Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Meic

No matter how much I try to get the knowledge of Nati’s tea leaf reading out of my head, I can’t. If anything, it’s making me think about the gorgon even more than I already was, and that’s saying something. She’s constantly been on my mind since the day we met, driving me crazy and making me want her at every turn. Not that I’m doing very well at showing her that. Most of the time, it seems like I push her away every time I open my mouth. It’s not intentional, I just don’t know how to actually act around her.

But yesterday was the day I finally got confirmation that what I’ve been feeling about her since the day we met is true. She’s my fated mate. Someone who can make me feel whole in a way no one else can.

And now I know for sure. Either that, or someone else at Blackthorn Academy is going to claim the same and she’ll reject me for them.

A low growl slips from my throat even at the idea. I didn’t think I was a jealous person until I came here, but there’s no denying it now.

“Are you done?” someone asks, snapping me back to reality and reminding me that I’m supposed to be finishing making my smoothie.

“I’ll be one sec,” I respond, scooping up some of the grey powder which keeps my cravings at bay and dumping it into the mixer. I press the button, and the loud whirring noise fills the air until it’s made. “All yours.” I gesture to the station and move away, taking my smoothie with me.

I scan the dining home, finding Cethin and Afan in their usual spot. I head over to my friends, setting down my smoothie and joining them.

“How did you tell Anja she was your fated mate?” I ask my friend without any preamble. If I’m only going to be able to think about Nati and what we might be to one another, then I might as well know everything I can about it.

Afan groans. “This again? What is it with the two of you and fated mates?”

“You’ll understand when you find yours,” Cethin tells the merman. “It’s like nothing you ever experienced.”

“You mean the sex?” Afan asks. “Are you sure it’s not just that Anja is a good lay?”

Cethin lets out a low growl. “Don’t talk about my girlfriend like that.”

“You’re the one who has gotten all kinds of ridiculous since you met her,” Afan mumbles.

Cethin shrugs. “It changes your view on things.”

“At least you have an excuse, I don’t know what Meic’s is.”

“I just want the best sex of my life,” I respond, assuming that’s the reason he’s going to understand. Though it’s so much more than that. I’ve seen how happy Cethin has been since meeting Anja, and I want that.

“Feels like it’s not worth it to me,” Afan says.

Cethin looks at me, clearly not knowing how to deal with our friend when he’s dismissing something that feels so real to us both.

Afan rolls his eyes. “Well, I’m not sticking around to hear the two of you moon over fated mates.” He gets up before either of us can say anything to the contrary and heads off, though I’ve no idea where he’s going.

Cethin sighs and picks up his coffee, taking a sip.

“So?” I prompt him.

“So?” he responds.

“How did you know Anja was your fated mate?”

“It was just a feeling,” he responds. “When I looked at her, I knew.”

I nod. “And how did you tell her?”

“Really badly.” He let out an amused laugh. “I blurted it out when she tried to have sex with me.”

“Tried? As in you said no?”

“I had to, she had no idea about any of this. I couldn’t sleep with her without her knowing everything she needed to.”

“Mmm.” Now I think about it, he has a point. And it’s even more true for me when I know I won’t be able to control certain features I have around my fated mate. Certainly not the first time.

“What’s brought this on?” Cethin asks.

I sigh. “I think I’ve known who my fated mate was for a while...”

“Yes, Nati.”

“What? Who said anything about Nati?”

“You’re really obvious about it,” Cethin responds. “Every other time I’ve seen you flirt with someone, you’re real smooth, but with Nati, you’re a complete mess and come out with all of these dumb lines. If you can manage to say anything at all.”

“She does things to me,” I mutter.

“If she’s your fated mate, she’s supposed to.”

I sigh. “I just can’t seem to get Nati to like me.”

“Then maybe you should stop trying so hard,” Anja says as she drops down into the seat next to Cethin, leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek. At least they’ve toned it down from the displays of affection they were giving in front of us when they first started dating.

“I don’t know what you mean.” I try to play it cool and not as if I’m absolutely mortified that she’s caught me talking about her friend like that.

Anja gives me a no-nonsense look as if she knows better. “You just keep talking to Nati with all these weird chat-up lines and kind of pervy comments, and most of them centre around the fact she’s a gorgon. How would you like it if everything she said to you was based on you being a ghoul?”

I frown and let her words sink in. “So I should try making comments that aren’t to do with her being a gorgon?”

“Or you should just try talking to her and not needing comments at all,” Anja responds. “Will you pass the salt? They never put enough seasoning on the salad.”

Cethin leans over and gets it for her while I think about what she’s saying. It’s not that I don’t think she has a point, it’s more that being around Nati makes me so flustered that I want to try and impress her. The main problem being that it seems my attempts to impress her aren’t actually very good.

It’s not much of a surprise, even I get annoyed at myself when I can’t seem to keep it serious. And I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse now I know for sure she’s my fated mate.

“Oh look, you can practice now,” Anja says, nodding her head behind me.

I turn in time to see Nati approach, looking as cute as ever in her Blackthorn Academy uniform. Her snakes are neatly coiled around one another in a way that would make it difficult to know what they were without already having the knowledge.

“I am so done with Extreme Sports Ed,” she says as she takes a seat.

“What happened?” Anja asks.

“They never take into account shower time at the end, and now I’ve lost ten minutes of my lunch break because I had to shower off all the gross sweat.” She notices I’m sitting at the table. “Not a word, Meic,” she warns.

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” I promise.

“A likely story.” From her tone, it’s clear she doesn’t believe me, but I’m going to do everything I can to prove that I can be serious.

I drink some of my smoothie, mostly to stop myself from saying anything dumb. But it also helps with the cravings inside me and I feel immediately brighter. I don’t know exactly what the academy puts in their powder, but I need to find out before I graduate so I can keep making it afterwards.

“Have you got Familiar Training later?” Nati asks Anja.

She nods. “You know it. Though Thistle doesn’t exactly care that we have training, she seems to see it as extra time that she can fly around and not listen to me.”

“You’ll get there with her,” Cethin says. “It takes time to bond with a new familiar, and ravens are known for their independence.”

Anja sighs. “I know, I know. I don’t have Nati’s advantage of having Thistle attached to me all the time either.”

“Trust me, it’s not much of an advantage,” Nati mutters.

A loud hiss comes from her hair in response.

“Oh shh,” she chides the snakes. “You’re not really useful for much.”

The hiss returns.

“I think they’re pretty,” I blurt out. “Your snakes, I mean.” Great. Now instead of saying something inappropriate about Nati in the shower, I’m just blurting out thoughts that make me sound incompetent of holding a conversation.

All three of them turn their attention to me. Anja and Cethin’s expressions betray their amusement, clearly they’re enjoying my attempt to be more charming to Nati.

The gorgon herself looks confused.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “I should go.”

She opens her mouth as if to disagree, but seems to change her mind as I get up to leave.

I’m going to have to try a lot harder to convince her that I’m actually interested in her, because it’s clear I’m doing a terrible job at making it seem that way.

And considering she’s my fated mate, I need to do better.