I shook my head. “Never. But I haven’t left this city, yet. I promised the rulers that I would stay close to Nix and Juno.”
Juno was the son of our ruler Alec, and I promised him I would make sure Juno wouldn’t be too far out of my reach should something happen. Juno just wasn’t aware of our deal. I could trust Mint with it, though.
“Should we test it? If both our mates are in this city, then maybe we can work together to find them?” Mint’s green eyes glowed with anticipation as I thought about what was best. I didn’t want to leave this city, just the thought was unnerving, and that seemed to be reason enough to try it.
“But you already know you can’t leave, so maybe I should try it alone and come back.”
He beamed. “So, does that mean you’re in?”
I sighed. “I guess so.”
“Then let’s go now!” Mint eagerly jumped up from my thrifted couch and bounced over to the door. I could only shake my head and follow. I wouldn’t admit just how nervous I was about this little experiment. If I felt the same as Mint did, then I would know that my mate was likely near. Being so close… Would I ever rest? I doubted I could. Every waking hour where I wasn’t working would be spent strolling the streets in the hope I would find my mate. Would it be a woman, or a man? Or someone who preferred to be addressed as neither or both? It was part of the fun, I guessed. Never knowing who was your perfect match until you found them. Juno’s mate was a man called Remi, and I couldn’t wait to meet him. I was actually glad Juno was the first of us to experience this. Maybe I should call him and ask questions if I felt the same as Mint did.
Mint was already out the door before I’d even put my shoes on. I grumbled a bit as I hurried after him. I was the only one of us who could drive, something the rulers had ordered me to be able to do, for safety reasons. Not all of us had to, Mint didn’t. But I liked the freedom of it. I’dbought a used car that would likely die within the next six months or so, but it worked fine for the time being. Driving was very similar to our world, with some slight differences in their traffic rules and such, but it took me no time to get a license. My magic and knowledge made it possible to speed up the process too.
“You coming with?” I asked, eyeing him as he bounced in place next to my car. “I thought we just agreed I would go alone?”
“I just figured, you know, since I would be able to tell you when to stop, you wouldn’t have to go too far.” He was making perfect sense. I really didn’t want to drive for hours to test this, even though I definitely would.
“Get in,” was all I said. Unlocking the door and easing myself into the small car. Mint was already buckled in and playing around with the stereo before I’d even closed the door. I sighed. This would be a long drive.
“Fuck!” I muttered, clutching my heart and slowing down.
“Yeah,” Mint grimaced. “I guess this means you feel it, too?”
I could only nod as I hurried to find a road that would lead back to the city. I felt like I was only getting a fourth of my air intake, like I was heaving in air, but it wasn’t working right.
“Take this road back,” Mint suggested, pointing further up ahead. “There’s a bigger road connected so we don’t end up sitting in traffic for too long like this.” Again, I could only nod. All my focus went toward making sure we didn't die in the car and sucking in gulps of air.
We didn’t speak for a few minutes until we could both breathe with ease again. I sighed with relief and so did Mint as I parked on a side street. I had to take a breather as soon as the uneasy feeling was lifted from me. But how was I supposed to explain that I still felt a bit weird? Maybe Mint did too.
“Um, are you fully back to normal, or do you still have some unease left?”
He looked at me with a confused look. “Why wouldn’t I be back to normal? I told you as soon as we got back into the city the feeling stopped. Wait, it hasn’t stopped for you?”
I had no idea how to answer that. Because, yes, the feeling had stopped, but another new feeling was left. Not as horrible, but I felt like my heart was tugging me in another direction. I hadn’t felt this before before leaving the city, so maybe it was a side effect of leaving?
“I still feel a little off, but maybe it’s just because of leaving. Like my body needs to find peace again after that.” I didn’t really trust the words myself, but Mint only eyed me for a bit before nodding.
“Let’s get back to your place and eat some dinner. We can start planning on how to find our mates next.”
That sounded good to me. I just hoped this feeling of unease would be gone tomorrow.
Mint and I spent the day walking around the city. It had actually been a lot of fun. We’d eaten at a restaurant where we could sit outside and people-watch as we ate and chatted. I liked that we had this thing we could do together. Mate-searching, as he’d called it. We wouldn’t know who our mates were until we saw them. I actually didn’t know if we needed to make eye contact or not for us to know. My parents had been childhood friends before she moved away, and it wasn’t until they were in their teens that dad had the urge to find her again after all those years. He’d figured it was because he simply missed her, but when he finally found her, they locked eyes across her garden and both knew they were mates. They were sixteen, which is the earliest age you can mate. Looking back, it made sense for both of them. I loved hearing the story as I grew up, and now, as I looked around at the people passing us by, it gave me some comfort. Knowing fate worked in ways no one could understand. I would find my mate, no matter where they were.
Mint was just about to say something when a girl wearing a blue sundress came into view on the other side of the street. Mint promptly got up and hurried over to her, too enamored to do anything but stare and smileat her. She returned the smile and I couldn’t help but grin at them. He’d done it. He’d found his mate.
Picking up my slate, I called the rulers, popping in my earpiece so I could speak with some sort of privacy.
“Hi, Nolen. Is everything okay?” Trise answered.
“Everything’s perfect. I need to speak to all of you.” A few seconds later, Trise told me they were all there and ready to listen. “Mint has found his mate,” I informed them, knowing Mint would be too busy to do it himself. He was still chatting away with the girl and they both seemed happy. Not at all like how Juno and Remi’s first meeting had gone.
“How wonderful!” Henriette gushed excitedly. “When?”
“Just now. It’s a young girl and he’s chatting with her as we speak. I figure he needs some time with her, so I wanted to give you a heads up.”
“Thank you, Nolen. We’ll eagerly wait for his call.”
