Scary. Ass. Creature.
“She no doubt still has some allies in there,” Mab continued. “All powerful beings collect allies. It’s essential. They’ll be hiding her.”
Rubbing my hand on my chest, I hoped the soothing motion would keep some of the panic contained. “One moon cycle. So ... one more month. That’s all the time we have? What about the path? Is it here? Because we’re legitimately running out of time.”
I mean, I had a countdown clock over my head now, similar to the one we’d just seen during SSW. Mine might not be actually visible, but it was there.
“Your path is not set in motion yet, but … it will be soon. This countdown is a catalyst that will pave the way. Don’t worry.”
Yeah, telling me not to worry was like telling me not to breathe. It was almost part of my nature now.
“Anything else I need to know?”
She nodded, fluttering even closer, her voice lowering. “You need to train with Asher and Connor. The three of you … there’s a bond between you. Beings born of multiple energies: god, Atlantean, Faerie. The three of you together have a power that needs to be explored. It’s very important.”
This wasn’t the first time she’d told me this, but it was the first time I truly took heed of her warning. “I haven’t seen Connor in days. Is he even in this school still?”
“He’s in the library most nights,” Axl spoke up. “Usually gets in late though, around midnight.”
I could work with that. Since he wasn’t responding to my texts, he was going to get an in-person visit. Mab wouldn’t give us advice or warnings lightly, so it was time to pay attention.
The fairy queen flew away, clearly satisfied with the information she’d shared, and I sat next to Axl. He handed me a book, without even lifting his head from the one he was reading.
I didn’t question him; I’d learned not to do that. Axl was a billion times smarter than me without even trying, and if he handed me a book, it was one I had to read.
Flipping it open, I found myself staring at an image of two people having sex. The sensual sort of sex where they were so intertwined that I almost couldn’t tell which limb belonged to who. What the fuck was this, the supernatural Kamasutra?
I raised an eyebrow at my friend, but he just nudged me with his shoulder.
“Chapter twelve,” he said.
Flipping past many more scenes of love making, some with multiple partners, I found myself at chapter twelve. There was no title on this chapter, so I had no idea what to expect, but if this was just advice on how to achieve some sort of ten-hour orgasm … I was totally going to high five the fuck out of Axl.
The chapter was set out like a diary, as were so many of the ancient texts from the original Atlanteans. Third line down the wordstrue mate bondcaught my eye, and I settled back, reading it closely. There was a bunch of text in ancient Atlantean, and then below was the translated version.
He’d been my best friend for many years. Someone I both loved and admired, but it wasn’t until we took the final steps in our relationships, with both words and actions, that the bond was triggered.
It’s the strangest thing ever. I can feel Jaffin. Feel his emotions. And I can hear his thoughts when he stops shielding them from me. Communicating mentally … it has changed the dynamics of our relationship. We’ve grown so much closer. He tells me that it’s because of his father, who is brother to the king. The royal line has the power to communicate with their true mates.
We are unique. There is no one else I’ve spoken with who has experienced this.
Jaffin believes we will ascend to godhood when the new babies are born. It’s said that the gods can not only read each other’s minds, but they can share their power. Especially between true mates.
An organic power share that would make that couple near unstoppable.
I feel this is to be for us. Limitless power.
The next few sentences were about the god babies who were due any day. I still couldn’t quite wrap my mind around the fact they were referring to me. Especially since this text was some ten thousand years old.
It was very clear though, from everything we’d read, that at the time the Atlanteans had been excited about our births. An excitement that would soon turn to horror.
Instead of the riches they’d been expecting, we were their downfall.
My parents were such fucking assholes. Their selfish actions had triggered a response from some powerful being, possibly the Mother of All, destroying everything.
“You think Asher and I might not only be able to read minds, but also share our power?” I asked Axl. “Once we get this bond worked out?”
“We need to address the issue of Sonaris,” he said bluntly, finally looking up. “It’s impossible to truly know until that happens. I’ve been reading everything I can find on these subjects, but the royals didn’t seem to keep the same level of diary commentary as the commoners. I haven’t found anything solid. And the gods certainly didn’t journal their lives into Atlantean libraries.”
