Page 74 of Hunted By Fear

I wait, looking between the two as they have some kind of silent argument with their eyes.

In the end, Ruin seems to lose. He lets out a sigh, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck.

“Fated mates are souls that are made for each other, destined to be together. The universe deems them perfect for each other, a yin and yang if you will.” He hasn’t looked at me since he started talking, instead looking at the fireplace as if in a trance.

It sounds beautiful to have someone perfect for me and know I’m perfect for them. The idea that Lucifer isthatsomeone for me makes my stomach feel like I just released a family of butterflies in it. But it only lasts a moment before it sours.

Can the universe be wrong? I feel like it has to be; there’s no wayIcan be his mate. He’s the literal devil.

Shouldn’t he have someone strong and beautiful, not…me?

Questions swirl around my head, but when I open my mouth, I end up asking one I hadn’t intended to.

“But I thought you said I was your mate, Bast?” The second the words leave my lips, I wish I could take them back.

If I thought Bast looked shocked by my question about mates, that's nothing compared to now.

His face turns red all the way up to the tips of his pointy ears, and I quickly slap a hand over my mouth.

“I’m sorry, ignore me,” I say, my words coming out muffled against my hand, but I can’t bring myself to move it as I feel my face heat as well.

Ruin chuckles from his chair by the fire, and I whip my head to glare at him just as Bast does the same. He holds up his hands as if to pacify us, but doesn't stop laughing, and suddenly this whole thing does feel very silly.

We’re all laughing now, and fuck if it doesn’t feel great.

We laugh for so long that my cheeks ache and my eyes water, but I feel lighter, happier, and the guys look like they feel it too.

Bast moves closer to me on the bed; he’s never far, and I honestly don’t want him to be. He brings me comfort, has since the day I opened my eyes here, maybe even longer than that if I’m being honest.

“Mates don’t follow the same rules as most of the rest of the world. You could have one mate, or more than one.”

“Like two?” I ask because the way he worded it seems strange.

It’s Ruin who answers me, though. “Yeah, two’s possible, but it could also be like ten.”

I feel my eyes go wide, so wide‌ I’m shocked they don’t fall out and roll away.

Did he just say ten!?

“Ten?”

“It’spossible, but not likely, Aeri. He’s just messing with you,” Bast says with a laugh in an attempt to reassure me.

I can see the mischief in Ruin’s eyes even from across the room, so I do the only logical thing and whip a pillow at his head.

I half expect to miss, but by some stroke of luck, it hits him right in the head before falling to the floor and nearly being incinerated by the fireplace. Ruin somehow manages to snatch it out of the air and toss it back at me, where it hits me square in the face.

“Asshole,” I grumble as I hug the pillow to my chest.

Ten? Who the fuck needs ten mates?

“I mean, I was joking, but it is possible, Sunshine.” Ruin shrugs before getting out of the chair and coming to sit on the end of the bed.

It shouldn’t affect me; the bed is huge, like fucking massive, to the point that he’s really not that much closer now. But something about him being in my bed feels different.

I bring my knees up and bury the bottom half of my face in the pillow, trying to discreetly hide my very obvious embarrassment, all the while cursing my pale skin.

“I think the most I’ve ever heard of was three,” Bast says, rubbing his chin. My eyes follow the movement before getting caught by his plump pink lips, and suddenly, I can’t look away.