Chapter 6

Descaris

T he rage inside me was building. My mate was here and I couldn't protect her. Every step I took towards killing any of the humans or harming them in any way brought about her death. What was I if I couldn't kill my enemies?

Ella had dragged herself away to a meeting, and I'd half thought about following her. Watching from a corner, just to have more time with her. She was the only thing I ever wanted to see. But it felt like a ticking clock was looming over us. I melted into the shadows and flowed around the prison. Maybe I couldn't just kill my enemies, but I was clever enough to figure this out. I had to be. For her. I popped into the admissions bay. It was a stretch to be so far from my heart, but new prisoners were arriving and I was curious.

Along the line, a head stuck up above the rest. Large horns and ears that were bat-like. Some sort of minotaur hybrid. He was all black, and his face was fixed with icy disdain. He was the one. The one from my vision. There was a glow of fate around him. Of purpose. I reached out with my magic. The vision filled me again. Instead of trying to push it away, I let it in.

His mate, bloodied and broken.

I held the vision still for a moment. It felt like using a muscle I hadn't even known existed before. My teeth ground together at the effort. The snake creature looming over her. The one who killed my mate in the first vision. I could just kill him?

My mate, shrinking away from me, fear in her eyes as she looks at the bloody pile in front of me. The light dims and brown eyes fade away.

It wasn't definitely her death, but I couldn't take the risk. It was becoming clear I was going to have to do that one thing I never expected. The one thing I wasn't well practiced at. Not killing. Fine. I would simply send the minotaur to his mate to protect her himself.

I point the minotaur in the right direction. He charges to save his mate. He is going to be too late. Other monsters are trying to protect her. An orc.

The orc. He had another glow of fate around him. I shot back into the prison and began flowing through the cell blocks, looking at every monster for that faint glow. I couldn't afford to sift through variations of visions endlessly. That would take forever. I needed to know who the players were.

"What game are you playing, fate?"

I murmured to myself as I went. After a few hours, I thought I had found them all. The minotaur, an orc, a lich and a dragon. All brought to this place and this time. Fulcrums in what could only be described as a tipping point in the future of dozens of monsters. And with each one of them a vision of their human mates. Some of whom wouldn't survive the incoming chaos if I didn't change things. Now I had to figure out how to put the puzzle pieces into play.

I spent the day following them all. Watching them. Seeing them from dark corners as they grew closer to their mates, met them for the first time or existed mere hours away from meeting them and having their lives changed forever. Each time I probed the visions that came with them. The intense minotaur and his wary mate finding comfort and safety in each other. The passionate, feisty brunette finding her equal in the orc. A lich, undead and cold for years, finding warmth and purpose with a delicate woman who didn't fear his touch. And a dragon, doing yoga of all things while staring intently at the yoga teacher who seemed to give so much to others.

I watched it all and now, knowing I had found my mate. It touched me. Was this the point of me? To help a group of monsters find their mates and live happily ever after? I'd ruled an entire level of hell and now I was a mystic matchmaker.

"Godsdamn stupid feelings."

I retreated to my cell to try to escape the emotions for a while. To hide in the safety of solitude. I'd watched many of them die, repeatedly. Seen them grieving, screaming, in pain. It was too much now in a way it had never been in the past. I knew a sliver of the pain of watching my own mate die and even that taste of it was overwhelming.

I thought I had a plan. But now, I had to try putting it into place. And in the midst of it all, I had to free my heart. Saving my mate was the only thing that truly mattered to me. But if I couldn't free my heart from the box they kept it in, I'd still be stuck here, surrounded by a ruined, empty prison. The lich was key. He might break the spell on the box. I'd met liches before. They never failed to send a shiver up my spine. But they had access to magic that very few others did. There might be a way to get everything I wanted.

After long moments regaining my composure, I left my cell. I needed to keep an eye on what was happening and make sure nobody fucked up my plan. A glow pulled my eyes toward the orc. Standing and thinking. It was unusual for orcs to think so that meant he was probably going to do something stupid. He was watching the minotaur. I reached into his mind.

A fight, guards rush in. 3 of them, surrounded by darkness. They all use their collar controllers on the orc. He collapses, his soul leaving his body.

I flashed forward

The light leaves my mate, her brown eyes empty of life.

I immediately moved towards the orc.

"Yeah?"

He turned to look at me, wary. He wasn't totally stupid then.

"You are planning something."

"Aye."

The orc and his mate dancing. Her seeing him in a new light, her eyes glowing. The orc and the minotaur fight once the sun has travelled across the sky and returned again. The orc feels bonded to the minotaur.

Orcs are so weird

"Wait til tomorrow."

"Why?"

"Today would be a better day to show your mate some culture. The fight will go better tomorrow."

"Better for who?"

"Everyone."

"Vague."

I laughed. I liked someone who wasn't afraid to call me out. A quick delve into his mind gave me what I needed. Clear as day was the one thing that meant nearly as much to him as his mate. An axe. Typical orc.

"Ok, then I'll make a deal with you. Wait until tomorrow and I'll get your axe to you."

His eyes widened. The look on his face was almost pure longing.

"How?"

"Like this."

I blipped to the other side of the cell block wall.

"Ok. Impressive,"

His words echoed loudly as he shouted at where I had previously been.

"If you can do that, not sure why you're still in this place."

I laughed again. I liked that orc. Now, I had to go and talk to a dragon that seemed to spend all its time sleeping on tables.