Page 42 of Worse Fates (Soulmates Suck #1)

In the newly redecorated kitchen, I slouch with my legs folded on one of the padded chairs around the rectangular dining table.

Looks like while I was out of commission Ramy fixed the destruction Jace and his assholes friends caused. The fridge is no longer on its side, bleeding out milk like a beached whale. It’s back to murmuring happily in its rightful place. The window is fixed, as if Lucero never threw Rurik out of it.

I’ve asked Ramy a couple times now how he did it, how long it took and if he changed anything. But all questions were ignored, and the glass of blood sitting in front of me pushed closer and closer.

“I got it specially for you, Golden,”

Ramy says, his smile freshly baked-bread warm.

“Fresh human blood—perfect for a growing boy.”

I try to force out a chuckle from my dry throat, but it comes out like a wheeze.

It smells good, makes my stomach…maybe want something? There’s an urge to drink it, but…

I linger on where Lucero leans against the counter, watching me intensely. My gaze drops to the lean column of his tempting neck.

Wouldn’t it be easier to keep feeding from him?

I shift in my seat, wanting to go to my mate and sink my fangs back where they belong. Where I’ll be safest.

But Lucero’s voice cuts in—low and commanding.“Golden.”

I roll my eyes and resist flipping him off. For about five seconds that is, then do it anyway.

He chuckles, strolling over.

“Drink, beautiful.”

The chair next to me is pulled out, and he sits, so I’ve got him and Ramy on either side of me.

“The whole thing, too.”

“It ain’t like I don’t want it,”

I huff, mostly at myself as my knee bounces.

“I’m also not trying to be difficult. I’m just not hungry.”

Ramy’s hand lays on my knee, voice kind when he says.

“We know, Golden. But your body went through a lot. Right now your…”

“Weak?”

“You are not weak,”

Lucero replies sternly. Then cups my cheek and gently tells me.

“But it will take some time before you grow into your vampiric powers. Soon your eyesight will improve, you’ll be able to run faster and so much more. Give it time.”

“Can’t I just have normal human powers back?”

I lean into his touch.

“I got winded walking from the bloody bedroom to the kitchen.”

Lucero flinches, subtle but I notice. I watch him just as closely as he does me, and I know that guilt eats at him. No way I’m letting that grow into distance.

“I don’t regret becoming a vampire.”

Weak as I am, I try to add steel to my words.

“I mean, yeah the turning fucking sucked. But for you I’d go through it again—”

“Never, Golden.”

His log burning scent flares, encapsulating me.

“I never want you to go through that kind of pain again.”

“Trust me, I have no plans to,”

I joke—easier to laugh it off. Pretend it never happened. Push it away. Never think about it again. Ever.

Lucero must see some tell I let slip, something to let him know that maybe I’m not holding everything together as well as he thought. Which admittedly, wasn’t very well to begin with.

But before he can comfort me, I’m quick to add.

“But I did expect to be somewhat cooler. Maybe lift a couple cars over my head.”

There’s a beat of silence, my mate’s gaze burning into mine. Silently, I beg him to just move on.

Lucero gently brushes away a curl that’s fallen into my eyes.

“You are already very cool.”

“That’s probably the uncoolest thing I’ve ever heard you say, brother,”

Ramy teases.

“Right,”

I snort, beaming at Lucero.

“I’m glad I amuse you both. Now stop stalling and drink.”

His voice may be tender, but he pushes the glass closer.

Sighing, I eye the cooling blood suspiciously. Glass tall and shining obnoxiously, like it’s daring me to do it.

Fuck it. No time like the present.

I don’t think about it—just shoot it back like it’s a flaming shot.

Thick warmth spills across my mouth and into my throat. My fangs, without having any say, drop down as I gulp deeply. A gnawing hunger that either I’ve been ignoring or just woke up, purrs in satisfaction.

This isn’t the richly dark flavour of Lucero’s blood, but something close.

When I’m done, I already want more. But…

I push the glass away, the sudden appearance of hunger vanishing with it. Now my stomach just feels weird and bloated.

“Well done, Golden,”

Lucero praises, kissing my cheeks and stroking my jaw.

“So proud of you.”

I grunt in response.

“Feeling better?”

Ramy inquires.

I can’t lie as a cramp begins to twist knots in my stomach.

“Urgh, feeling something,”

I complain, hugging my middle.

Lucero rubs my back.

“You drank it too fast. Breathe deeply, okay?”

I do, my face buried in his neck to get more of that log burning scent I love so much.

“I need to take my mind off my stomach. What’s happening with the search for Emma?”

“I’ve alerted the other vampire families and Summer has informed her Sovereign. There is a kill on sight order for any blood mages in the city. Hopefully I find that monster first.”

Lucero’s harsh tone contrasts with the gentle circles he’s rubbing in my back.

“She was desperate to get her hands on Jace’s spellbook.”

Ramy leans back into his chair.

“Summer’s trying to dig up any information she can, but nothing yet.”

I nod slowly.

“What about….”

I swallow.

“What about the warehouse?”

Or Jace’s body buried under it.

“The police have ruled it a drug accident gone bad.”

Lucero shrugs, uncaring.

Good for us, but fucked up.

“A bunch of people barely in their twenties, who everyone failed, and they won’t even properly investigate it…”

“Do you feel badly for those who hurt you?”

Lucero asks in my ear.

“For those who tried to take you away from me?”

I shrug, remembering the boy Jace ordered to touch the book and Jace reaching out to Emma. Yeah they were shitty people, but ain’t it a little human to feel something for them?

Lucero on the other hand couldn’t care less and I have no doubt, if given the chance, he’d slaughter every single person in that warehouse again—twice over. To my mate, If you’re not one of his people, you don’t matter.

I don’t know what it says about me, but I’m glad Lucero has that sharp, unrelenting edge. In a world that’s been so cruel to me, it’s nice having someone at my back who’s willing to be crueller.

“It just feels pointless,”

I admit.

“So many people died for nothing.”

“They never found Mickey’s body,”

Ramy informs me gently.

A yawn cracks my mouth wide before I have a chance to stop it.

“You think he’s out there with Emma?”

“If Mickey knew what was good for him, he’d run far from her.”

Lucero’s eyes darken, and I can tell that he wishes he finished the job and ended Mickey’s life when they first met.

I don’t say anything as I snuggle into my soulmate and let the world fade, warm and content and loved.

***

I must fall asleep, because the next thing I know, my head is resting on Lucero’s lap and we’re in an unfamiliar living room. It’s large, a C shaped sofa lining the whole back wall. The cream-colored wide pillows I’ve sunken into cotton-soft.

When I’m feeling more myself, I really gotta explore this big-ass mansion.

Smooth jazz softly plays from hidden speakers, harmonising perfectly with the fire crackling inside the stone and walnut fireplace.

“Apollo still says he doesn’t remember Rurik?”

Lucero’s voice is soothing as he plays with my curls.

“Not like that’ll stop Rurik from chasing him.”

Curled up in the corner, Ramy lounges with a pillow in his arms.

Yawning, I sit up.

“How has he forgotten?”

“We aren’t sure yet, but Rurik will find out.”

Lucero cups my jaw and brushes soft kisses over my lips, blissful sighs slip out of me to chase away the last traces of sleep.

“Did you rest well, love?”

“Yeah, and my stomach doesn't hurt anymore.”

I rub my eyes.

“How long was I out for?”

“It doesn’t matter. Sleep as much as you need,”

Lucero tells me, indulgent as an extra piece of chocolate cake.

But I glance at the floor length french doors, bracketed by long wool curtains the colour of oat milk to find the sun has long since dropped.

“I missed the whole day—again…”

Groaning, I drop my forehead on his shoulder.

Lucero chuckles, carding his fingers through my hair.

“No pouting. Besides, you woke up just in time for a visitor.”

Excited, I shoot upright. “Kai?”

He visited me when I first woke up and calls every day. I don’t admit it, but I’m kinda loving how much he’s fussing over me right now. Still, every time I ask how he’s doing he changes the subject and I might be Mr. Sleepy, but the dark circles under his eyes rival mine.

Concern gnaws at me, but I’m hopeful if we spend some real time together when we’re not being held hostage, running from danger or holding each other's unconscious body, maybe I can actually help my best friend.

“Not Kai,”

Ramy says, grinning wide enough to hurt.

The door swings open and a stranger fills the entire frame, sauntering in with the confidence of a man 6’6 and a face chiselled from marble.

“You’re here!”

Ramy jumps up and rushes over, hugging the stranger like an excited kid.

I’m so shocked to see this side of Ramy that if I wasn’t already sitting down, I’d be on the floor.

“Hello, Rahim.”

The man says Ramy’s name like it’s the softest of pillows and returns his hug.

“Wait, that’s your first name? I didn’t know it was short for anything…”

I blurt out to my friend, who grins at me.

Damn though, the stranger’s voice is hard, solid as a mountain. There’s a slight accent beneath the English—something Northern, maybe Scandinavian.

“Welcome to the land of the living, Vidar,”

Lucero says good naturedly and my jaw drops open.

Vidar? No way.

He’s pale white, but not sickly like when I first met him. Hair silver and eyes a startling pewter-grey. Body no longer skeletal, now muscles stretch across the deep navy V neck sculpted to his frame.

“And Golden,”

Vidar’s gaze hits me like a blizzard—not trying to be harsh, It’s just nature, like this level of intensity is his normal. And here I thought Lucero was bad.

“Hello, again.”

“Holy shit, you’re hot.”

A deep rumble tumbles from his barrel chest as he drops onto the sofa. His thick neck is decorated with black tattoos. If he has any on his chest, they’re hidden, but the ink reappears past his rolled-up sleeves, climbing over his knuckles and down to his long fingers.

Lucero grumbles, the hand in my hair tightening.

“Told you,”

Ramy grins, sitting beside Vidar and looking at him as if the man holds up the sun in one hand, and the moon in another.

“Er…”

I clear my throat.

“ I mean, obviously you’re way hotter, Lucero.”

“I’m glad you think so,”

Lucero replies sarcastically.

“However, the last time I saw Vidar, he looked like death itself. This? This is the real proof the supernatural exists.”

I say, then awkwardly clear my throat.

“Fuck, sorry.”

Vidar’s half-grin doesn’t reveal his fangs, yet he doesn’t mask his predator behind charm like Lucero, or gentleness like Ramy. Or whatever the fuck Rurik does. This vampire is a weapon—and he wants everyone to know it.

“But damn, now I get how you convinced a bunch of gay dudes to turn into vampires and follow you around the world after one meeting.”

“Again, told you,”

Ramy sing-songs. It’s like a weight's been lifted off his shoulders, his smile only growing the closer he is to Vidar—his Maker.

“That isn’t why I followed him,”

Lucero informs me.

I cock up an eyebrow.

After a beat he exhales.

“But fine, it didn’t hurt either.”

I laugh hard with Ramy, Vidar smirking at Lucero as he stretches out on the sofa next to me as if it were a throne. His scent is…I’m not quite sure. Something like rain?

“I came here to speak with you, Golden.”

Vidar’s voice isn’t loud—his natural authority does all the work. Without a word or a glance, Ramy and Lucero fall silent, waiting for what’ll happen next.

Shifting, I look up at my soulmate and he gazes down at me like I’m everything he’s ever wanted. I hope he knows I feel the same, even if it took some time.

“You are the offspring of my offspring.”

Vidar pulls my attention like the pounding of a gavel. I snap to him, breath caught somewhere in my throat.

“You are Lucero’s eternal mate, but as the head of this family you belong to me. As I belong to Sen, Lucero, Rurik, Ramy…and you, Golden.”

His large hand presses to his chest. Then, in the same place, he lays his palm against mine—grounding me to this moment and freeing the air from my lungs on a wobbling exhale.

“As the newest offspring to the Hardaldsson Vampire family, Welcome home, Golden.”

I don’t realise the tears painting my cheeks until Lucero brushes them away.

When I wasn’t adopted I assumed I’d never be part of a real family. So I tried to make my own with Jace, which had been a mess. Then I managed to patch one together with Kai, something strong but our secrets created holes.

For so long I thought fate didn’t have one in the cards for me, but looks like fate had a plan all along.

“T…thank you,”

I whisper, knowing those two words aren’t big enough to encompass the swell of emotion expanding in my chest.

Vidar watches me…something soft in his eyes, perhaps pride. So maybe he does kinda get it.

Feeling too exposed, but smiling nonetheless, I glance away.

Lucero holds me close. Ramy moves to sit on the coffee table across from me, and I realise I’m surrounded by my…my family.

Lucero cups my chin and tilts me up so I can watch Vidar bite into his thumb. The cut heals quickly, but a drop of blood shines like a ruby against his pale gold skin.

“Offspring of my offspring, accept my blood and become my family in every sense.”

Vidar offers that shining jewel to me. My body locks up, unsure if I’m worth what he’s offering.

Lucero’s fingers stroke my jaw, gentle and reassuring. Telling me how much I’m valued and loved and cherished, and all the words that keep my lashes wet.

Slowly I open wide, accepting the gift that’s offered.

Vidar’s blood is strong, not like Lucero’s deep red. But…old. Not bad, but something heavy with history and time itself pressed into a single drop.

“Now that I’m officially the head of your family.”

Vidar leans back, arm thrown over the head rest and legs spread wide.

“You need to feed more.”

My eyes roll back, and I slump into Lucero’s hard chest.

“Not you, too…”

“Yes.”

Vidar’s smirk is small, but cuts as sharply as a fang. “Me too.”

The doorbell rings and Ramy pulls himself up, mumbling.

“I should really get a key cut for Kai.”

And rushes out.

“So Kai is really visiting?” I grin.

“Golden drank more blood today than any other.”

Lucero defends me to Vidar.

“He’s been through a lot, just give him time.”

Vidar levels Lucero with the look of a disappointed father.

“Doesn’t help that you keep letting him take your blood, offspring.”

“C’mon, don’t say that,”

I complain.

“How do you even know about it?”

Vidar raises an eyebrow, as if to say it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Lucero chuckles, his lips on my crown as I cross my arms.

Ramy leads Kai into the room, and I can’t stop my goofy grin, one that Kai returns. But as he comes deeper inside, he slows.

His smile falls away into a deep frown, gaze locked on Vidar whose frown mirrors Kai’s.

“Have we met before?”

Kai asks, sounding like he’s waking from a dream.

Lucero stills. Ramy sucks in a breath. Vidar rises slowly, tension straightening his spine.

Kai steps forward.

“I know you…”

Vidar moves closer to Kai—chest unmoving. Not even blinking.

They’ve never met, I’m sure of it. But they stare at each other as if long ago they were torn apart, and finally—after years, decades, centuries of waiting—they’re reunited.

“Soulmate.”

The word leaves Vidar on an exhale, but the emotion that shakes him is anything but light.

I gasp, grabbing hold of Lucero’s arm, Kai always said he had a one true love, even with Lucero I didn’t believe it. But my best friend’s slow smile, the crinkle at the edges of his eyes, tells me he never once doubted he’d find the one person who’ll love him forever.

“Impossible,”

Vidar bites out.

Kai’s smile drops.

“I-impossible?”

“I refuse to have a mate who looks like you.”

The room freezes. Even the fire becomes cold and Kai’s face drops, crashing to the ground. He staggers, hand flying to his chest—the same position when Vidar called me his family. But Kai isn’t being welcomed, he’s being rejected.

I’m out of Lucero’s arms and rushing over to Kai, desperate to keep all his pieces together.

Look at me, I tell him with my eyes, grip tight enough to hurt. I love you. It’s okay, I love you.

But Kai isn’t looking at me—he’s watching the thunder in Vidar’s face as he storms out the room. Furious.

Then, like a punch to the gut, I remember—Vidar is straight.

Well, shit.