Page 7 of Unforgivable Fate

“I’m not who you think I am.” He repeated but her heart was already sinking because that wasn’t entirely true.

Based on what she was feeling, based on what Leo had said, based on her gut instinct, he was exactly who she thought he was. He might not be Maddox Clary but he was her fated mate. He was her other half, the one person in the world that could make her whole.

And he had the face of the devil that had killed half her family and tortured the rest.

Fate had an awful fucking sense of humor, Nova thought, just before she fainted.

When Nova woke it was with a slow and dawning horror that what had happened wasn’t a dream. She wasn’t entirely sure how long she’d been out for, but she guessed it couldn’t have been too awfully long because sunlight was streaming through the curtains. She winced at the sound of voices nearby but didn’t move, instead taking a moment to survey her surroundings and listen in while they thought she was still unconscious.

She recognized the couch she was lying on. The room around her familiar, though not her own living room. She wasn’t surprised that they hadn’t carried her home but instead to Leo’s house. It had the benefit of not only being closer but it also meant they’d adhered to her wishes that nobody was allowed to invade the private sanctuary of her home. It had been the first boundary she put in place when she’d moved back to Crescent territory and her brothers had always abided by it, apparently even when she was unconscious which was reassuring even if the reminder of why she’d fainted and needed to be carried anywhere was the opposite of reassuring.

It hadn’t been a nightmare. She had been awake before and she was awake now. This was really happening and she knew it was real because even without looking she knew that he wasn’t in the house, that he wasn’t nearby, and the magical forces inside her body were urging her to go after him, to find him and be closer to him, even as her brain screamed at her to run as far and as fast as she could.

“You’re awake.”

It was Darius coming back into the room that forced her to give up the pretense of unconsciousness and push up to a sitting position. He glanced over his shoulder, back towards the kitchen, and she knew that her brother would be coming around the corner any second. When he almost immediately turned the corner, nearly running into his husband, and then sidestepping him to rush to her side and offer the cup of tea he was holding, she almost, almost, felt like smiling.

She didn’t need a vision to know that Leo was as upset with this turn of events as she was.

“I made you some of Mom’s special tea. Drink this.” He forced it into her hands and she took it instinctively.

“Mom’s calming tea?” She closed her eyes and smiled at the familiar scent before opening her eyes and glancing back up to where Darius still stood, “Please tell me you also made him drink a cup of this stuff.”

“One hundred percent.” Darius offered a soft smile as he moved into the room, taking the chair opposite the couch, “Not that it seems to have helped. He’s been going out of his mind worrying about you.” Darius pinned her with his intense stare, “We both have.”

“We didn’t know.” Leo rushed in. “I didn’t know. If I had even thought there was a possibility that he… that you…” Leo groaned, shaking his head as if the whole concept gave him a migraine, “I never should have agreed to let him come here.”

“Of course you didn’t know.” Nova reached out and touched his knee with her free hand, “How could you? It’s not as if you have the gift of foresight and mine hasn’t exactly been stellar lately.”

“I know.” Leo put his hand over hers, “But I’m still so, so sorry that you were ambushed like that. It isn’t at all how I intended to tell you he was here and I…”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s really not.”

Nova sighed, “No. It’s not. But it isn’t your fault and you don’t have anything to be sorry for. The fates on the other hand…”

“About that.” Darius cleared his throat when she trailed off. “We were talking while you were out and we think we may have figured out why your visions have been off lately.”

“He figured it out.” Leo cast his husband a knowing smile, “He just doesn’t want credit.”

“We…” Darius continued, turning his attention back to Nova, “We think that he’s the reason your visions have gone dark when it comes to the family.”

Nova bit her lip and stared into her cup of tea for a long time. It made sense. Of course it made sense. She’d been considering it earlier after talking to Maya, and Zander suggested something similar? She just hadn’t realized they were right. Not until it was too late.

She had never been able to see her own future. It was part of the gift, a blind-spot. Her mate’s future was so intrinsically tied to her own that it only made sense that he would be a blind-spot too. His sudden appearance here, in Crescent territory, where his lifeline would twine together with those of her family and pack explained her sudden lack of foresight. And damn if that wasn’t the most annoying part because if she’d been able to see him coming she would have run the other way.

“Maya actually mentioned something along the same lines when I was with her earlier today.” She admitted.

“Damn. She’ll be unbearable about being right, you know that?” Leo huffed, playfully nudging her shoulder and then pointing to the tea. “Now, drink.”

She did as she was told. The herbal tea was one of the strongest memories she had of her mother. She’d only been a child but she could remember her mother writing the recipe down in careful, neat script as clear as a bell. She’d intended to pass the book down to Luna on the day she was married but she never got that chance. Nova realized now that it must have been left behind in the old house and Leo had been the one to find it and keep it safe all these years.

The warm tea soothed her throat and after a couple of sips she sighed, “Wh-where is he?”

Leo and Darius exchanged a look that told her she wasn’t going to like the answer.

Her brother cleared his throat, “He went back to his hotel to collect his things.”

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