Her eyes searched mine for a moment before dropping to my thigh, where our hands rested. “I don’t know how much you know about…this world,” she said slowly without looking at me. “About things like mates.”
I know some. I’d heard the guards talk about them before. And I’d heard my beast whisper the word when death closed in on us, and she was the only thing to bring me back.
Are you my mate?I asked carefully, watching her face. Surprise flickered in her dark eyes as they met mine, lips parting in shock.
“How…?”
I heard my beast,I said, smoothing my thumb over her hand.When I was dying and you pulled me back. He claimed you as our mate.
Ivy visibly shivered, the skin on her arms prickling as she shifted uncomfortably. “Oh, well…” She trailed off, chewing her bottom lip as she finally met my stare. “I didn’t realise you knew that.”
Does that make you uncomfortable?I didn’t want her to feel that way towards me, though she was here with many mates from what I’d gathered. Maeve was her mate, as was the wolf, and the other world creature—which I’d only figured out because he always called her hisfated.
Quickly, she shook her head. “No, of course not. It’s just a big thing in this world, finding your mate. It was a lot for me to understand and accept, so I understand if you need to ask questions or think about it more. Especially with what you know about it. I’ll answer any questions you have.”
Tell me about you, I said. I knew enough about the concept of mate bonds because of the soldiers; I knew one male who found his at the compound by accident and theycompletedtheir bond immediately. I knew about the shifters who accidentally found theirs and were punished for it because we were never allowed to have them.
But we were not in the cages anymore, and I knew without a doubt in my mind that her being my mate wasgood. It was right. I had no fear over claiming her.
Another pink flush coloured her cheeks. “Surely there are other things you want to talk about,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Nothing else I really care about, I replied. I knew she worried that my time in the cages meant I never experienced anything, that I was limited in my knowledge about the world. But the cages allowed for observation, and the guards had no filters regarding what they talked about. I understood enough about the different creatures because of my exposure to them, about events in the world because the soldiers usually bemoaned things during their rotations, and details about experiences were shared freely in front of us because they thought we didn’t understand.
Ivy’s eyes met mine as she drew in a sharp breath. “Okay,” she said, voice trembling slightly. “I didn’t grow up in this world. I didn’t know anything about it before Maeve, Elias,Rowan, and Adrian found me in the human world. That’s how we met, actually, and well…”
The story of her life, how she came to be in this world, was far more interesting than anything else I could have learned. While the thunder rumbled in the distance and rain pelted at the windows, Ivy explained how she came into this world, from being human to becoming Queen.
And it was better than any other story she could have told.
By the time she was done, night had settled in, and her eyes fluttered with exhaustion. “I’m sorry,” she said with a yawn. “I probably rambled a little too much.”
Not at all,I said, itching to reach for her face and cup her cheek. But I kept my hands on hers, maintaining contact in the only way I was sure she would accept—for now.
“Are you sure?” She shook her head with a soft laugh, sitting back. “You’re too nice to tell me, anyway.” The smile pulling at her lips made my heart stutter. “I like knowing you have a way to communicate, now. This is a good thing. But don’t feel pressured to tell the others what you know about Dante.”
This time, I didn’t stop myself from touching her face, feeling the warmth of her flush beneath my scarred fingers.I will do anything I can to stop him, I told her honestly, stomach clenching.I will not let him take you or anyone else.
I would happily relive the cages if it meant putting an end to his terror. For my mate, I would do anything.
67
Elias
“He hid a hell of a lot of rune stones out here,” Kingsley muttered as we stopped at another tree. “I’ve lost count of how many now.”
I grunted as I searched the forest. The island wasn’t huge, but it was large enough that it took us a few hours to check the entirety of it for weaknesses. With Dante being in Avalon, we were running out of time. And if he found us with that so-called powerful charm mage at his side, then we were fucked.
“You sure he can’t find us?” I asked quietly, crossing my arms. “I don’t want to move her again.”
Kingsley stiffened but shook his head. “I’m certain. Orion must have gotten a couple of different charm witches to make these. There are at least seven different magical signatures with seven unique charms, all of which have built in alerts. If one goes down, then we’ll know. He made sure of that.” Kingsley knelt at the base of the tree and exposed one, just like he had the others, and placed down his own stone to fortify them. “This place is a fucking fortress, Elias. And we don’t even know what he did off the island yet.”
A shiver rolled down my spine as he rose, wiping his hands on his pants. “We should get the demon to expand the glamour.”
“It’s already pretty strong, but it wouldn’t hurt to have it tightened. I can tell Orion made this one. When Ivy came into her power, he must have come back to reinforce it. But with Blythe’s magic, this place is safe.”
“You haven’t spoken to her yet about…” I trailed off, everything in me pained over what I wanted to say next. “The pregnancy.”
Beside me, Kingsley tensed. “I don’t know how to when he probably got through to her because of me.” He stopped at another tree, but instead of kneeling to place a rune stone, he leaned against it and closed his eyes. “You have no fucking idea how horrible I feel about it, Elias.”
