Page 22 of Monster's Mistake

“I’m glad you like it. I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do on a date.”

“Haven’t you been on one before?”

“Well, yes. But never the first date with my fated mate.”

“So no pressure, then,” I murmur.

He clears his throat. “I’m sorry, I don’t want that for you.”

“It’s fine, Meic,” I assure him. “It’s a lot, but that doesn’t change whether it’s true or not.”

“I guess.” Something about his expression suggests that he’s more nervous about the situation than I am. Which I suppose makes sense if what Anja said is true. I’m able to turn down the fated mate bond, and he’s totally dependent on me accepting it.

“Do you know anything about the stars?” I ask, deciding that the best course of action is to change the subject. I don’t want him to be uncomfortable with the talk of fated mates until we’re more certain about what this actually is.

“Absolutely nothing. I should have takenAstronomy, but I never thought to,” he responds. “You?”

“Not really,” I admit. “I like looking at them, but I know nothing about them.”

“Didn’t you takeAstronomy?”

“No. I had too many other classes I wanted to take, so I wasn’t able to. I don’t really mind. I like looking at the stars without knowing anything about them. It feels like I can enjoy the stories about the stars more.”

“Like?”

I get up and head over to the window. “Have you heard the one about the gorgon?”

“No.” Meic shifts and gets up to come stand beside me. He hesitates for a moment, but I don’t really know why.

“The legend goes that there was a gorgon who refused to turn anyone into stone...”

“That doesn’t sound that unreasonable. You haven’t turned anyone to stone.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Haven’t I?”

He opens his mouth to respond then shuts it again. “All right, I actually don’t know that.”

“I did once,” I respond. “When I was eight.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t imagine that was very fun.”

“It wasn’t. I vowed never to do it again.”

“Is it that easy to control?” he asks.

“Yes and no.” I take a deep breath. “Do you mind if we don’t talk about this now? It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, I’m just not ready yet.”

“Of course.” From his voice, I can tell he’s a little disappointed, but I can’t find the words to explain exactly how it works. And while I know he’s certain about us being fated mates, and I feel it too, but it’s too early for us to be sharing secrets like that.

If this all goes well, then I’m sure we’ll get to that point. We’ll have to, because there’s no way that we’re going to be able to do certain things if he doesn’t know the risks that come with gorgons.

“What happened to the gorgon who didn’t want to turn into stone?” he prompts, making me realise I’ve been quiet for a while.

“Someone tried to force her. When she wouldn’t, she was hurt badly enough that she was going to die. She prayed to a snake goddess in her last moments and the goddess intervened. She couldn’t save the gorgon, but she made her into a constellation so that she could watch over others and stop them from ending with the same fate.”

“That’s sad,” Meic says.

“And beautiful. I looked at her a lot when I was a child and felt like being a gorgon was the worst thing in the world. She made me feel less alone.” I let out a sigh. “Do you have any ghoul stories about the stars?”

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