Page 251 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

Sawyer sighed and glanced over at her. “This isn’t a great analogy, but I remember one time I thought I had like this huge fever. I was burning up and sweating and miserable. I called Draco, and he went out and got a thermometer for me. When we took my temperature, it was only like ninety-nine point something. I’d have sworn I was at like a hundred and three and needed to go to the emergency room.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“Yeah, not the greatest example, like I said, but I guess I mean that small changes make a big difference, especially when the changes aren’t numbered and you only feel them, you know? Okay, how about listening to music or the radio? It’s too loud, so you turn it from a ten to a nine. Doesn’t make a lot of difference, right? Especially not to the person whose ears are complaining.”

“Subtle changes, you mean?”

“Yeah. So like, what if someone was dialing it down over a long time. You’ve got a one hundred percent chance of finding your mate or having a kid. But then it’s ninety-nine. And then it becomes ninety-five. I mean, we’re talking a lot of years here, so now we’re down to next to no one finding their mates. I don’t know, is that even possible?”

She stared out over the water with him, and they stood silently for what felt like hours.

“It is possible,” she conceded.

“So, whoever is doing this is like super powerful. They’ve messed with fertility magic, which from what I read about Tiamat is really strong. If those guys had actually managed to kill me in that ritual? I don’t know what would have happened, but it wouldn’t have been good.”

“No, it would not have been good, Sawyer.”

“And, I’m not a hundred percent sure this is connected, but you know Henry was kidnapped as a kid, right? And his dads found him with his brothers and sisters? They never found out who took them. Not even Meshaq, right, who makes everybody shiver when they mention his name because he works directly for one of your daughters and is super powerful and scary, but he couldn’t find the person who took them. And Henry said he thought they were messing with his magic. But see, cubs are precious, and this was only like ten years ago, so for that many cubs to be found and no one was searching the ends of the earth for them? That’s weird, right? And they’re not all wolves, either. Ben’s a bear and Natasha is a fox. Plus Henry, who’s a seer and everyone says he’s super strong.”

Even thinking about what Henry had gone through as a child, how afraid he’d been stirred up Sawyer’s anger once more. He held out his arm for her, needing to move before he vibrated out of his skin, and she tucked her fingers against his elbow. No magic flowed between them this time, and he filed that detail away as he began walking down the beach once more.

“Much has been clouded from my sight, Sawyer. I’m sorry your mate was hurt as a child.”

“But see, shouldn’t you have known? Or at least your daughters? Someone had to know what was going on, right? Kids were being hurt. That’s just… someone had to know.”

She didn’t say anything else, so Sawyer continued his rant.

“So they’ve dialed down magic powers, and they were messing around with cubs no one knew existed. They have lots of power, and they know about ancient rituals. Saeward about had a coronary when he found out what they were trying to do to me. Thanks for that, by the way. For him. Helping me find him. Or him find me. Whatever. You know what I mean.”

“You’re quite welcome. Saeward is… special. You will be able to help him as much as he helps you.”

Sawyer had already figured as much. His new guardian had deep wounds that they needed to heal. Worse because they weren’t on the surface like the claw mark on Sawyer’s side. They were more to the bone, like the bruises on his feet. A deep unforgiving ache that hurt with every step. “I’ll help him.”

“I had no doubt. What else have you uncovered in that wickedly clever mind of yours?”

“Well, so this person has super powers, they have ancient knowledge, and they aren’t detectable by the hellhounds when they mess with humans like Mr. Bledsoe. No one seems to think that’s even possible, but we’ve seen it happen more than once. And they seem to have access to other supernaturals because they had no issue getting close to Magdalen.”

She paused again, her eyes going cloudy as she stared out across the expanse of the ocean.

“My daughters are growing uneasy,” she said after another few minutes. “My interference is beginning to draw their attention.”

“I really don’t understand. I mean, you’re the mom. Aren’t you the boss?”

“No, dear boy. I gifted my daughters with their powers. They are the mothers now. I am the crone.”

Sawyer remembered reading about it in his books. When he first heard of the triple goddess, he’d thought it referred to the three daughters. It didn’t. It was more the generation of goddesses, and each level could have multiple goddesses. The crone was the elder, the mother the middle age and in their world, the leaders, and then the maidens were the young goddesses.

“You’re really not supposed to be involved at all, are you?”

She remained silent.

“Shit. Uh, I mean… oh hell, I’m sure you’ve heard worse and honestly I mean no disrespect toward you, but if your daughters can’t get their heads out of their asses long enough to realize we’ve got a major problem here then they deserve to have you yank a knot in their asses! Everyone thinks the goddesses have abandoned them, that something they’ve done is so bad they’re being ignored. But it’s so much worse, isn’t it? They’re oblivious! But you aren’t. You hear their pleas, their cries for help. You created this whole prophecy centuries ago because even then you knew something was wrong.”

“You’ve given me much to think about.”

Sawyer sighed. “I’m sorry I raised my voice. It’s been a rough week.”

She patted his arm gently. “Let’s just sit for a while.”