“She’s definitely in danger, then?” Echo asks, her eyebrows knitted with worry. Even though she barely knows Wren. My girl has a big heart.
“I don’t think she’s taken an extended vacation. I think there’s a strong possibility she’s running from something and whether it’s caught up with her yet is a mystery. She might have seen her own threads tightening around her and acted before it was too late.”
“Her boyfriend said that she didn’t seem happy, that she seemed lonely. He suggested that she might have chosen to go off somewhere. Of course, he also seemed to insinuate she might have hurt herself now that she wasn’t getting that sweet D, but the guy seems a bit of a douche, so what can you do?” Echo says.
“Boyfriend?” For the first time Leif looks surprised and I briefly wonder whether his relationship with Wren was entirely platonic.
“Well, he sounds more like a fuck buddy than anything.”
Leif nods like this tracks. “Sounds more like Wren. She wasn’t great at any sort of relationship, especially not the romantic kind. Who was the guy?”
Echo explains about Andrew and I kind of tune out, sipping my coffee and taking in the refectory and the gathered, softly chatting weavers. You can almost taste the power in this room. Even if they don’t think that they can do much, weavers seem to be a lot more powerful than they realize.
“Hey, question for you, Leif. Did you know weavers can have mates? You’d think they would have mentioned it while we were in the million different lessons we were enrolled in here, but I guess you could say that we’re currently on a mate first date, getting to know each other, you know?” Echo chirps until Leif springs closer, putting his hand over her mouth. I let out a deep growl, ready to rip his fucking fingers off if he doesn’t stop touching my mate.
He keeps his voice low as he eyes me warily, removing his hand. “Sorry, it’s just you don’t want anyone around here to hear you saying that.” He glances around the room, but it’s plenty loud enough in here that there’s no chance of anyone eavesdropping on our conversation.
“What are you saying? The two of you are mates?” he hisses in a caustic whisper.
I nod and watch as Echo gives a weird shuffle-y shrug.
“It shouldn’t be possible for you to have a mate. We’re supposed to be single-minded with our focus.” He frowns at Echo thoughtfully. “There were some… incidents a few years back. Some individuals decided they didn’t agree with how things went around here. I guess they pulled some strings of their own. I’d keep your mouth shut about it because there’s a strong chance if the wrong people found out, they’d want to remove any trace of this… error.”
My body stiffens with tension until I could practically snap in half. If I’m hearing right, there are people out there that would want Echo dead just because she has a mate bond. Fuck.
“Could that be what happened to Wren?” Echo asks.
Leif’s frown deepens as he stares into his now cold coffee. “I wouldn’t have thought that anyone would have raised the issue if that were the case. They just have gotten rid of her and probably the rest of you too, so that no one could ask questions. That Madame knows what’s going on and has brought in two outsiders to look into the situation suggests it isn’t something the higher-ups feel they need to handle.”
He seems to lose himself in thought, and Echo shifts uncomfortably beside me. I grab her hand under the table, rubbing small circles with my thumb.
“Have you been back to where she grew up?” Leif asks suddenly.
When we shake our heads, he nods, scribbling an address down on a page from his notebook before tearing it out and handing it over. “Like I said, Wren didn’t have many friends. Limited options if she was looking to run. I’d say heading home would be a natural instinct.”
I nod and clap him on the shoulder, sensing that we will not get any further today.
“Thanks, man. You want us to keep you updated if we hear anything?”
He nods. “I’ll see what I can find out here too, and I’ll be in touch.” With that, he stands and strides out of the refectory.
I had hoped we’d have some time to wander around the academy campus and spend a bit more time together, but it’s been the longest day in existence already and I’m knackered. Echo is practically swaying on her feet with exhaustion, too. I need to be a good mate and get my girl some food and then get her tucked up in bed. I don’t care that I don’t have a spare bedroom, so I’ll be on the couch tonight. She’ll be in my space and I’ll get to wake up and see her face and that’s good enough for me.
9
Echo
Hol-y sugar lumps and shitty hot damn meatballs. What a day yesterday was.
I wake up bathed in the smell of fresh spring leaves, Brogan’s scent. The man smells so good. I could lie here in his bed forever.
I guess that the whole mate thing does explain the hard-on I’ve got over his smell and, who am I kidding, the sheer level of attraction I’ve got for the rest of him as well. It certainly explains how I can have such powerful feelings toward a person who I barely know. It’s like my heart tries to pound right the way out of my chest every time he’s close by.
Mates.
I am simultaneously surprised as hell and weirdly unruffled by the whole concept that I have three gorgeous men that are tied to my soul. Maybe being a weaver means I’m less shocked than I might be by weird twists of fate or connections that we have zero control over.
Although I know exactly what my sister is going to say when she finds out. She could not think of anything worse than discovering she’s got a soul-deep connection with three strangers. Shoved together by fate and expected to get along.
