Mates were important to the demons. That meant that Atlas was important to Bel. More important than anything else, in Bel’s very long existence.
* * * * *
Atlas
Bel looked like he’d seen a ghost. His normally dark skin had a gray tint to it that looked somewhat unhealthy. Not that Atlas meant to overhear the conversation that Bel had been having with two strange demons, but he didn’t know how to announce he was entering a room yet. There was too much to learn.
“Would you like a chair?” Bel offered. “Coffee? Breakfast?”
“I want an answer,” he snapped. Although he wouldn’t mind coffee.
“Yes,” Bel said quietly as he linked his fingers and placed them in front of him on the desk.
Atlas didn’t miss the stiff way Bel sat and watched him. Yes? What did that mean? Okay, he needed to calm down. He’d already expected that he might be Bel’s mate. Nothing else made sense with Atlas’s easy acceptance into the realm. “I’d like a chair and coffee please,” he requested. If Atlas relaxed, maybe his demon prince would do the same.
Bel nodded and both appeared.
Atlas pulled the chair close to the desk to sit directly across from Bel. His mate. Atlas had known. Felt it in his heart. Hemight not know what being a mate technically meant. All he could do was base his best guesses off TV and movies. And being around Lucifer, Gage, and Cary. Mates were important. That much he did know.
After settling in the chair, Atlas picked up the mug and sipped. A strong robust flavor of coffee at the perfect temperature. Magic really was awesome.
He peered at Bel over the rim of his mug.
The big demon hadn’t said another word.
Atlas drank half the mug before lowering it. Immediately it was refilled to the top. “Mates.”
“Yes.”
Bel wasn’t even blinking. Just staring back at him with those dark eyes.
“Well?” Atlas rolled his wrist.
Bel frowned. “Well…what?”
If Bel didn’t look so confused, Atlas would swear the demon was being a smartass. “We are mates?”
“Yes.”
“And?” What the hell was happening in hell? Ha! Atlas amused himself. But seriously. Bel hadn’t had any problems explaining things to him over the last couple of days. Why was Bel freezing up now? “I need a little more information than that. Remember, I don’t know anything unless you tell me.”
“We are mates. Fated mates. The fates decided that you are my perfect match,” Bel told him. “As I am also yours.”
At least that was a start. They were getting somewhere. Although, it was strange to think some mystical fate thought that Atlas was perfect for a demon prince. Should he be insulted? Nah. At least he wasn’t mated to a shifter. “When did you know?”
“As soon as I walked into my office and found you here,” Bel revealed.
This whole time? “How do you know?”
“By scent,” Bel answered. “I had blocked my ability to smell when we met in your realm. It wasn’t until you followed me here that I realized who you were to me.”
They could have missed each other. If Atlas hadn’t felt the pull, curious, obsessed with the strangeness he’d seen through the flickers, he wouldn’t be here. Had there been something more going on? That whole fate thing or something? It was weird that while Atlas secretly watched shifters, he’d never been as bold as to follow one so closely.
“I am still amazed that you came to me,” Bel told him, revealing that their thoughts were running along the same line. “I don’t think I would have ever returned—”
Atlas smiled as Bel swallowed hard.
“I might have missed my mate,” Bel whispered.
