Chapter Ten

"How is that possible?" The words leave her lips in a rush of air. Breathy. Almost a moan. Or maybe that's wishful thinking. I found the girl attractive the first moment I saw her lying on the ground outside, but something about knowing she could be my mate has me feeling… different.

I wish I had an answer to her question. There are few possibilities, but none that seem plausible. She is human—said so herself. She smells human, and her emotions prove she's human. They are out of control, heavy and thick, like a typical young human female, and she's told me she has a shadow mate.

"I'm not sure," I admit. Which is mostly the truth. Outside of us actually being mates, I don't know what else it could be… other than the universe playing a big joke on us.

"What do you mean? Do you people usually have more than one mate? How can I be your mate if I'm Ves's mate? What does this mean?"

"Calm down, darling," I say, placing my hand on her thigh. It does little to calm her, but I sense the slightest shift in her emotions. "There's no reason to panic. We'll figure this out."

"I don't understand any of this," she says, her voice trembling. "You said the mate bond was impossible to ignore. How are you and Ves both ignoring it?"

I'm wondering the same thing. This girl can see my marks, but neither her nor I feel the mate bond? Her heart pounds harder when I don't answer right away, and then her breathing increases too.

"Hey," I say softly, moving to kneel in front of her. I take both hands into mine and meet her wide, gorgeous blue eyes. "Breathe, okay? Breathe. In for five; out for five. One, two, three, four, five…" I count slowly as I breathe in, then do the same as I breathe out. She copies me, and after a few times, her fear wanes. "Better?"

"A little."

I brush my thumb along her knuckles, not missing the way her skin pebbles with gooseflesh. She is a beautiful human. Her skin is soft, her blue eyes are stunning, and her lips are tempting. But she's human, and humans don't have multiple mates. They rarely have one mate. Telling her I don't understand any of this will not help her relax, so I choose my words carefully.

"This entire situation is unusual, that much is clear to me. I'll admit I don't know what any of it means, but most assignments start out like this, and I always figure them out. These tattoos," I hold up my arms and turn them over to show how many there are, "Prove that I am a capable agent. Though radiants embrace their mates, it isn't a reason for the Master to send me on a mission. But, with that said, now that this has befallen us, I will figure it out. If we are truly mates, and there isn't another reason you can see my gold markings, then I am the perfect person to help. Don't you think, darling?" I offer her a kind smile, hoping that, along with my words, are enough to ease her worries.

What has me the most stumped is how we feel nothing. Is it because she is human? I've never heard of a human mated to a radiant before. Humans and shadows, yes. But humans and radiants? Considering radiants cannot show their true form to humans, it seems near impossible for it to happen, but what do I know? I'm only an agent. And having a mate isn't something I've thought of often. Unlike Guardians, we don't have to give up our mates, but we don't live our lives trying to find them either.

"How?" she whispers. I can't be sure which thing she is asking about, as I said so much, so I guess and give the best answer I can.

"Did you know you were Vesperon's mate?" I place my hands on the outsides of her thighs, adding a small amount of pressure. She does relax when I touch her. Not drastically, but enough that it makes me want to keep doing it.

She shakes her head. "Not really, no. I don't think so, anyway. I always felt safe with him, and I enjoyed being with him. Knew I could trust him even though I should have been afraid. I've been a mess since he started ignoring me, but I didn't feel the way he felt."

"So, you felt the rejection of the mate bond, but not the call to your mate? Nothing outside of comfort and, dare I say, attraction?" She nods carefully. "I wonder if that's what is happening here too…"

"What would cause—" I hold my hand up when I get a whiff of something… of darkness. She stops speaking, snapping her mouth shut.

I look around the room and see nothing. I get up, bringing my finger to my lips, gesturing for her to be quiet. She nods as I move toward the hall. The stink is foul in this part of the house. There was a shadow here… and I didn't know. How careless of me? I follow the scent to the kitchen, and it disappears by the wall near the door. It couldn't have been here more than a minute ago if the smell still lingers so thickly.

I glance over my shoulder, looking at Lexia. What is it about this girl that these shadows want?

Or perhaps it's me they are after? Considering the shadow was attacking her when I showed up, it's safe to assume it's her they want.

The increase in shadows in this area is reason enough for me to be sent here, but the big question remains: Why are they here? Possibly because they know she is mated to this shadow and want to keep it hidden? But why? Being mated to a human isn't common, but it can't possibly be an issue, can it? They have thousands of guardians… what's losing one going to do? They kill them for lesser things, so they aren't concerned with numbers. I don't know enough about the inner workings of Guardians to know how they handle this sort of situation, but it's certainly an option I plan to keep at the top of my list. Especially since a human mated to a shadow and a radiant sounds like something big.

I glance out the window and see nothing outside, and with the scent dwindling, I assume whoever was here has gone. Why they left, I have no idea. What were they doing here in the first place? Spying? If they wanted to kill us, they would have tried.

I hadn't thought putting up wards would be necessary when I first showed up, as I didn't think my assignment was directly related to this girl, but with the information I've gathered, it seems I may have been mistaken. Oh, the joy of being an agent…

I walk into the living room to find Lexia hasn't moved, only now she is holding the knife in her hand, her eyes darting around frantically. I smirk.

"That will not save you from any otherworldly being I am aware of." She looks down at it, then frowns. "Did the shadow say anything to you before he started ignoring you?" I ask as I move toward her.

She shakes her head as she continues to stare at the knife. "No, it was a normal night."

"Nothing strange happened?"

"Not really…"

"Not really sounds like something." I cross my arms over my chest and watch her carefully. She chews on her lip, and I know she has information. These humans have too many tells when they are lying or hiding something. They truly suck at hiding what they are feeling.

"Well, it's not strange, it's just…"

"Just what?" I urge. She stays quiet. "Lexia—"

"I don't want to say," she admits quietly.

"Why not?

"Because I don't want him to get into trouble."

"Trouble with who?"

She shrugs, peeking up at me. "You?"

I bark out a laugh. "Me?" She nods. "I'm not judge and jury. I don't punish anyone. That isn't my job."

Her brow furrows, then she flails her arms up. I take a quick step back, so she doesn't accidentally slice me with the knife, and she misses me by an inch. It won't kill me, but it will still hurt in this form.

"Well, how am I supposed to know what to think?" she cries. "I don't know you. You tell me you're on a mission, and that you're the exact opposite of Ves. I can only assume that means you don't like one another. You say you have to fix the balance and Ves isn't supposed to have a human mate. You already destroyed one shadow. How do I know you won't harm him too?"

A loyal mate. How perfect is this? If she truly belongs to me, this makes me happy.

I kneel in front of her, getting eye level and grabbing her cheeks to make sure she looks at me. I'm willing to take the risk of getting sliced by the knife if she has another little freak out. Being in this position seems to help with her not feeling so intimidated by me. I'm well aware of that and her attraction toward me, but I won't embarrass her and tell her that.

"Darling, if my job while here was to take out the shadows, it wouldn't be only me who was sent. The radiants would be prepared for a war. That shadow I destroyed was a one-off due to what I found. It isn't normally my job to protect humans, but in that instance, I didn't have a choice. Now, if you want to be a part of whatever figuring this out means, you need to be honest with me. You have to trust me."

She bites on her bottom lip, searching my eyes before looking away. Lexia blinks those thick lashes a few times, then mutters, "I really hope I don't regret this." She takes a deep breath, then brings her bright gaze back to me. "He killed someone."

Well, that's not good. Not terrible, but not good.

"Someone as in…"

"A human," she whispers.

I nod. "This human was harming you?" That makes sense. Shadows are loyal. Especially shadows with mates. They won't hesitate to kill anyone or anything who threatens someone they care about.

"Not exactly."

I sigh, hating that an inkling of frustration is creeping beneath my skin. I pride myself in my ability to stay patient. "Lexia, I need your honesty."

She growls, slaps her hands on the cushions beside her and lets go of the knife. Then she covers her face with her hands, shaking her head. I run my fingers along her legs, hoping to settle her. She finally drops her hands, takes in a deep breath, and says, "Vesperon's zone is by the park just down the street. There was a boy who was saying horrible things about me, and Vesperon killed him. There. That's it!"

My eyes widen, and I can't stop the smile that crosses my lips.

"Why are you smiling?" she shouts.

"Sounds like something a shadow mate would do. I am not surprised by it."

"You're not going to tell on him?"

I shake my head. "It's cute you think that, but no. It has nothing to do with me."

"So, you still have no idea why you're here, then?"

I shrug and stand up. A small pang of sadness hits my chest, and I wonder if it's because I've stopped touching her?

"Putting pieces together, but not entirely sure," I admit. Telling her about the shadow who was here will only cause her to be more afraid, but I do consider it. I suppose it could have been Vesperon, but if he doesn't remember her, then why would he come here? "I'm going to put up some protective wards around your house, just to be safe. You should get some sleep. We can discuss this more in the morning."

Her eyes widen, as if she's just remembering something.

"What?" I ask.

"Tomorrow… What am I going to do about tomorrow?"

"I don't understand—"

She jumps to her feet and rushes to the kitchen to look at a calendar that's hanging on the wall beside the door. There is a chunky wrinkly dog above it. Such a strange thing for humans to have—pets. I never understood it.

"It's Wednesday tomorrow."

I glance at the clock on the microwave. "Well, technically, today is Wednesday, but yes."

"I have work. I have to go to work." She spears her fingers through her hair, turning toward me with wide eyes.

"May not be a good idea."

She rushes toward me, hands up in a pleading position. "You don't understand. I have to go to work. If I don't, Bradyn will flip out."

I'm not sure about human names, but Bradyn sounds a little masculine to me. I don't like the idea of any male getting angry with her.

Hmm… is this the mate bond speaking beneath the surface? Or just my protective nature as an agent?

Intriguing.

"There may be a solution," I offer. And this solution may have multiple benefits, but I don't have to divulge them all.

"Whatever it is, I'll do it. He's finally calming down. The last thing I need is him panicking and hovering because I don't go to work."

I want to ask more questions about this Bradyn character. He sounds like someone who could use a stern talking to about how to treat women. But choose to drop the subject, not wanting her to become more frustrated. I can't be sure this girl is my mate, so I shouldn't think of her as one until I know for sure. Even if my body is going on alert at the thought of her being near a human male, it doesn't mean she is mine. But those human males… they are unruly.

"There is a mark I can put upon your skin that will connect you to me in the sense I will feel your emotions. If something is wrong, I will go to you right away," I explain easily.

Her eyebrows furrow and she glances at my neck, then my arms. "Like a tattoo?"

I smirk. "Sort of, yes. It won't be black though."

"Will it be gold?" she asks, her lips turning up into a hopeful smile.

I shake my head with a grin. "It will be the color of lightning."