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“Oh.” I hadn’t realized how much time had passed.

“I found these though.” He hands me a stack of cards. I look at the first. “Lucifer.” I check out the first reference, the rune is two crossed swords. I’d spotted it earlier and I head on over. But where the book should be, there’s another gap. What a surprise. The next reference yields the same results.

I repeat the process with the card for Hecate. Nothing.

I think I’m out of luck and more than a little pissed off. I go back to Khaos and plonk myself down on the chair across from him and scowl. His lips lift at the corners.

It’s amazing. He’s like a hundred per cent happier than he was before I killed all those people. It seems to have fundamentally changed something inside him. Or maybe it was thinking I was dead. Maybe he realized he likes me, after all.

He’s still holding the book about Vortex and Selene. I think I’m going to take it with me—bedtime reading. Normally I’d consider taking books from libraries as a serious crime, but clearly I’m not the first. Plus, I think my situation justifies it.

But the book makes me think again of what Selene told me. About my “mate”. I study Khaosti. He’s stunning, all long lean muscle and attitude. Warmth curls in my belly and my nipples tingle. I have a flashback to the feel of him, when he was deep inside me, and I shift on my seat. Not helping. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that we ever made love. That I told him I loved him. I can’t imagine saying that now because he’s made it clear he doesn’t want me like that.

Then again, he did say he would kill Thanouq if I kissed him again. That’s kind of sweet, in a Khaosti sort of way. But he hasn’t tried to kiss me since then. Maybe he thinks I should never kiss anyone, including him, for the rest of my life. Which likely won’t be very long.

Is he my bonded mate?

I don’t even know what that means for sure. Is it just a term, like boyfriend, or is it some sort of mystical bond. No one ever mentioned mates to me before.

The big question is—should I tell Khaos what Selene said?

Maybe he’ll just laugh at me for even considering we might be mates.

The truth is, since we got Khaos out of that prison, he’s been different. He was always sort of an asshole, but I knew how he would react to most things. Now he’s a mystery. And I do understand. He was driven almost insane in that cell. That’s a lot to come back from and it’s not surprising he’s changed. Or maybe it’s just that he doesn’t entirely trust himself anymore. With me. Maybe he thinks he’ll lose control and hurt me. I don’t think he could.

I suppose the question I should be asking is—do I want him to be my mate?

I’ve never wanted anyone else. But I’m still young. Maybe the man of my real dreams is waiting just around the corner.

Then I look at Khaosti again. He’s watching me back. His golden eyes are half-closed behind a thick fringe of black lashes. He’d be beautiful if not for the scar that cuts his cheek and gives him a savage aspect. His black hair is overlong and falls across his forehead. My fingers itch with the need to run them through the silky strands, stroke his skin, and I fist my hands into balls at my side.

“What?” he murmurs.

“Do your people have mates? You know, like…” I trail off because I have no clue. Then I take a deep breath and try again. “You know like fated mates, meant to be together forever sort of thing?”

His eyes narrow. “Bonded mates,” he says. “But it’s another fairy story.”

So they do exist. I feel I have to point something out. “You mean like the Crone?” When we first knew that we had to find the “Crone,” Khaos had told me that the Crone was nothing but a fairy story told to frighten children. The Crone had turned out to be Hecate.

He smirks. “Good point. But “bonded mates” hasn’t been a thing since Selene and Vortex disappeared from the world. If it ever existed, then it was lost with them.”

Except Selene isn’t gone, because I saw her only days ago. Which makes me wonder if Vortex is still around, too. “What do you know?”

He puts the book down and leans forward, arms resting on his knees. “A mate bond was a very rare, predestined bond between two souls, chosen by the gods. The bond could enhance magical abilities and strength, making them more powerful together than apart. Once made, the bond was unbreakable and they would be drawn together, no matter the circumstances.”

“So…basically, some cosmic force would decide who you hooked up with? Sounds like—”

“—a fairytale. Yeah. And notsomecosmic force. The mate bonds were supposedly bestowed by Selene and Vortex.”

I’m getting a bad feeling about this. I’ve been attracted to Khaos from the moment I slammed into him, despite the fact that he wasn’t very nice—and that’s the understatement of the century. Could our connection be due to Selene forging a mate bond between us? I hate the idea that, once again, I have no choice. But at the same time, it makes a lot of sense. I honestlyjust thought I had atrocious taste in men, but maybe I was being manipulated all the time. The story of my freaking life.

I jump up and pace the room a couple of times, then come back to stand in front of Khaos, hands on my hips. “Anything else?” I ask. “Any way to break the bond. Could they just say…ignore it?”

“Unbreakable remember. And no ignoring it either—fate would bring them together.”

Ugh.

“Plus, if one mate dies, the other will experience extreme pain, madness, and/or a loss of power.”