Page 5 of Waste (Legendary Shifters #4)
“That’s one interesting problem,” Drew mused as his mind worked furiously. “The mirrors show those whom we need to eradicate?”
“Yes, always in people in whom the Sins ride high.”
“What if this unknown female should have died but cheated fate? And now the Fates are trying to direct us to kill her to correct that?” Drew suggested, and Marie stared at him.
“I didn’t think of that!”
“Could it be possible?”
Marie considered the suggestion for several moments. “Theoretically, yes. If one of us changed her destiny, then the Fates may want us to remedy it. That’s why she keeps showing up.”
“Those witches were never easy to get along with,” Drew said, and Marie laughed.
“No, Clotho thought she was special because she spun the threads of life. Lachesis measured life’s length, and Atropos cut it.
They’re not as wonderful as they believe.
Kill one, and someone else can take their place, because the process—Fate—will continue even if Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos die.
They are merely the servants of it, nothing more or less,” Marie mused.
Drew couldn’t disagree. The Fates were legendary, but for the wrong reasons.
Fate itself had existed since time began, but nobody had regulated it.
Not until the Fates had come along. Many believed them to create, limit, and end the life cycle of a person.
That was actually erroneous. As Marie stated, the process was in place; the Fates were the servants of it.
Nobody understood where Fate originated from, but it was there, just like God.
“Shall we go see whose mirror she’s in now?” Marie asked.
“Yes. However, we should be asking, why this woman needs to die? I’ve always disagreed with the whims of the Fates. They have the power to shorten a life span and have done so in revenge and spite.”
“It’s a good thing we’re immortal and don’t have threads,” Marie responded.
“Indeed. God also blessed us. Otherwise, when the Sins invaded us, those witches would have ended our lives in the blink of an eye,” Drew replied.
“Most certainly.”
They finished their coffee and returned to the tower. Once there, Marie shifted into Mary Worth and brought up the mirrors.
“There. She’s in Medusa’s,” Mary said and pointed.
Drew peered closer and then reeled backwards. It was her! “She’s the target?”
“Yes.” Mary turned to stare at him and frowned. “Do you know her?”
“I saved her from a man beating her. Mary, I think I’m the reason she’s alive and not dead!”
“Drew, what did you do?” Mary demanded as Drew shrugged helplessly.
“That’s a damn good question,” Drew answered as he stared at Shelley, who bent her head over a laptop, working on something. Shit. This was a mess.
“We’d better call the board,” Mary said, and Drew nodded. Who could have predicted this mess?
◆◆◆
“You saved her?” Rhett asked.
“No true man would stand by and watch a woman beaten,” Drew replied.
“And now we have a dilemma. It appears her attacker should have battered her to death, but failed because of your intervention,” Vladimir declared.
“Yes. And I’d do it again,” Drew stated, and Vladimir’s eyebrows rose into his hairline.
“Then you have to be the one to kill her,” Jase said.
“I disagree. Shelley is alive. Who are we to judge whether she lives or dies?” Drew retorted.
Lily’s head snapped toward him, and her gaze narrowed on him.
“You oppose killing her to right Fate?”
“Yes.” Drew was almost cavalier about his argument. “Look, if Shelley was meant to have died, then why would Fate have placed me in her path? I disagree that she needs to die.”
“There is one other direction nobody has considered,” Lily interrupted, her eyes firmly on Drew.
Somehow, Drew knew what Lily was going to say before she spoke. “Don’t you even!” he warned.
Lily smirked and then voiced the words he dreaded. “She may be Drew’s mate.”
The board sat back and stared at him.
“That is a possibility,” Maeve drawled, her face lit with amusement.
“Shelley’s not my mate!” “Drew, you’re very protective of her,” Liadun stated.
Drew glowered at her and crossed his arms over his chest.
“That’s a defensive move, right there,” Maeve quipped, pointing to his posture.
Drew pointed at Maeve and shook his head. “Don’t even go there.”
“I suggest that Mary Worth watch over Shelley for a few more days. Drew, in the meantime, I want you to search your feelings. Is this woman your mate?” Killian asked, leaning forward. He held Drew’s gaze. “Brother, as we’ve seen, a mate is a blessing.”
Drew sucked his lips in, and a small growl left him. “Shelley is not mine.”
“Perhaps she is someone else’s then?” Liadun suggested, and Drew’s head whipped around like he was possessed.
“No.” Drew rose to his feet. “I don’t believe Shelley was meant to die, or I wouldn’t have been there to stop the murder from happening. Maybe the mirror network is broken. It’s not my strength. Perhaps Mary Worth should run a check on the magic that controls it.”
With that last dig, Drew walked away.
Killian/Phantom.
“This Shelley is Drew’s mate. We need to gather information about her,” Killian remarked.
“Agreed. Drew has his head up his backside for now, but hopefully he’ll be easier than Jase,” Vladimir replied.
“Hey!” Jase growled out.
“You dumped your mate in the middle of an ocean and left her there. And then imprisoned her. Don’t play innocent,” Lily scolded, wagging a finger at him.
“Willow was a pain in my ass,” Jase defended himself.
“And now she probably thinks you’re one in hers. Jase, your courtship was awful, and you had no game. I’m surprised Willow fell for you in the end,” Vladimir said, and Jase spun on him.
“Here we go,” Maeve muttered, and Rhett snorted.
Killian was amused. He was always thoroughly entertained when his siblings started fighting.
Unlike humans, who mated and then gave birth to a child, their arrival was shrouded in mystery.
Somehow, they understood they had all originated from the same source.
But none of them knew how they’d been born or created.
His earliest memory was of being in a classroom with two hundred and forty-nine others and being trained to be a Protector of the Jar.
He sat back as Jase verbally went after Vladimir, whose own courtship had been a mess. Emmaline had hated Vladimir at first, and Durant and Shay had nearly ripped Vladimir’s arms off several times.
“Killian. What do you think?” Liadun asked in a soft voice. She was ignoring the bickering going on.
“Honestly? Drew’s found his mate. But we’ve never known Mary’s mirror network to show mates.”
“No, which is why I’m concerned. I’d hate for Drew to have to kill her,” Liadun replied.
“Drew cares for her already, although he’s blind to it. I understand your reticence. If it comes to it, one of us will have to take care of the problem,” Killian said, and his gaze focused on Jase.
Jase carried on arguing with Vladimir while Rhett threw in the odd comment to keep them fighting. It would be Jase who would kill Shelley. He would not risk anything happening to his family. Vladimir wouldn’t either, but Jase was harder. He was as passionate as Vladimir about protecting them all.
Killian shook his head as Jase came out of his chair and tackled Vladimir to the floor, who shifted into a vampire in a blink.
And there went the tentacles, Killian sighed as Jase morphed into Poseidon’s Uber-Merman.
He helped the ladies up from their chairs, and they headed out and left Vampire and Poseidon trading punches and bites.
Drew/Ghoul
The board had to be wrong. Shelley couldn’t be his mate; he felt nothing for her. He knew from watching Vladimir, Jase, and Lanie claim their mates that there had been a connection. Drew experienced no bond, but could he kill Shelley? No, the thought was unacceptable to him.
Drew headed for the gardens. He needed some fresh air and time to himself. Hopefully, nobody would be there.
His luck was in.
As Drew wandered, he tried to figure out what to do.
Shelley had given off vibes of innocence and goodness.
It wasn’t fair for her life to be snuffed out to satisfy a whim of fate.
He bitterly regretted his statement that Shelley had been saved from death, and the Fates were now trying to get them to right the wrong.
What made killing someone so kind permissible?
That made little sense to Drew, and he knew deep down his initial suggestion had been erroneous.
Drew sighed as he sat on a bench and tilted his face to the sun.
He racked his brains for an answer before stiffening.
The Legendary Shifters weren’t the only paranormals around.
Drew had a solution; whether the board would listen to him was another thing.