Coughing, I grin a little as I add, “Or more than one.”
Kat frowns, tilting her head. “So they…expectto find one someday? Do they just date forever while they wait? That doesn’t seem right.”
“Not always.” The gargoyle shakes her head and then sighs. “Some species might or even individuals, but depending on circumstances and culture, they may simply marry a non-fated and start a family. It’s uncertain you will find this destined person, and there could be very specific needs that dictate supeshave to be attached for political, survival, business, or other reasons.”
“Like with royalty,” I say. “Arranged marriages are common to rare species that need to procreate, like the caladrii, who are often city/town physicians. It can be family line or business things—that’s your celebs, political folks, and really traditional wealthy supes.”
Morgana gives her a rueful smile. “I will run into problems with this because of some of my mates. It’s hard for people to argue with the Fates for fear of reprisal, but Liam, Slade, and Iggy’s families won’t be thrilled—or haven’t been in Slade’s case. Lucas is lucky that his Nana doesn’t support that kind of crap after his parents were put together and do nothing but humiliate the family. I have no idea about Kaspar, but that’s not a current concern, anyway.”
“Javi’s parents will be furious, and the twins’ evil ass father was not on board. Their mom is pissed, too. Reb and Archie don’t have those issues,” I admit. “Since we have told no one but the Geminis, I haven’t processed the problem yet—not fully.”
“Amen to that,” the dark-haired woman mutters as she swigs the scotch before wiping her mouth. “Kat, you need to consider what happens to you.”
“Why? I’m nobody, and I definitely don’t have a fated mate, even with the, um, odd things I have appearing. It’s like soul bonding and whatever, and my soul is barely good with me, much less anyone else.” She tucks her knees up, sitting her chin on them as a stubborn expression settles on her face.
This will not be easy—her brain is pushing her to be obtuse on purpose to protect herself.
“Kat…” Morgana leans forward, the look in her eyes serious. “When you first met the demons, how did you feel?”
“Scared. Confused. Worried. Anxious.” She bites her lip and her brows furrow as she pets the kinkajou absently. “I knew nothing about this world or its counterpart back home. They all seemed angry and snarly about my being on this floor and in this room. Everything was crushing me, but I refused to let it win.”
I grin broadly. “Good for you, girl. But what she meant was… how did you feel about the guys in general? Not the new shit, not the secret stuff… aboutthem.”
Kat grabs the scotch and takes a bigger drink than before, making a face. “Whoa… that’s strong. Um… well, for the first time since my thing, I sort of… thought they were hot?”
Morgana chuckles, nodding as she asks, “All of them?”
“Well, yeah. I mean… they are, right? How could I miss it?” The shaggy-haired girl looks at us for confirmation, and I feel sad she was so disconnected and abused that she really is asking.
“Duh. Of course they’re smokin’. But what else? Because anyone supe could be sexy enough to finally turn your crank, especially if you’d worked so hard to get better.” I wink at her before I add, “I surely knew my guys were fucking gorgeouslongbefore I was old enough to be considering jumping their bones.”
Kat’s face gets bright red, and she mumbles, “Salem was nice when he took me in here and Jasper left. He had me help him cook, and was patient in teaching me when I didn’t know what I was doing. I felt this… pull… to him, but I thought it was because guys weren’t nice to me up there. I don’t just mean dating, by the way. My foster brothers were the popular dudes, and because of that, I was a pariah at school. I didn’t care, but I also didn’t gethow nice it would be for someone to treat me that way without expecting something in return.”
Holy fuck. She doesn’t mean sex; she means in general. This girl was severely emotionally abused up there.
“We expect nothing as well, but we need you to understand how these things work,” Morgana says softly. “That pull wasn’t gratitude or comfort. When you feel such a demanding attraction, an unexpected swell of emotion that you can’t ignore, or even the reaction of your magic/animal/demon to people? It’s a sign, Kat.”
I nod, my lips twisting as I gaze at her. “And even someone like me, who grew up there and learned shit, can miss it if they’re not looking for it. I never put stock in the fated shit and assumed I’d play the field forever. My bad parent shit and missing brother trauma made it hard for me to trust anyone with long-term commitment. But when each of the guys made their move, something just snapped, and I knew I’d suppressed it for most of my life. They werealwaysthe ones, which is why no one ever measured up to the ‘crush’ I thought I had on them.”
“Really?” Kat whispers as she lifts her head, her eyes wide. “You thought it was a crush and um, when they… touched you differently… you knew?”
“I did,” I reply. “Damon was first, and we were drunk in the pool at their house. It felt like a fun hook-up at first, but there was this… deep-seated need once we got going. I could feel the hunger of my Unseelie magic and even my Cubi demanding that we go further, do more, and eventually, make him ours. I couldn’t have stopped it if I had wanted to; that drive was so primal that my brain lost control. Have you felt that way?”
The small demon hybrid looks down, biting her lip as she thinks. When she lifts her eyes to us, she murmurs, “Three times I felt this… darkness in black and in red inside of me. The darkness isn’t like the sparkling or the other colors. It demands that I let it out, and if I fight, they can swamp me and take over. Once in class, there was this magic that made everyone aggressive as fuck, and Jasper’s dragon went bonkers. The next time these assholes were attacking my guys, and I woke up later having shifted to a lioness. And the last one is where I shifted to the dragon and killed the Major.”
“Ooh, you got something with the angry, aggressive shit in your demon lines then,” Morgana says before she takes a drink. “Both of my shifts are justice-centered, and they arenotpeaceful warriors. Keeping control of those shifters, plus whatever else,anda war-focused demon type is going to make you very powerful.”
“And in a lot of fucking danger.” I shrug as they both look at me, gaping at the blunt statement. “Look, I work with people whose charges are stupidly powerful. Everyone is always after them—the Society wants them as agents or black bag operatives, bad guys want to cage and use them, some people are fanatics who want them dead… That’s not even discussing the black markets or realm armies who see them as weapons.”
Kat’s face turns white, and her kinkajou scrambles to her shoulder again, hugging her. She closes her eyes, taking slow breaths to calm herself, and then finally comes back to us. “Yeah, I get it. I’m somehow no one and a glittery prize simultaneously. But again, I don’t know what all this has to do with fated mates.”
“I have a friend—he’s a colleague, too—but he has lots of wealthy clients. He works for the family law firm but also the Society, and he’s very sought after.” Morgana stops, watching to make surewe’re following. “Jax is helping us with Lucas and Slade’s legal troubles, but he’s also working for an old college friend. He says she’s run into a lot of trouble lately, but it’s because she doesn’t know what she is yet. It will be very powerful, according to what he told my assistant, and she hassevenfated mates she’s slowly accumulating.”
“And?” Kat frowns as I take the scotch and goes for one of the beautiful cupcakes instead. “How does that relate other than a similar number of men around her?”
I roll my eyes. “She’s saying that the more powerful supes get more mates. You’re purposely pretending not to get this because it scares you; I get that. Knowing that the guys were all mine terrified me, too. I mean, Reb and I argue all the time. Only Archie has parents who don’t suck. It’s a lot, you know? Why tie myself tothatforever? And what happens if it isn’t forever? How would I survive it?”
Morgana smacks her palm on her knee. “No shit! My ex-fiancé was a crooked, cheating pervert who I hunted and killed for his crimes. It almost landed my ass in prison or on the execution block. Now I’m stuck cleaning up his mess at his old school as punishment, and these fucking…dudes…kept showing up. I couldn’t resist them, even the stupid asshole dragon who acts like a dick. It wasn’t like I evenwantedanyone in my life, Kat.”
