Page 13 of Wanderer

“Part of that is me. We’re fated mates,” I said with a resigned sigh.

“Hmm, I thought so. There’s a thread that ties you together.” Hestia looked pleased with this development.

“This is a huge problem, Madam Mayor. My fated mate has a massive issue with warlocks, likely stemming from trauma. You also mentioned a curse, and now a warlock—me—is his mate? There’s no way he’s going to accept my help, let alone our bond.”

The situation came crashing down on me. My fated mate had rejected me, and I saw no way of changing his mind.

“With time, I think he’ll come around to you helping him. Once he sees what a good man you are, then of course he’ll accept you. Unless you think he’s too damaged for you?”

“What? No!” My outrage had me rising to my feet.

“Settle, young warlock. I knew you would feel that way.” Hestia smiled at me, happy with my reaction. I pushed down my irritation at her condescending tone. There was no way I would win an argument with a goddess, and besides, I trusted her judgement. We’d grown closer since I’d started helping with the wards. I knew she didn’t see me as lesser or young, she just found it difficult at times to relate to other people.

I sat back down and drank my rapidly cooling tea. My nerves were frazzled, and I needed the soothing liquid and the extra shot of love that Debra had put into it. “So, what’s the plan?” I finally asked, putting the empty cup down.

“Well, I would like to give him some time. While he’s thinking, or likely scheming, of leaving Greyhaven, I’ll speak to other spellcasters if he really won’t give you a shot. You were my first choice as our best and brightest.” Now she was just flattering me. Guilty conscience much? “Then I will do my best to help the poor boy. I only wish…” Hestia looked torn.

“Wish what?”

“That I could help his mother.” Now I understood her pain. Her powers would be itching to reach out, to restore the family.

“You can’t?” It bothered me that she was offering so little help.

“No, she is much too far away. You know that I cannot leave Greyhaven, or the wards will fail. If it were within my power…” I sagged a little. Putting the needs of the many over the few was understandable. So many vulnerable people lived in Greyhaven.

My mind kept repeating the look of horror on Riley’s face when he found out I was a warlock. “Just how bad is his past with warlocks?”

“It’s not my story to tell, but Riley has scars, both mental and physical.” Hestia answered the question I hadn’t meant to voice.

The whole situation felt hopeless. I slumped further in my seat, my brain whirring as I thought of ways to help Riley, even indirectly. Being close to him was all I wanted, but I knew that was selfish right now. I needed him to learn he was safe from me.

Long minutes passed before Hestia spoke with a finality that told me my time in her presence was up. “Remember, there’s magic in mating bonds.”

Debra took pity on me and gave me a ride home. “You’ll catch your death!” she admonished me when I tried to walk. Really, she didn’t live all that far from me, so it made sense to car share with her. I’d thought the walk would help me think about Hestia’s final words.

All through a hastily put together dinner, I mulled it over. Halfway through the dishes, it occurred to me that I didn’t know all that much about mating. Especially fated mate bonds between different supernatural species.

Getting any sort of rest was a lost cause. I knew if I didn’t answer all the burning questions I had, I’d do something stupid, like find out where Riley was staying and ask for a chance to prove I wasn’t anything like he feared. I also wanted to figure out the mystery of the curses.

What had Hestia meant when she’d said there were two curses? What was their purpose? What would it take to break them?

There’d be no sleeping for me until I quieted my spinning brain. Hours passed as I tore through my home library, looking at all the books that even mentioned mating, fated pairings, and cross-species bonds. There were more than a few on curses, which was lucky, but would they be enough to help Riley?

When it turned out that I didn’t have much at home on fated pairings, particularly a cross‑species bond like mine and Riley’s, I grew frustrated. My personal library was years of work, yet it was lacking. Was this a symbol of things to come?

I figured it was bothering me too much to sleep, so I’d head to the one place I could be sure would have what I needed: the college library. The walk was invigorating in the cool winter air. My breath puffed out in front of me as I stalked with purpose toward the college campus.

Even at this late hour, the building was lit up and inviting. We tended not to keep traditional hours with the number of supernatural species who tended to be nocturnal. This late in the year, there weren’t many people around, though. I had the library to myself.

Throughout the night, I worked. I got coffee from the pot in the teachers’ lounge when I was struggling to stay awake. I was either going to find my answer or be plagued with dreams about fated bonds and curses.

“Everything all right here?” Fynn, the night security guard, asked. The man had the keen eyesight typical of a gryphon shifter.

“I knew my brain wouldn’t let me rest until I got to the bottom of something cryptic Hestia said,” I explained as I pulled three more books to put into my stack.

“Ah.” Fynn smirked. Everyone knew how infuriatingly vague our patron goddess could be when she wanted to be. “Need any help?”

“You sure?” I paused in my searching to look at him. The man was tall, nearing seven feet, the usual size for a gryphon male. His species were lucky in that, like shifters, they had a human guise and could often live in the outside world. He had blond hair that he wore tied back in a low ponytail for work. I knew it was shoulder-length and contained all the colors you could find on his lion half. Fynn’s eyes were the color of gold and were watching me steadily.