her off, and she realised it was their first real fight. Rather one-sided, and she wasn’t that mad at them, more frustrated by the situation, but the urge to fight rose in her body as strong as her desire to let Kian make love to her or be bratty to Elias.

What the fuck was happening?

“As soon as the sun is up, I want to go to Sagehill and look around. I want to be around people and not just you two. Too much goddamn testosterone in this fucking house.

“Do you know who I miss? Kerensa. And she wasn’t exactly a girls-girl, but she would be far more interesting to talk to tonight than you two!” She didn’t know what had come over her, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it. Kian’s wide eyes and Elias narrowed ones revealed they weren’t sure what was going on with her either.

“Sylvie.”

Uh-oh, first names...

“Nope. I’m gonna stay out here until the sun is up, and I want you both to go away.” She crossed her arms and refrained from stamping her foot.

Kian nodded and turned away, walking past a smirking Elias into the house.

“Not a fucking chance,” he growled before taking a seat on the porch swing, revelling in her misted body, her silky nightclothes clinging to her every curve.

“Go away, Elias,” she said, but a soft snicker passed her lips as his brow rose seductively. Not wanting to leave Kian out, she spun and faced the forest’s darkness and sat straight on the wet grass. Her heart nearly burst from her mouth, spying a pair of golden eyes a distance into the woods.

How Elias hadn’t spotted them yet was a mystery to her, but perhaps the burning hole on her back from his eyes was the answer.

She blinked, trying to discern what the eyes belonged to, but before she could, they disappeared.

Weird.

“You really should have slept,” Kian chided as she leaned against him in the plush backseat of Elias’ Lexus Hybrid SUV.

Her lids were leaden as she sipped her second coffee of the day. Or what is the third?

“Shush. I’m fine, Kian.”

Elias grunted from the front seat. “She’s being a brat. Ignore her.”

“Hey. I am not.”

“Then why did you have a tantrum this morning until I agreed to drive you to town?”

“Because I want to look for a job! I already told you that.”

Elias scoffed, flicking his gaze in the rearview. “Noone will hire you with your eyes so bloodshot. You look high.”

She rolled said bloodshot eyes and stared out the window. Finally, the roads evened out, and the trees on either side spread out as they neared Sagehill. They’d passed the sign about five minutes earlier, and she couldn’t wait to see the small town everyone in the city seemed terrified of.

Cult town, disappearances, and they knew all about her kind. She could be herself. A sudden thought hit her. Who even was she? Raised a human around the worst kind of people in the world— this world— but not a drop of human blood in her. Did blood matter?

“Is that an existential crisis, I sense?” Kian said softly into her braided hair. She pulled her jumper tighter around her chest and curled her legs onto the seat.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled, closing her eyes. “Just don’t know who the fuck I’m supposed to be.”

Elias chuckled from the front, and her eyes snapped back open.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing at all, Kitten. I suppose Kian and I will enjoy watching as you figure that out.”

She scoffed and let her heavy lids close again. “Would be easier if someone would just tell me.”

“That’s not how self-discovery works, Princess.”

Kian kissed her head and held her close until sleep stole her senses.