Page 70 of Saving Destiny

Garrett crouches in front of me and studies his brother with an unreadable expression. He must look strange curled up in my lap because he’s bigger than I am. Even though his position resembles a child’s, I can’t think of Bren as a child. I’m far too aware of his firm muscles and handsome face.

“Pheromone traps are spells that were outlawed over twenty years ago. They started all the rumors about the so-called love spells. The wearer chooses a target and the spell is supposed to make them irresistible to the person they pick. Just like the stories, they also make it hard for the affected person to think and react. Their target can’t do anything until it wears off. By then, they’re usually married or otherwise committed. Most don’t remember how they got into the situation. That’s why they’re called traps instead of enchantments or spells; they strip the target of their free will.”

My arms tighten around Bren as Garrett speaks. Righteous fury rises within me when I consider any of my guardians under someone else’s spell or anyone being robbed of their free will. “It’s like a love roofie,” I whisper.

“Roofie? Oh, you mean the drug that some magicless put in another’s drink. Yes, it’s actually a lot like that.” Garrett’s tone is thoughtful, and I wonder if he sees a connection.

“But it didn’t work on him, right?” I ask. Bren had seemed angry, not in love.

Garrett shakes his head. “He didn’t look fully under her spell, but he also didn’t seem capable of walking away. The traps are difficult to get, so that woman might have settled for something cheap or weak. A pheromone trap won’t work on someone who’s already mated, either. I don’t know if the trap was faulty or if Bren considers himself already mated to you, but it failed spectacularly. The woman thought it was working though. She probably mouthed off about anything and everyone thinking he wouldn’t remember. Bren’s magic will act defensively if he’s already agitated. I think that’s why he lost control.”

Wind whips loose strands of hair around my face and into my mouth and eyes. I try to shake it away without releasing Bren. Every time I loosen my arms, Bren’s body trembles and thunder cracks through the nearby clouds and lightning flashes seconds later. Some bouts of thunder are so intense that the building seems to shake. If I let go of him, the storm may take him over.

I don’t have time to consider whether I should ask the question on the tip of my tongue; it tumbles out anyway. “Did the spell affect you?” My words are almost lost in the wind, and a rumble of thunder vibrates through my body like the heavy bass of a song.

Garrett studies my face, and I wonder what he sees. He’s still the guardian I worry most about, even though Bren and I have spoken less. The younger brother and I seemed to click right away, and it helps that he hides nothing. I still have difficulty believing the handsome mage wouldclickwith someone like me, but I can’t judge a book by its cover. The connection between Bren and me has always felt natural. It’s less tense than the one between the shifter and me.

“No. I smelled the spell when she entered but didn’t know what it was. It caught my attention but not my interest. That woman represents everything I hate in females and she’s too much like the women Addington wanted for us. My beast scented her deception and wanted to rip her to shreds. He worried about his mate.”

I blink at him and my eyebrows rise with a question. “Your beast has a mate?”

Droplets of rain plink against the dome behind us. At first, it’s just a drizzle. I don’t mind, especially because the water seems to soothe Bren. He tilts his head up to the sky and lets the water run down his face without opening his eyes.

Rain and I have a complicated relationship. I enjoy listening to it fall on the city’s metal roofs and watching it stream down the glass windowpanes but only if I’m safely indoors. Navigating slick floors with my braces is dangerous, and I’ve fallen more than once because of slick floors. Once, in my wheelchair, I’d been unable to escape a downpour. It gathered under me, and I’d sat in a puddle until I reached the orphanage. My thighs and butt had borne a rash for days afterward.

“Yes, my beast has a mate,” Garrett replies drily, bringing my attention back to him.

“Then why are you here?” I attempt to hide my disappointment, but I doubt that I succeed. Is this the reason he’s distant with me? Did I destroy his chance for a destiny-offered match by binding him to the library? “I’m keeping your griffin from her. If I’d know, I never would have encouraged you to sign the book.”

Garrett stares blankly at me. His mouth opens and closes, and I wonder if he’s misunderstood me. The rain is louder now, but I don’t want to repeat myself. He runs his palm over his shorn head and droplets of water sluice off his hand. The rain falls harder. He’s soaked within seconds and his shirt clings to his well-defined muscles. I chastise myself for ogling another woman’s mate.

“It’s you, Zosia; your sphinx is my griffin’s mate.”

“What?” I gape and my body stiffens with shock. My sphinx … his griffin …?

“I thought you suspected already. That’s why I have so much difficulty seeing you with the other men. Shifters, especially alpha shifters, don’t share well but it’s especially hard when it’s their fated mate. My beast is coming to terms with the situation, but it’s against his nature.”

I’m suddenly grateful for the rain and the dark clouds because they cool my rush of embarrassment and hide the flush on my cheeks. “I had no idea. I know next to nothing about shifters…. Why didn’t you say anything?” I bite my lip before more questions tumble free, but they continue in my head. Is he okay with the arrangement? What if his beast wants something different from his human?

A sudden flash of lightning makes me jump. I don’t know if it’s due to the crack of electricity or my fingernails digging into his arm, but Bren’s eyes pop open. The bright blue and sizzling flashes of light have faded, returning them to his usual color – a pale green that reminds me of pastel painted eggs and seafoam instead of radioactive neon.

Chapter 36

Garrett

The look on Zosia’s face when I tell her she’s my mate is priceless but a little unbelievable. I was raised with overactive skepticism, but how is she so intelligent and utterly clueless? The other guardians guessed, except Kodi who lost a few brain cells when he died. I understand that she was raised with the magicless and her insecurities sometimes override her common sense, but I’m still shocked.

My brother snaps out of his fugue before I can answer the curious kitten’s questions. Knowing her, she probably has more to ask.

The heavens respond the second Bren opens his eyes. The patter of rain turns into a torrent. It falls so swift and hard that it forms a curtain between us, even though we’re inches apart. I’ve always wondered whether my brother’s magic influenced the weather, but I couldn’t find any way to prove or disprove my theories. Our tutors acted like they couldn’t hear me when I asked the questions, and their behavior warned me not to push the issue. Now that I have access to the library, I might solve the mystery.

Forces of nature are unstoppable. Once the components that initiate tornadoes, hurricanes, and thunderstorms begin, almost nothing stops them. Bren’s magical outbursts are similar, and I’m grateful that this appears to be a normal storm and not something worse.

Watching the sphinx hold my brother like a child is endearing, but it’s also a reminder that he’s touching her and I’m not. Even the ghost, who shouldn’t be able to touch her, has gotten farther and seen more of her body than me. I’ve only managed to snatch a few kisses, but that was days ago. My jaw clenches as I remind my alpha beast that it isn’t a competition.

Bren blinks slowly as awareness returns. Water clings to his eyelashes, and I’m certain we’re all thoroughly soaked now. “What happened?” The slight slur in my brother’s question is almost lost in the deafening sounds of the storm.

I share a worried glance with Zosia and pray that he just needs a minute to remember. If not, it means the pheromone trap affected him more than we thought. If Bren starts pining after a bottle-blonde wearing so much makeup she could single-handedly supply a cosmetics store, someone will die.

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