Percy stood. The towel dropped from his neck, and his face held none of the warmth from this morning. This was the version of him I’d seen at the inn.
“Mira.” His voice dropped low. “I know it’s hard to believe us. All of this. But you know that we’ll never hurt you.” A beat of quiet. “Follow what your heart tells you. To trust us.”
My grip tightened on the photograph until the edges crumpled. The fear and the disbelief and the overwhelming absurdity of my entire life pressed down on my shoulders.
“I don’t know what to do.” My voice cracked. “This is too much.”
“We understand.” Solomon’s warmth reached my arm from where he stood beside me. “But we want to keep you safe.”
I looked at the photograph one more time. My own face laughing, oblivious. The red promise on the back.
Then I looked at the three men in front of me.
Percy, with his battered heart on his sleeve and a loyalty that turned lethal when it mattered. Solomon, who guarded my door while I cried and brought my journal back. Lucian, who treated me as an equal and offered honesty.
My chest pulled.That tug.
The one I’d been fighting since the night of the fire. The one that reached for all three of them even when every survival instinct I owned screamed to run.
“All of this has a reason.” My voice came out rough, stripped raw.
“Let’s say I believe you.” I swallowed, and the sound was audible in the quiet room. “Why me? What do you want from me?” My heart hammered so hard I heard it in my ears. “Why do I feel this way toward all three of you? What are we to each other?”
Lucian answered after one long second.
“Mates.”
I blinked. “What?”
He held my gaze. “You’re our fated mate.”
My heart tripped over itself and forgot to restart. I looked at Percy. At Solomon. At Lucian.
“All three of you?”
“Yes.” They said in unison.
My lungs emptied. The photograph slipped from my fingers and landed face-up on the table, my smiling face staring at the ceiling.
Fated mates.Oh, great.
My life went from a psychotic ex-boyfriend to a psychotic fairy tale, and I had absolutely no idea which one was harder to survive.
12
— • —
Solomon
Mira locked herself in her room for a full day.
I couldn’t blame her. We just told her that we were supernatural creatures and she was cosmically bound to all of us. She’ll definitely need more than twenty-four hours and a locked door to come to terms with this.
She at least came out for meals. Grabbed a plate, filled it without making eye contact, and retreated upstairs. Percy tried to engage her both times. Lucian told him to give her space. I said nothing, because there was nothing to say.
Mira knew what we were now. The rest was up to her.
So I waited.
