Page 16 of Aries Mated

A knot twisted in the pit of my stomach as I thought about all the guys standing beside her. I hated it. It was too much for me to stomach. The image of my guys marrying someone so stunning replaced the images I had of them. TJ and me in the kitchen, Kai when he was holding Sol and caring for him like he was his own child, Atlas when our eyes met over the robber and we realized that we knew one another, and Matt and me as our hands brushed against one another’s in the kitchen over the dessert plates. There was some serious electricity there. My heart burned and I was consumed with butterflies. I knew then I could have fallen at his feet if I wanted to. If I had allowed myself to.

But I hadn’t allowed myself to fall for a very long time, and that was because I needed to protect my own heart. Pi broke my heart, not because he intended to, obviously, but the whole situation shattered me. I was absolutely terrified to put my heart on the line again. I couldn’t stand the idea of being broken like that again. Sol didn’t deserve a mother who was broken again, especially when he was older now and needed so much more from me. I had to be so freaking careful all the time. I didn’t understand people who could so easily put their hearts on the line all the time. My walls were still up so high I wasn’t sure anyone could get over them. Although the guys had gotten closer than anyone else had ever even attempted to.

I snapped back to action the moment I heard the Bear King announce, “Let the games begin.” I thought there was going to be some kind of speech. Unless I daydreamed and missed it all. Shit, I really needed to stop letting my mind wonder so much.

The bell that followed was a loud one. But not as loud as the frenzy that overtook the arena. Almost immediately everyone in the crowd shot to their feet to try to keep tabs on the game. The singing and yelling from before rose up again. Luckily, because of where Sol, Viola, and I were seated, we didn’t need to stand to see. Not that I could fully understand what was going on. The competitors were leaping and bounding around the arena, some of them seemed to be chasing one another. I wanted to ask Sol what the hell was going on, but I got the impression he was too fixated on the action to answer any of my questions right now. Instead, I tried to locate all the men to see how they were doing.

I spotted Atlas first, passing Drew, practically jumping over his head, to get to the top first. That had to be a good thing, right? Maybe I would know if I understood the rules of the game. TJ wasn’t far from Kai. There was no real indication that they were working together, but I had a feeling they were going to be looking out for one another. It was nice to know that they at least had one another. It took me a little bit longer to find Matt. He really was doing well, as Sol had predicted. I was impressed with him.

Oh my God, was Matt going to win? My heart was pounding with excitement as I watched him get higher and higher up. I was rooting for him, wanting him to win. But I wasn’t thinking about the prize at the moment. I wasn’t thinking about Princess Azariyah being Matt’s wife. I was just hoping for his success. Maybe he was so chill that he didn’t necessarily seem like he needed it, but my chest tightened on his behalf anyway. This was more exciting than I thought it could possibly be.

My cell phone ringing stole my attention from the game. I grabbed it from my purse and looked at the number on the screen. It was Officer Tex, who I could only assume was contacting me about my business. This was a phone call that I needed to take because it had to do with Pleasures. I hated to put work first when I was in the middle of an experience with my son, but it would only take me a second if I went somewhere quieter so I could hear what Tex had to say.

“Viola,” I hissed, because I already knew that I wouldn’t be able to get through to Sol. “I need to take a call. Are you okay?”

She nodded enthusiastically. I could tell she was fully into the Astro Games, just like everyone else, which was hardly a surprise because it was absolutely fascinating. I was the only one who had been on the outside looking in.

Once I knew everyone was going to be alright for a moment, I snuck out of my seat and weaved my way through the crowd. I answered the phone, but I couldn’t hear a word Tex was saying. I hoped he could hear me saying that I would move somewhere quieter.

“I should be able to hear you now,” I said with my finger in my other ear to drown out the rest of the noise. Not that I could pick up much.

“…case closed… suspect charged… guilty plea.”

It all sounded very positive, but it wasn’t much for me to go on. At least it seemed like the whole burglary debacle was over and done with. I didn’t need to worry about that anymore. One thing I could check off my list of life drama. Especially if there was a guilty plea.

“That’s great, it…” My words trailed off as my spine steeled. I was still in the shadows, so no one could see me, but I could see someone in front of me. Someone who had a vested interest in the Astro Games and who should really should be in the arena watching the games unfold.Sly. What the hell was hr doing out here instead of watching his son in his parkour challenge? But he wasn’t alone. My heart raced as I took a tentative step forward to see who Sly was meeting with. I really didn’t want to be spotted, but curiosity got the better of me. I couldn’t help myself, I wanted to know exactly what was going on. Maybe it was just nosiness, but maybe it was some kind of gut instinct.

Princess Azariyah. Why was she the one with him? Why was she sharing a hushed conversation with the man who wanted to overthrow the Zodiac Empire? That didn’t make any sense at all. If it was Jason with Princess Azariyah, I would understand, since there seemed to be some secret love affair there, but this was just weird.

I froze when Sly grabbed Azariyah’s hand and tugged her to him hard. My thoughts spun as he pressed some kind of cloth against her mouth and in seconds she looked to be unconscious. All I wanted to do was help, but I couldn’t make my body move. It was almost as if I was watching a movie and I couldn’t do a damn thing to help the characters on the screen, even though I really wanted to. Shit, something really terrible was happening and I was too scared to do anything. Sly had the princess, and I had no idea what that twisted mind wanted to do with her. I screamed at myself, begging my body to move, to just do something already, but I remained where I was in absolute horror.

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