Page 58 of Secret Twins for the Orc

“Which ones are yours?”

I startle slightly and turn to the woman who has casually seated herself beside me on my bench. I presume she’s the wolf-boy’s mother, as she holds a take-away coffee cup in her furred hand and offers me a small smile. Her face, too, is furred with soft gray down that sweep gracefully up to her triangle ears, although her face shape is fully human, and her eyes are bright blue.

“The two little green ones,” I reply with a return smile, shaking myself out of my thoughts. “I’m presuming the little howler is yours?”

The only other kids here are one human-looking boy digging seriously with a shovel, and a set of identical triplets with horns and tails that their parents are packing into a stroller as we speak, so I feel pretty confident in my guess.

The woman grins, showing two long, sharp looking canines. “You’ve presumed correctly. Are yours twins? They look about the same age.”

“Yep!” I say with a big grin of my own. “Twins. Eighteen months.”

She smiles and salutes me with her cup. “I’m Liv, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

We fall into idle chatter for a few minutes, and it’s all rather lovely until out of the blue, without any warning whatsoever and with no lead up at all, I suddenly blurt out, “What’s a heartstring?” while she’s in the middle of telling me about her morning.

She blinks at me, her mouth still half-open in speech, before her eyes suddenly light up. “Oh, my goodness! Have you found your Fated One? Aww, I love that for you so much.” Her hands clasp together, and she rests her chin on her coffee cup, but then her brows furrow. “Although, that normally happens right when you meet someone and not months after babies are born…”

And then, belatedly, I remember how gossipy this town is and I stifle a wince. Great going, Ella.

“Uh, no, it’s not…” I mutter, trying to go for a save. “My sister wants to know, and I’m human and I’ve never heard of it before, so…”

Nice one. Real smooth.

Liv gives me a considering look, but since I’m clearly presenting her with an awkward situation, she chooses not to comment on it and instead leans in towards me.

“Well, since your sister’s asking…” I’m annoyed that her expression looks very much like she doesn’t believe my dumb lie, but I don’t say anything in favor of listening to her explanation. “A heartstring is something that we all have within us, tying us to our fate in life, to our magic, to our life force. When we die, the divine Fates cut that heartstring, and our soul untethers from our body and moves to the next life.”

I absorb this, finding it somehow beautiful as a concept.

“But the heartstring is just sort of there. There isn’t much need to consider it unless you’re passing from this earth, or if the Fates have deemed you worthy of finding your Fated Mate. And when you find such a person, you’re heartstring will tug you towards them with such a force, that no-one can resist it.”

“But what if it’s not a good idea?” I murmur breathlessly, biting my lip and feeling my eyes go wide as I stare at her. “What if your Fated Mate isn’t a good match for you? What can you do then, if it’s not right?”

Live gives me another long, considering look.

“My…sister’s writing an article,” I say abruptly, leaning back and trying to school my features into neutrality. “She’d like details, if you have any.”

“Well,” Liv says slowly, “that isn’t really possible. Not unless you think the all-divine, omnipotent powers that rule the universe could make a mistake. The fact of the matter is that a Fated Match is the most perfect possible match in creation. It’s pretty rare, but when it does happen, once together, the couple never parts. Not even in death.”

A shiver races down my spine, and I look down at my fingers, which are now clasped together tightly in my lap. “Right,” I say quietly.

I fall into my thoughts for a few moments, not even really understanding what’s going through my mind, just feeling it buzzing nervously as I absorb the information.

But then suddenly Liv jumps up with a shout, her ears twitching towards the tree line, and I startle.

“Tori, no!” she cries, and races off, dropping her coffee cup without a thought. My gaze follows as she runs towards the forest near us and scoops up her furry little toddler, who was making his way into the shadowed tree line on his own.

I notice then, that the play area is cleared. All the other parents seem to have left, besides me and Liv, and their children, too. The play area is empty.

The…The play area is empty.

My heart goes cold, as a chilling fear shoots through my body, and I leap to my feet as well.

Where are my babies?

Chapter 21

Rhokar

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