24. Samuel

Chapter 24

Samuel

" C an a mortal use an angel glyph?" Samuel pressed his thumb to the silver on his index finger, trying not to jump to conclusions.

"Depends on the mortal, I guess. Some use demon glyphs just fine. There are witches with wild magic who can use fae glyphs as well. It really just depends on how much power your body can withstand. It's just like magic. If you use too much, you'll burn up from the inside out."

The witch looked unbothered, but the way she was staring at nothing warned him she wasn't as nonchalant as she sounded. Something about that woman scared Morgan, and he didn't like what that meant.

Somehow, this mate of his was even more chaotic and unpredictable than he'd originally thought, and that was saying something after what he'd seen.

"What else did she tell you?" Morgan asked, her eyes on the floor like she might just get lost in a vision any minute now.

"Everything and nothing," Samuel muttered, letting his gaze wander to the glass wall behind the witch and the raven to the greenhouse beyond. "She said she lived in an eyrie before, but her eyes glow gold, not red."

If he looked at the assassin, he might just tear her throat out for being so incredibly unhelpful.

"What else?" Morgan pushed, spinning the ring on her thumb faster and faster.

"She talks like the fae," he admitted, watching as the automatic watering system in the greenhouse turned on. "Has a thing for names, which you already saw. When I asked her about the scars, she explained how the runes and glyphs help her body remember things she can't – that she hides secrets in her skin so he couldn't take those too."

That silver spun so quickly on Morgan's thumb even Valentina eyed the witch warily.

"Who is he , Samuel?"

"Gabriel, the angel."

Silver stopped spinning and it was as though the universe itself was holding its breath, just like it had in the clearing earlier.

Was he going to have to make sure she didn't do anything psycho again? Fuck, he hated these visions of hers almost as much as she did, but it wasn't like either of them could keep it from happening.

"The archangel?" Morgan clarified, her eyes starting to glow pink.

"I assume so since she insisted he wasn't fae, but an angel." Samuel flicked his gaze to the raven, who was watching the witch just as closely as he was. "That's who took her memories, her scent, her fur, her name – at least that's what she keeps saying. Vix repeats things a lot, almost like…"

He didn't know what it was like honestly, but it was unsettling.

Morgan finally looked at him, and it made his stomach drop to see how that power burned through her mortal body so ruthlessly. "What kind of shifter is she?"

"I don't know. Mylo says she can't shift, and she's only ever said she's a raven."

"Did she say what collective?" Valentina asked, tapping into her phone again.

"I didn't fucking ask," Samuel snapped. He was at the end of his patience with these two. "I was a little busy making sure Mylo didn't rip her apart after she made him purr, for fuck's sake. Mylo has never purred. Not once in the last seven years. He's never wanted to touch anyone, and yet he's up there right now, fucking her without a single sound of bones breaking or flesh tearing. If Rune wasn't up there too…"

He bit his tongue when Morgan grimaced and looked away, clearly disgusted by the whole idea of fucking when dicks were involved. He needed to change the subject before it became disgustingly clear how jealous he was anyway.

"Rune is worried about the fact that Vix believes Gabriel will eventually come looking for her, not that we brought home a raven assassin with golden eyes who hunts angels because of some personal vendetta."

"Your enforcer is right," Valentina muttered, still not looking up from her phone.

Morgan studied the raven for a moment and then refocused on Samuel. "Gabriel took her memories?"

"Apparently." He studied the glowing pink of Morgan's eyes and wondered if she could see an angel's future. "Vix said she spent a long time with Gabriel, that it had felt like centuries with him, and I can only assume she's talking about living in the heavenly realm. Then one day he left her here and took all her memories. She doesn't know why."

What was he going to do with these two? Was it a mistake to let them stay like Mylo had said?

"I could try to take a look," Morgan offered, back to spinning the ring on her thumb. "I doubt I'll be able to see anything though, and even if I can, I'm not able to undo what an angel has done to the mind, but I do know someone who can."

For the first time, it felt like they were making headway.

"Could you reach out to them?" he asked, wondering if the raven would be able to see what Morgan couldn't. Even if she could, he doubted she would help him unless Morgan asked. "Maybe she'd let Valentina have a look since they're both…ravens."

"Depends on her collective," Valentina stated, setting her phone down for the first time. "If she allows me to, then perhaps. I don't know her though, and we may be from opposing collectives. I don't know every raven in existence, but I would have heard something about a golden-eyed raven if there was one."

So, she was willing to share now?

He decided not to question it when it didn't really matter as long as he got what he needed. There was no scent of a lie either, which was progress.

"If I haven't heard of one, that means she's from a collective I'm not familiar with," Valentina explained. The raven raised an eyebrow, as if daring him to ask for more details.

But what else could he ask her? It wasn't like he knew where the fuck Vix was from or if she was even still with that eyrie.

"She's a witch too," Samuel reminded them. "Not just a shifter."

"Which means I definitely would have heard of a raven witch, and I haven't. Do with that what you will." Valentina picked her phone back up and started playing Candy Crash of all things.

"You're sure she's our mate?" he asked, refocusing on Morgan, who was watching him way too closely. "I can't scent her at all."

"I'm sure," the witch insisted. "Do you not like her?"

Why did it sound like she hoped he wouldn't?

"It's getting late, Morgan, and you look tired. You should get some more sleep." He pushed off the table and headed for the door, contemplating which room he'd sleep in.

There was no way he could sleep upstairs if he wanted to keep his dick in his pants. He could sleep on the couch in his office. It would still have lingering traces of Mylo, and Rune's scents unlike the guest rooms.

"Alpha?"

He bit back a sigh and glanced back to see her chewing on her lip. "What is it, witchling?"

"Are you going to claim her?"

If she was asking that, it meant she could see more than one possible future for him.

"I don't know." He shrugged a shoulder and tried not to think about how he'd manage a mate like her with all his current responsibilities. "If Mylo and Rune want to claim her, I will."

"But not because you want to?"

He narrowed his eyes, wondering what she was seeing to make her push for an answer. "Does it matter?"

"Yes, it does."

Morgan stopped chewing on her lip when Valentina reached over and yanked it out of her mouth without looking away from her game. He had to admit, it was kind of adorable to watch them together.

"Why does it matter?" he asked, doing his damnedest not to sound pissed off, but the way the raven looked up at him made it obvious he wasn't doing a very good job of it.

"I don't know yet, but it does." The witch sighed. "I don't see any angels in your future, but I see a lot of ice and snow regardless of which path you choose. You need to know…in every future…if she leaves, Rune will go with her."

Great.

Samuel decided not to say anything. It was safer that way. "Get some sleep, you two. We'll talk about a contract tomorrow, Valentina."

He was fucking exhausted, which meant it was harder to control his temper and that never ended well. Discussing a contract with the raven when he was still annoyed with her wasn't a good idea.

It certainly didn't help that his dick was still hard as a fucking rock either.

What exactly had he done to make Fate hate him so much? If he hadn't found his mate, he would have lost Rune. Now that he had her, there was still a good chance he'd lose him. It didn't seem to matter that they were tigers and could only mate in a triad.

He had an uneasy feeling that wouldn't apply to this situation even if he had no fucking idea why.

Not even a child of fate could see into Vix's mind – it was like she didn't exist at all, and Samuel couldn't help wondering if it was because of that bastard.

If he had her true name, he owned her. She was Gabriel's, and therefore a child of heaven.

Was she even alive? If she wasn't, that would explain why the Fates couldn't see her, why Morgan couldn't see her.

Even vampires had a future though, and they were technically undead. She did have some attributes of the vampires, but it was too different – too wild.

If anything…

She reminded him of the fae. A wild, untamed creature who was impossible to predict. Her chaos was rather contained when she wasn't hunting, but it was manifesting in other ways now…ways that had him heading to the mudroom where he could take an ice-cold shower.

Vix might remind him of the fae, but she definitely wasn't one. She wasn't demi-fae either.

So, what the fuck was she?