Chapter 2

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Let the games begin.

Zahra : Hi, this is Zahra.

Zahra : I just got back from dinner with Alana, and she gave me your number.

Zahra : I'm ready to make our deal. Let's not waste time.

Xios : On my way, snowflake.

I've barely left the separate garage where I keep my bikes when he responds. Heck, I haven't even put my phone back in my pocket, taken my jacket off, or gathered my senses after the drive.

The entire trip back, with wind beating against my visor and moonlight washing over the road, the only words in my skull were a reverberating, thundering, screaming Alexios is your soulmate.

I have a soulmate.

Unzipping my jacket, I face the sky, brush my fingers over the cropped, moss-green half of my head, and have myself a little mental chat with God.

Because what the swear words ?

Evening, Sir. Your child here, and she's swearing. She's swearing so she won't cry.

Please bear with me, like You usually do, because I need to get some stuff and things off my chest.

See, I know that magic and faeries being real unlocks one of the big questions I've been battling You about for a long, long time. Yeah, You know. The hearing voices thing my mother occasionally claimed was demons even after she dragged me to the doctor and had science confirm it wasn't.

I appreciate Your willingness to assure me I'm not something evil just because of the things I can't control. I appreciate You explaining my history of pain in Your perfect time.

Really, I do.

And I'm even going to thank You for it, because You've had dibs on my soul since before I was born.

But…like…

Since we're on the topic of souls…

Sending me a soulmate ?

Are You serious?

I'm not okay with this turn of events.

Also—with all the respect and love You know I have in my heart—blackmailing me into this situation with an infant is mega rude. I've read the Bible. I know You have a sense of humor, and I know everything will turn out to the goodness of Your glory and all that in the end, but, see, that does not help me right now.

Sniffing, I close my eyes to hold back tears and feelings and panic that I am not willing to address at this time.

In the blessed silence, I give myself the space to listen to the sorts of voices that don't speak with words. Sometimes—when I was younger and terrified and surrounded by dozens of unseen chittering faeries—the quietest Voice was the only thing that kept me going.

In spite of the abuse.

In spite of the dark picture of God my mother hammered into me.

In spite of being forced to live a single door away from the biggest monster I have ever known.

Somewhere, deep inside, the softest sensation of love lived, and I knew it couldn't belong to me.

Because, for so many years, all I had left to give was hate .

"Yes," I mutter when that insipid unspoken sensation draws an insipid better-left-unspoken thought into my skull. "Alexios is pretty like an anime character." Ya girl does not see where that even reaches the top ten of important points right at this exact moment.

But Ya girl does appreciate You looking out for her in such nonsensical ways.

Heaving a sigh, I open my eyes and let the cool night console me.

I have got to stop being one of Your strongest soldiers. These twelve-on, twelve-off shifts are getting crazy. I need a break. Please . I need a break. A discharge. At least inactive duty.

"Snowflake?"

My stomach drops into my toes as I turn to find Alexios wandering through the evening like a wraith. The instant my eyes are on him, he stops. Takes a step back.

Scanning me from head to toe, he asks, "What's wrong?"

"You got here fast."

"You beckoned." With all the elegance in the world, he bows. "I exist to serve."

Facing him squarely, I cross my arms. "That's a concerning statement coming from a faerie. You good, bro?"

His smile is devious and devilishly handsome when he lifts his head. "I did not specify who I exist to serve. It could be my prince, myself…or even you—if you could make it worth my time."

My gut tangles up in knots at the mere notion.

"I believe I asked what's wrong," he says.

Well. For one, I have a flirty faerie soulmate in my driveway.

And, for two, I'm about to bind myself to him. Forever .

Instead of saying that, though, I gather my nerve and lift my chin. "Are we not about to make a life-changing deal?"

Moonlight shines across his perfect white teeth. "Ah, I see. You're nervous?"

"Clearly, that's obvious. Walk me through what's going to happen, prioritizing when I'll get to bring my baby home."

He takes a step forward. "First…I'll get my payment. Then, you may enter Faerie as soon as you'd like; tonight, even, if that suits you. There's a trod a minute from here that connects to one of Castor's gardens."

" One of? How many does he have?"

"I am still ascertaining an answer to that question myself."

I swallow. "Go on."

He takes another step closer. "I will introduce you to Castor. He already knows about you and why you'll be there."

"Don't you think you were a bit too confident I'd agree to your outlandish demands if you've already mentioned me to him?"

"I'm here at your request, aren't I? One might assume I was not overconfident at all." He lifts a gloved hand toward me, with all the grace of an escort. "Shall we?"

My expression hardens. "I want more details before I give you everything . Like…what does the trod near here look like? What does it feel like to enter a trod? How far is the walk to Castor's palace from his garden? Will we need to plan ahead on bringing baby supplies back with us, or should I get those first? What expectations will Castor have if he assumes I'm taking care of the child for him and not yoinking it away entirely?"

"How fae of you to desire clear steps. Very well, I shall oblige you with details. The trod is positioned between two bushes…" Alexios relays the answers to my questions in remarkable depth—laying even the floor plan of Castor's palace out. When he's finished, he smiles. "Will there be anything else, snowflake?" His hand lifts again, opening toward me as a hungry glint enters his eye. Wetting his lips, he closes in. "Or…are you ready to become mine now?"

My heart pounds. I don't move as his hand pauses a centimeter from my chin.

The hunger in his eyes dampens as his lips part. With stark delicacy, he traces a single gloved fingertip down the curve of my jaw. "Tell me…while you can still lie…that you'd like to be mine. Before I own your every whim and fabricate your desires to suit me…say you want me."

In a final moment of pitiful weakness, a shudder plunges into my lungs.

Awareness overcomes Alexios's desperation, and his confidence falters. "Zahra, are you unwell?"

Forcing a breath down, I grab his collar, twist my hand around the knot of his tie, and drag him down to lock our eyes. "Alexios Vox," I hiss. "I claim you as my soulmate. From now until eternity, you are mine ."

His skin blanches when I release him and march toward those two bushes he mentioned before, the ones that mark the entrance into one of Castor's gardens.

"You—" He chokes on his own words.

"Come on, sweetheart." Venom laces my voice as I cock a look at him over my shoulder and toss the long, dark half of my hair back. "You're my recommendation letter. And if you get any ideas about going off script , I've scheduled a mass email that will send all the sensitive information you've told me about the Villain Protection Program to just about everyone I know in your circle. Including Pollux. Who I called on my way home from dinner in order to get some information about soulmates ."

Alexios's expression disintegrates into darkness. "You're blackmailing me?"

I smile and resist the urge to flutter my lashes. "Tit for tat, pretty boy. I'm a professional gamer and teacher's assistant. That is to say, I'm used to handling children, and you should have thought twice before trying to play me."