Page 15 of Beyond Fate

Casimir smiled. This was the man Jaytee had described. This was the man before the ancient sleep. Even if it was only a glimpse of Damon’s former self, he would take it.

“I wouldn’t have anywhere to put a memento, anyway,” Casimir answered honestly.

“You don’t have a home?” Damon sounded confused.

Taking a deep breath, Casimir looked at his mate, stunned to see the soft look in his eyes. “It’s hard to have one when you’re being hunted and have to constantly keep moving.”

Which made him wonder how Elouan knew where to find him. Casimir had stayed at the Frost home since being in Midnight Falls. Aside from those who lived there, he’d kept his presence hidden.

“Jesus.” Damon ran a hand over his long, thick beard. “We really do need to get to know each other.”

“What happened in the underworld. You seem…” Casimir was too afraid to say anything for fear Damon’s hostility would return. He liked being with this version of his mate much better.

“I was on a lift getting my engine rearranged.” Damon seemed to have turned melancholy, but Casimir could also sense rage simmering just below the surface. His arms ached to pull his mate to him and offer him comfort. It had killed him to see Damon struggling over the past week knowing there was nothing he could do, because his mate wanted nothing to do with him.

“You were at a mechanic shop?” Casimir frowned. “I thought you said you were in the underworld.”

He startled when Damon burst into laughter, and he wasn’t someone easily frightened. He’d just never heard the wolf’s boisterous laugh before.

“Sorry.” Damon held up a hand. “It just feels good to laugh again.”

“Don’t apologize.” Casimir tore his gaze away from his mate. “It’s a beautiful sound.”

“I can’t wait to hear yours,” Damon said softly. “I bet it’s rich and deep, just like your voice.”

Despite his despair, Casimir smiled. “Are you going to clear up my confusion?”

“Mechanic shop.” Damon rolled his eyes with a grin. “The keeper put a lot of Humpty Dumpty back together again, but I still have huge cracks.”

“Damon.” Casimir pressed his fingers over his eyelids. “I don’t... Please tell me what the keeper did to you.”

“He fixed most of me.” Damon’s jaw turned granite. “But it was Panahasi who broke me in the first place.” He shot off the rock shelf and walked to the edge, gazing at the forest below. “He’s the one who sealed our fucking bond,” he snarled.

Chapter Five

Damon was still trying to process everything the keeper had explained to him when he’d woken in that eerie room. For a brief moment after his eyes opened, Damon actually thought he’d died and was in hell, though he was pretty sure he hadn’t done anything in his life to deserve eternal damnation.

But he had felt all those trapped souls trying to get to him so they could possess him. The sensation had been like a constant tremor against his skin, like a dark energy tapping along the exterior chambers walls trying to find a weak spot to enter.

It had been the strangest and worst feeling he’d ever experienced. Although the keeper had assured him the souls couldn’t get into the room, Damon still spent the entire time praying it was true.

Then the keeper had conjured a cold drink for Damon’s parched throat before he sat there on the couch next to him to explain why he’d been so aggressive and what exactly was done to him.

During their conversation, Damon had been a little bewildered about something called the mayotenz but was able to understand the gist of what the keeper was saying. The Ultionem had been trying to get him out of that sleep Vicino had placed him in.

Damon remembered that single chilling word the vampire creature had whispered to him. Sleep. The word sleep should not send chills down anyone’s spine. Never in his life did he want to hear anyone say it to him again.

It was hard to wig Damon out, but he was wigged.

Then Panahasi had left the underworld, confusing Damon at his abrupt departure.

“Your mate’s blood had no bearing on your sealed bond,” the keeper explained. A stone settled in Damon’s stomach. He knew he wasn’t going to like what was coming next. “Panahasi is Life, embodying all living beings. Because your mate was present at the time, and you were unclaimed, when he contributed his blood to the spell, the mayotenz sealed your bond with your fae.”

“Did he know this would happen?” Damon asked angrily.

“Yes and no,” the keeper replied with sorrow in his eyes. “It has been over a few millennia since he’s performed the spell, and some things slipped his mind.”

Damon shot off the couch. “Slipped his mind? It wasn’t like I was dying. He could have brushed up on the spell before he rained hell down on me! Before he ripped away something I’ve been waiting my entire life to share with my mate when I found him!”

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