Part 3 (1/2)
”I told you I had to work that convention,” Sydney had said, clearly affronted. ”And besides, you weren't even home when I got up this morning.” She had narrowed her eyes at that point. ”Where were you, anyway?”
Gavin had been amused when William's ears turned red and he became unnecessarily fascinated with the pattern on the curtains on the other side of the room. He had been impressed despite himself when Sydney finally wheedled the truth out of the less-than-forthcoming Fate.
”The karaoke bar? You went home with some random guy you picked up at the karaoke bar? And spent the night?” She had been utterly indignant.
Gavin had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing out loud.
”He wasn't random. It was Mitch.” His voice had softened when he said the name. Even Gavin had recognized the signs of an unrequited crush.
”Oh, William,” Sydney had said at that point, s.h.i.+fting so she sat more closely to him. She slid one hand under both of his and stroked the top one with her other hand. ”Not Mitch. You know how he is. He'll never commit to a relations.h.i.+p. Why do you torture yourself so?”
”I didn't know Fates were interested in relations.h.i.+ps,” Gavin had commented at that point. His input had been rewarded with cold looks from both Sydney and William.
”Of course we're interested in relations.h.i.+ps. Everyone wants to feel loved. It's just extremely difficult for a Fate to find. Most of our a.s.sociation is with our charges and humans, and humans of course do not understand our world. Besides, they all live such short lives. It's so hard when it's time to let them go.”
This distracted Sydney from William's transgressions the night before. She seemed to comprehend for the first time that William believed the same thing Gavin did, or at least, that William believed he also was not human.
”You are too human,” Sydney had insisted. ”And so am I.” She had stolen a glance at Gavin, who lounged in the plush, taupe chair, with his feet also propped on the coffee table. ”Him, I'm not so sure about.”
Gavin had lifted an eyebrow in polite disbelief. ”You can't believe you and William are not human, yet you're convinced I'm not?”
Sydney had shaken her head. ”You were obviously sent from h.e.l.l. To torture me for some past transgression. I'm not sure what it was I did to deserve this, but I swear, whatever it was, I'll never do it again.”
It had taken him several heartbeats to realize she was speaking tongue-in-cheek. He had scowled at that point, and coolly suggested William had best explain, before Gavin simply carted her into a back room and showed her just how not-human he was.
The Fate had obviously dealt with his fair share of Rakshasa, because he immediately launched into a stilted tale of how Sydney's great-great-great-grandmother had once been a Chala, but she had never actually mated with a s.h.i.+fter as she was supposed to and blah, blah, blah.
Gavin dozed off at some point during the explanation, which took an exceptionally long time because Sydney was determined not to believe any of it. He was jolted awake by the sound of her gently sobbing onto William's shoulder as he held her in his arms and patted her back, murmuring rea.s.suring words. Gavin felt an unnatural urge to tug her from William's arms and offer his own comfort. He decided it was because she was a Chala, and he had been the one to claim her. She was his to comfort. Why was the d.a.m.ned Fate still there anyway?
”Why haven't you left?”
William gave him a dirty look. Sydney pushed herself away from his chest and sat up, wiping her tearstained cheeks with the back of her hand. A tissue appeared in William's hand and he offered it to her. She used it to mop her face and blow her nose.
”Why is he asking you that?” she wanted to know.
”Because you're mine to protect now, not his. A Fate is only a.s.signed to a Chala long enough for her to find a mate. I'm your mate, so why is he still here?”
”Is that true?” she asked William, followed immediately with, ”How did you get to be my, er, Fate, anyway?”
The smile William offered was genuine. ”I was the luckiest of all the Fates.”
Sydney's lips twitched, and Gavin felt an interesting sense of relief that she was no longer outright crying.
”So you're not human. Were you ever?”
Gavin watched as a nostalgic look washed over the Fate's features.
”Yes. A very long time ago. During a time when men of my persuasion did not garner much respect.”
”What? Like yesterday?” Gavin interjected.
William glared. ”You happen to be one of those people who doesn't respect my s.e.xual persuasion.”
Gavin shrugged. ”I don't give a s.h.i.+t what you do, or who you do it with. All I care about is who she's sleeping with.” He stabbed his finger in Sydney's direction.
Sydney threw him a nasty look before turning her focus to William. ”How did you become a Fate?”
”The decision is pre-determined, practically from birth. Only those who have the utmost respect for humanity, who believe unfailingly in the good of others, are selected. Well, were. It's been quite a long time since a Fate has been created. Our purpose in this world is to protect the Chala, and as all of us here are aware, there aren't many job openings these days.”
Gavin growled when the man glanced in his direction.
”So is what he said true?” Sydney wanted to know. ”You'll leave when I find my, er, mate?”
The look on her face caused a stab of guilt to slice through Gavin. d.a.m.n it, this wasn't his fault. It was the way of their world.
William sighed heavily. ”Normally, yes. But your circ.u.mstances are different . . .” He lifted his gaze to glare at Gavin. ”Although it is entirely possible that you and this cursed Rakshasa are not truly mated.”
”That's a relief,” Sydney muttered.
Gavin threw her a dark look and said, ”Not likely. I tasted your blood. You are a Chala. The other option was for me to eat you. Since I didn't do that, we're obviously mated.”
Once again, she looked to William for confirmation.
”Well, normally Rakshasa do eat Chala, if they come across one,” he admitted. ”Or at least kill them. The last thing they want is for the world to become populated with more Light Ones.”
”Maybe I'm not really a Chala,” Sydney said, a twinge of hopefulness in her voice. ”You said I wasn't born the normal way. Maybe I'm . . . I don't know. Some kind of anomaly.”
Gavin supposed he ought to be glad she had moved from a.s.suming she was human to believing she was an anomaly. But by that point, he was tired and irritated by how exceptionally long it had taken for her to come to such a conclusion. And she still had yet to accept the fact that she was his mate.
”You aren't a b.l.o.o.d.y anomaly,” he snapped, just as William said, ”Actually, you are an anomaly.” Gavin scowled. William ignored him.
”First of all, cursed or not, you should not be attracted to him,” William said, jabbing his finger at Gavin.
”I'm not,” Sydney said, even as her cheeks heated.
Gavin's grin was lecherous.
”And secondly, if a cursed Rakshasa feels the urge to mate with a Chala, then Prim was a far more impressive Fate than even I gave her credit for.”
”You have no f.u.c.king idea,” Gavin growled, as he thrust himself from the chair and began prowling the room like a caged animal.
”Why don't you enlighten us?” William said. When Gavin didn't speak, William slyly suggested he might actually believe Gavin's claim if he explained how he came upon his curse in the first place.
He snagged his gla.s.s of wine from the coffee table and drained it before resuming his prowling. ”I was the leader of the North American Rakshasa pack, for a time,” he finally admitted. He stole a quick glance at his audience. Sydney looked horrified, which was annoying since she did not even truly comprehend how bad that really was. William looked oddly sympathetic.
”We pillaged unchecked for almost a century. I've killed countless Chala in my time. Your Fate said it earlier and he's right. I singlehandedly managed to nearly decimate the population.” Why he admitted this to the Chala who was meant to be his mate, he had no idea. He glanced at the wine and wondered if William had added a truth-telling potion to his gla.s.s. He wouldn't put it past the Fate.