He nodded at my brown bag.
“More shopping?” He peered into the bag and looked disappointed. “Oh... A plain white shirt? Nothing more colorful?”
“Not everyone is as flamboyant as you,” I said, arching a brow playfully.
He grinned and puffed out his chest, clearly taking pride in it. “True. If everybody was, I wouldn’t stand out nearly as much.”
After saying goodbye, I went on my way. I was happy to be away from the crowd. I hoped there wouldn’t bethatmany contestants on season two. If there were, how would Thystle ever choose a winner?
But my concerns quickly floated away. That wasn’t how fated mates worked. One would always pick their fated mate out of a crowd, no matter how many people there were.
That’s what I thought, anyway. Not like I had a fated mate to test my theory.
As I made my way down the sidewalk, I passed a store with an open door blasting a news stream. The high volume was so jarring that I turned to frown in the store’s direction. It was a pop-culture place selling the latest fad items.
I was about to walk away and forget all about it until I heard something that stopped me dead in my tracks.
“...former members of TalonStorm announced their return!”
The breath escaped my lungs. I felt like a truck had hit me. I stared wide-eyed at the open door where the news broadcast came from. A handful of employees flocked around the laptop playing the stream, excitedly talking over it.
Did I really just hear that?I thought, unsure of myself.
I paused, ready to write it off as a hallucination, but the announcer kept going.
“This is not a drill, people. Our breaking intel has it that two of the three former members, Vani and Keaux, are debuting a brand-new—”
I couldn’t listen anymore.
Desperate to get out of earshot of the blaring voice, I bolted down the sidewalk. Chills ran down my arms, and my chest felt coated in tar.
Vani and Keaux.
Those were names I’d tried not to think about for the past decade. Names I’d tried to escape from.
Why? Why were they coming up again now?
My mind was a blur until I reached the lobby of my apartment building. I’d worked up a cold sweat despite the heat. Just as I went to wipe it away, my phone rang. I got ready to swipe reject until I saw the caller ID was from Chromatimaeus Island.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Matteo!” Winnie said excitedly. “How are you today?”
I didn’t want to worry her, so I lied. “I’m good. What’s up?”
“I’m calling to tell you to pack your bags—your flight back to the island is in two weeks!”
That was so soon, but at the same time, didn’t feel soon enough. I wished I could teleport back to that pristine white beach right now.
“I’ll be there,” I promised.
“I’ve also gone ahead and booked the same hotel room for you. Just to make things easier since the rooms are getting pretty full.”
That didn’t sound promising. “A lot more contestants?”
“Yup.” She sighed. “Gaius keeps sending me more and more applications. It’s taken me all day to sort them... I don’t know why Thystle wanted so many omegas on season two.”
“Hewanted more applicants?” I asked, surprised.
