Page 42 of Mate Me

“Thank you for getting their rooms prepared. I can handle it from here. Will you make sure the kitchen knows we have extra guests?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.” Isobel hurried off, but I didn’t miss the side-eye she gave me as she left.

Caius turned to Clara and pointed at the door across the hall. “That one is yours. Give us a moment.”

She gave me a quick glance to make sure I was okay with it, and when I nodded, she went into her room muttering that he could have at least asked her nicely. Sometimes it was easy to see the resemblance between her and Nog. At the sudden thought of him, sadness began to consume me.

“Isobel is going to be one of your chambermaids, but you didn’t make the greatest first impression. I don’t want either of you to be uncomfortable, so call for me if you need something, or if the room isn’t to your liking.”

“Earth is to my liking,” I replied, feeling the heaviness of the day beginning to weigh on me.

Caius hummed under his breath and closed his eyes briefly. “Do you intend on acting like this and staying in your room for six months?”

“The thought crossed my mind, yes.”

“That’s truly a shame,” he said, taking a step past the border of my space bubble. I receded, and then bumped into the door. “If I have to, I will spend every day, of every week, of every month trying to show you who I truly am, and not what you believe me to be. I saved you because I recognize you as my mate. Not for what you guard inside you. Iwillmake you understand.”

Mimicking my cousin’s wording was clever, and it certainly drove the point home. I never believed that I was safe, but I knew he truly believed I was his mate. For now.

“I guess we’ll see about that, won’t we?” Reaching behind me, I found the knob and twisted it, pushing the door open and putting some distance between us.

“Indeed.” The muscle in Caius’s jaw clenched, and his eyes flashed. “Get some rest. We have plenty of time to talk tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Caius.” The words were forced, much like my decision to take up residency here. I’d been quick to temper for most of our interactions, and I wasn’t sure how much longer he was willing to put up with me. Basic survival skills said I should be nice, but exhaustion coupled with the skeptical part of me that had been warned about him my entire life stupidly threw caution to the wind.

“Oh, and Reagan?” I paused, not shutting the door completely. “Take a bath and get that shifter’s scent off you. While you’re here, you belong to me.” I shut the door and cupped my hand over my mouth.

You belong to me.

The words lingered long after his footsteps had faded, and another door slammed shut. The memory of his lips on mine quickly flashed in my mind. My cheeks warmed in an instant. Closing the door, I put my back to it and slid down until I landed on the floor. Scrubbing my hands down my face, I stifled a sob as hot tears fell unbidden.

“Welcome to Tartarus,” I whispered to myself, the emptiness in the room already haunting me.

I was trapped in a realm created to imprison monsters, and it was just my luck I was mated to the biggest one of them all.

Chapter12

Caius

Iturned away from Reagan’s door to find Abyssian leaning against the wall. Pol stood opposite of him; shrewd eyes boring into me. I sighed, then turned for my room.

They followed without needing to be told. It wasn’t a long walk. Pol had correctly placed Reagan at the end of the same corridor from my suite. Creamy white doors flung open at my approach, the magic of the castle recognizing its master and responding without needing to be directed.

I approached the bar cart by the fireplace, pouring myself whiskey. They didn’t even have the decency to wait for me to have my drink before starting in on the interrogation.

“For centuries all you could think about was being reunited with your soul, and now you’re throwing that away for what exactly? A mate that doesn’t want you?”

I made a sound in my throat. “I’m not throwing it away. I’m simply choosing to play more than one game. Reagan is my mate. She’s also the guardian. Why must I pick?”

“Is he serious?” Pol asked Abyssian, making me lift my brows. It’s not like they got on during the best of times.

“It appears so,” my brother said with a heavy sigh.

Pollux turned back toward me, his gaze nothing short of hawkish. How fitting. “She has to die for you to get your soul back. There’s no way around that. That’s why.”

I made another sound that I meant to be nonchalant, but it came out more as a growl. “That we know of. Maybe there is a way. It’s not like we’ve invested much time into finding one, and with the portal to Earth, now we can.”

He pressed his fists into his eyes, rubbing in frustration. “You don’t even know her, Caius. And she’s very obviously not all that keen on knowing you?—”

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