Page 85 of Moody as a Minotaur

“When supes who are fated come together, the Eternal Magic—the source of all the magic in the world—blesses them by joining their lives together, extending them to the same lifespan. When that happens, she gives them matching marks for the world to see. But they can still die.” That last word was hard to say, but it’d been worse to live through.

Parker nodded slowly. “Okay…”

“Some people disagree, but as far as I know, each person only has one fated mate.”

His eyes took on a glassy sheen as he held my gaze, like he knew what I was going to say next. He pressed his thumb into the jagged grooves on the bottle cap and waited for me to go on. I took another long drink of my beer. Then I stared at the bottle, wishing the beer could have made this whole situation easier. Unfortunately, answers were never found at the bottom of a bottle. I turned it in my hands. Shit. It was almost gone. Already.

Parker sat silently beside me, but he felt out of reach. Or maybe I was the one who was a million miles away… back in time. I couldn’t look at Parker right now. I just couldn’t. Sucking in a shaky breath, I tugged at the edge of the label and forced myself to say what needed to be said.

“I had a mate once,” I confessed.

The silence from Parker’s end of the sofa felt tangible, but I still couldn’t look at him.

“His name was Christos. He…” I swallowed thickly. “The Eternal Magic has ways of letting supes know they’re mates before she merges their lives. We… We both knew.”

Still, Parker didn’t speak. I couldn’t handle notknowing what he was thinking anymore. I stole a glance at him. His fingers squeezed the long neck of the beer bottle. When our eyes met, he set his bottle aside and leaned over to take my hand in his. His hand was cold from the bottle, but it was soothing against my sweaty one.

“What happened?”

“Hunters…” I choked before I could say more.

I closed my eyes, but that was the wrong thing to do. I hadn’t thought about that night in so long. Not more than a fleeting thought here or there. I’d always been able to push those memories down before.

But tonight, they were right there. In front of me. Like it’d just happened. Like the smell of Christos’s blood was still clogging up my nose. Pain ricocheted through my chest, ripping open all the invisible scars so they could bleed again.

“You’re safe,” Parker whispered. I felt the sofa move as he crawled closer. He wrapped his arms around me. Shit. I was shaking. My face was wet. I turned to Parker for comfort, and he was there for me. Even though I was rejecting him, he was still there for me.

My beer bottle dropped to the floor with a clatter as I grabbed onto him, but I didn’t care. He was my buoy in the turbulent ocean of my memories.

“When we met, Christos had been in a relationship with a human woman. He broke their engagement to be with me.” I swallowed thickly. “That’s how it is when you meet your fated mate. Everything feels inevitable and right. I truly believe denying the draw you feel toward your fated mate would be nearly impossible. At leastthat’s what Christos said, and I believed him because it was how I felt too.”

Parker rubbed my back in long, soothing strokes.

“But…” This next part… I felt nauseous thinking about what happened next. I forced the words from my mouth. “Christos’s intended knew about him being a supe. She… She…” I swallowed down the bile that surged to the back of my throat. “She was angry and hurt and… And when she realized that Christos wasn’t going back to her, she told people he was a monster. Most people dismissed what she was saying, but some didn’t. We were leaving. We knew we couldn’t stay. But the day before we were supposed to set sail, the hunters found us.”

Parker tightened his arms around me.

“They tortured him for hours. They… They said they had to make him suffer for presuming to toy with a human.” There had been so much blood. And the sound of Christos’s screams still haunted me.

“How did you escape?” Parker asked after a time.

“I didn’t. I was rescued.” I snorted through my lingering tears. “It was the first time I met Gage. I don’t know if he remembers that, but…”

“He saved you?”

I nodded. “It was too late for Christos, though…”

We stayed like that for a long time. Him holding me. Me clinging to him. It was wrong of me to turn to him for comfort. I should have retreated to my craft room ages ago, lost myself in yet another diorama so I could forget about the real world, and let Parker sleep in peace. But I couldn’t let go of him. Not yet.

After a time, my eyes drifted closed. I knew I neededto move before we fell asleep like this, but I couldn’t. Not when this would be the last time I’d feel Parker in my arms.

“So why can’t you be with me?” Parker asked quietly. “Why wouldn’t it be fair? Is it because you’re still in love with him? Do you feel like you’re cheating on him?”

“No. Christos has been gone a long time,” I murmured. “I’ve accepted his death.”

“Then what is it?”

“You still have your chance at finding your soulmate. I wouldn’t steal that from you.”