Page 88 of The Missing Sentinel
It made Adney less evil than many other necromancers. But he was still an asshole.
Drexley laid his head on Ducarius’s shoulder, and the Skeleton Lord took his mate’s hand again. The last thing Ducarius would do was ruin his day any further by thinking of Adney. What mattered was that Fate had eventually led Ducarius to Drexley’s side.
Now, they had each other along with a love that somehow grew each day. For Ducarius, the lone thing missing in their lives was what Fate had not done yet. Each of the Skeleton Lords was now mated, but there were other single Darays. In Ducarius’s extended family, there were even more people sleeping alone.
Annoyed, Ducarius wondered what the goddess could be doing that took precedence over uniting the people he loved with their other halves.
∞∞∞
Laughter filled the room, and Fate clenched her fists.
“It is not amusing,” Fate stated through gritted teeth.
Death composed herself, but unholy delight lurked in her dark eyes. “Come now, it was your idea to dip into Ducarius’s thoughts. You thought we would be impressed by how high of an opinion he has of you now that Drexley is at his side.”
“Instead, Ducarius is wondering what is keeping you from doing your job,” Eternity added, then fell into Death as the goddess who watched out for every immortal being erupted into giggles.
“I hate all of you,” Fate said, flicking her hair off her shoulder and glaring at her horrid sisters.
“Your energy is probably better spent uniting two souls than growing angry with us,” Justice remarked. As usual, there was a sword within arm’s reach of Justice, but at least she had the damn thing sheathed.
“The problem no one understands is that there are many more couples matched that have not found each other yet,” Fate explained. “That is not my fault. I find two souls and bind them. It is not my job to create little moments for them to bump into each other on the street.”
Life’s gaze widened. “But you could do that.”
“Theoretically, but it would use up valuable time and energy,” Fate argued. “Although if I am honest, I have done it. How do you think a sentinel suddenly grew clumsy and dropped his phone to fall into a realm? I grew tired of waiting for Adney to drop dead so Ducarius and Drexley could be together. As for the rest. Most of them are not my creations. I cannot tiremyself worrying about everyone. My power must stay rooted in my main purpose. My influence is limited beyond the duties assigned to me by Mother, so it drains me.”
Courage crossed her ankles, and the chain mail she insisted on wearing creaked. Or jangled. Fate wasn’t sure what the correct word was, but it was annoying either way. “Interesting point. But each of us has races or ones we have crafted in collaboration with others. If we knew who their mates were, we could influence them to meet.”
Justice shook her head. “Only if both mates were influenceable by us. If a sentinel was mated to one of Mayhem’s vampyrs, for instance, Death could sway the sentinel to go out to find their mate. But she would need Mayhem to plant an idea in the vampyr’s head. Mayhem is a lesser goddess and lacks Death’s vast resources. It would tire her to do the same for every vampyr.”
“Which is why most goddesses are content not to intervene,” Death commented. “It is why Mother handed out free will. Otherwise, your creations would stand around staring at the wall most of the time given the short attention spans of our many sisters.”
“So, shut up about how I am not doing enough to unite couples,” Fate groused. “And you already know I am not revealing matebonds. Never again. Not after Rafe and Aleksander. Their story would still be waiting for a happy ending if not for goddess intervention.”
“Ducarius is the one with the complaint,” Eternity snickered. “Perhaps you should pop down to Earth and explain things to him.”
“Keep it up, and I will travel there. I helped him. He will understand. Instead of discussing my faults, I am sure he will be eager to listen to me explain how evil all of you are,” Fate retorted.
Death cocked her head to the side. “Except for a few extraordinary cases, you are the lone goddess any of them know. You would appear stark raving mad if you showed up to rant about a family they have never met.”
Fate flopped onto the closest chair and sprawled across the cushions. “I hate you most, Death.”
“Your enemy is logic,” Justice countered. “Stop pouting and focus on the happiness you can offer people.”
Lifting her arms above her head, Fate smiled. Nothing pleased her more than a joyous matebond.
“It would lift my mood to match a new couple.”
“Then allow us to watch the beautiful Daray men spar, and focus on your duties,” Death suggested.
“Pick someone in their extended family if you want a suggestion for how to get started,” Eternity added.
Delighted at the prospect of a complete matebond ceremony at the D’Vaire mansion instead of the abbreviated celebration favoring Ducarius and Drexley, Fate set her sights on the prestigious families connected to the mansion. If she was lucky, the people she connected would discover each other immediately. Of course, Fate would be equally satisfied if one of the other people already matched within the clan sought the other half of their soul.
Perhaps that would keep Ducarius from complaining loudly enough that the goddesses themselves heard the words and mocked her. Although the Skeleton Lord boosted Fate’s spirits thanks to the exquisite way he loved Drexley, it would take several days for her to forgive Ducarius for his cheek.
With a heavy sigh, Fate swept her thoughts clear and focused on the fragile souls waiting for their other half. She wondered who out in the world, or perhaps in another realm, would best suit any of the people in the beloved D’Vaire family. Her lips curved as her senses drew her to a target.
Ah, yes, he will do nicely.