Page 49

I stare at her, my throat tight. "That's not—"

"It's a yes or no fucking question, Yue. I don't need a damn dissertation."

"Yes!" I shout, the word ripping out of me like a confession. "Yes, I want to be his mate! I like the way he looks at me like I'm the only person in the room! I like the way he makes me laugh even when I want to strangle him."

"Then let's go." She drops my hand and starts walking in the direction of his home.

I watch her go and then shut my eyes. Cars rush by, and I take a shaky breath. Then my eyes spring open, and I rush after her.

I use a simple unlocking spell on the front door, and Eos follows me inside, her footsteps silent on the hardwood floor. Breaking into Ekon's house is easier than it should be. The house is dark except for a faint glow coming from the bedroom at the end of the hall. It's quiet in the house, which means his mate isn't here.

My heart pounds so hard I can barely hear anything else.

"Yue," Eos whispers, grabbing my wrist. "Why don't you call Ekon?"

"No," I state.

She shakes her head as we creep inside his apartment. Along the back wall, near his bedroom is a shelf I'm familiar with.

Eos walks around me, eyes locking on the wall before she bursts into laughter. "Yue, they're alive!"

"What?" I stare at her, then at the wall. "What do you mean they're alive?"

"They pulse with energy," Eos says, wiping tears from her eyes. "They're not just sculptures, Yue. They're connected to something or someone."

"What?"

Eos drags out her knife and cuts the top of her pinky. Before I can utter a word, she shoves it into my mouth. Iron floods my tongue, and a whirl of magical energy slams into me.

“This is temporary,” she explains.

My head spins, and I glance at my pinky. On it, lies a bright red thread. The thread lies on the floor, going in several directions. One is running to the door. It's slack, like the person it's connected to is far away. The others rush toward the shelf. My mouth falls open, and I roam the shelf. I touch one of the dicks. It's covered with ridges and a large piercing. Around the base is another red thread.

"What the fuck?" I question.

"This has got to be the weirdest shit I've ever witnessed," Eos adds.

"What do these threads represent?"

“Red threads connect to your soul mate.”

I follow the red threads, noting that multiple are connected to the dicks on the wall. “My soul mate is a bunch of dicks?”

Eos snorts. “Would that really be so bad?”

“I’d like to not put my mouth on a dick every day.”

“Since when?”

I swat her, slapping her shoulder.

“Those dicks belong to someone, don’t they? The red strings are connected to them.”

“Huh?” I ask, slightly confused. “Are we still talking about dick?”

"Annoying..." Eos hikes a thumb and points at the door.

The thread tightens, and the slack disappears.