Chapter 23
Carter
A couple months ago
Yapping, yapping, yapping.
It was all Kai seemed to be able to do.
I ignored him as we both walked to Arc’s office.
The demon kept talking about the damn renovation project we were still all debating on.
Should we build up? Add new walls and create a new district like we did for the farms?
Extend the pre-existing walls further and increase the size of the main circle?
I couldn’t care less.
But Kai has been pissing everyone off talking about it. Not enough houses. Not enough room.
“We get it,” I said through my teeth as we rounded a corner.
“You’re in a binded group and have been for decades.
You guys are sick of all sleeping in a tangle of knots in one bed.
Why are you the only one complaining? I’ve never heard Ann beg for a bigger house, yet isn’t she the core that has to put up with you insufferable lot?
Get over it, the renovations won’t be starting anytime soon. ”
Kai scoffed, bumping me with his shoulder as his steps quickened.
“See? That’s why people don’t like or talk to you.”
“Fine by me. People give me headaches.”
Kai opened Arc’s door without knocking and we both strode in. I was quick to let myself fall on the sofa under the large window overlooking the garden behind the building as the demon went straight to sit on one of the chairs facing Arc’s desk.
I really don’t want to be here. It was the end of the day and I’d been doing paperwork most of the afternoon. My head hurt and my body longed for a long nap. And a joint.
“Can you go and put those in the prophecies’ box in the Archives?” Arc asked.
I groaned, ready to get up. If he had called me here only to send me back there, he could have shot me a text. Or mind-linked me. No, he had to send fucking Kai to pick me up and escort me like I was summoned.
“Sure,” Kai said and I froze. Was he not talking to me? “Need anything else before I go?”
Arc shook his head. “No, we’re good. But let’s all meet for dinner outside in an hour or so. My treat.”
The demon cocked his head to the side in question but ultimately shrugged with a grin. “Alright. You know I never pass on free food. I’ll book us all a table at the Crimson Bite.”
“Come on, the Crimson Bite?” I gritted out. “Can’t we go somewhere else for a change?”
My old friend looked at me with a frown. “What do you mean? You—we all love this place.”
I did love the food they made. But I was in the mood for a bland soup and an overly long nap.
“Can I ditch?” I tried.
“You can’t,” Arc countered. “We’re going out because we’re celebrating something for you.”
That seemed to pique Kai’s interest. “We are? What a twist.”
I gave him the evil eye. Arc tried—and failed—to hide a smile. “Alright, go put them upstairs and we’ll meet you at the table,” he said, handing him a thin binder. Were these prophecies old? New? Did they have something to do with me?
Kai didn’t bother to say goodbye and left the office, closing the door softly behind him.
I waited, looking over my shoulder at the well tended garden outside.
I wished I had the time to just go there and sit on one of the benches for a couple of hours.
It was a shame it was mostly used during binding ceremonies and the events we organized.
After all, the barrier Arc and I put in place around the camp also partially protected us from the worst of the occasional acid rains and most of the heat.
If we were roasting inside the camp, the temperatures outside were usually scorching.
“How long do you plan on brooding this time?” Arc asked, finally joining me in the sitting area, taking a place on the armchair facing me.
“I’m not brooding.”
“You are. You’ve been in a shitty mood for days already.”
“I haven’t.” Oh yes, I have.
I’ve been trying to slow down on Datura—again—and it’s been a fucking shitshow.
“I hope you won’t be an ass when she gets here,” Arc said with a dramatic sigh, sliding a blank sheet of paper my way over the coffee table.
I looked at it. Just a plain, white sheet of paper. What was he trying to say?
“What, do you want me to draw something, or—”
“Turn it you dumbass,” he muttered, rubbing at his temples.
So, with a shake of my head, I did.
And oh.
It was a drawing alright. One of the hyper realistic ones Arc tended to make in a daze right after his visions to study them in detail.
Not that there was much detail that would be missed at first glance.
My cheeks heated.
“What—what’s this?” I asked.
Arc snorted, leaning back in his seat with a long exhale. “I think it’s pretty self explanatory.”
No, it wasn’t.
Was it a warning? Was I going to finally succumb after waiting and hoping for a mate for over a century? For being so envious and eager to find one that I fucking fell?
“It's you,” he said after I’ve been silent for too long. “Obviously having sex and—”
“You don’t know that,” I snapped. No way I was going to fall for some random woman I didn’t recognize, no matter how attractive she looked.
“Oh no, I do. The drawing might be focused on your faces, but the whole scene I saw was pretty explicit.”
My hands started to shake. “No, I can’t—this won’t be happening, I’m—”
“She’s your mate, Carter,” Arc interrupted, his voice turning softer, like my internal struggle was loud enough for him to hear.
“You don’t deserve love,” the voices whispered. “You’re a Fallen, you’ll live in eternal loneliness. You’re—”
“Fuck!” I muttered, grabbing at my head, rocking on my seat. “Shut up, shut up, shut up.”
“Carter. Listen to me.” My eyes snapped up. Pity. So much pity and worries in my oldest friend’s gaze. “Don’t listen to them, listen to me.”
The scoff that escaped me was dry, humorless. “Easy for you to say.”
“I know. But she’s your mate. What you’ve been waiting for all your life, your entire existence.”
“How can you know that?” I snapped again.
“What if it just means that I’ll lose my resolve and become a whore like Jeremiah?
What if you’re right, but predicting something that will happen in decades?
Telling me now is just plain cruel. You don’t know anything except that I’ll end up having sex with a hot girl. ”
“Will you let me explain or just keep freaking out?” he asked, but a smile crept at the corners of his mouth.
I nodded, letting myself fall against the backrest of the couch and bringing the drawing with me.
“I know she’s your mate because I’ve heard snippets of conversation in my vision.
One particular sentence, actually. I know you won’t have to wait for too long, because I’ve seen the date on the calendar you insist on keeping up to date in your room. ”
My mouth went dry as I struggled to find words. My mate was coming? Maybe he understood wrong. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding.
“What did you hear that makes you so sure?” I managed to ask.
He grinned. “Word for word?” I nodded. “You said, I’m giving my body to my mate, nothing happening with her—with you, will ever bring me shame.”
My arm fell on the cushion next to my thigh, the sheet of paper sliding to the floor.
I had a mate. And she was coming.
I leaned forward to pick up the detailed black and white drawing, allowing myself to examine her face.
She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever laid my eyes on. Her hair, seemingly light, was held in a disheveled braid and falling down her naked back. Her eyes locked with mine, lips parted as she straddled my hips, palms on my chest like she needed the extra help to stay upright.
I was grateful Arc didn’t draw most of the body parts that should have been visible from that angle.
“She might be a Fallen too,” he explained, hesitating. “Her eyes were the lightest blue.”
She was my mate. And we were the same. Someone to share my heart and soul with. Someone who was facing the same challenges I did.
“You don’t deserve a mate. She’ll see it too. She’ll reject you.” The voices laughed.
But one look toward Arc made it all go away. He looked happy. Hopeful. Supportive. He knew how long I'd been waiting for it. For my mate.
“Now, let’s go and celebrate before she gets here soon,” he said, holding his hand for me to take as he stood up.
And I grabbed it. Because no matter how much of an asshole I could be, Arc was always by my side.
People might think I was the angel sitting on his shoulder, but really, most of the time he was the one keeping me on the right path.
Calling me out when I fucked up. Picking me up when I faltered. Cheering me on when I needed it.
He had found my mate, and she was on her way.
Everything would be perfect now.
“Okay, now that we’re all here,” Arc started, getting up from his chair and lifting his drink up.
Everyone sitting around the table quieted, turning their attention to him.
Kai and Ann sat the closest, their arms linked together, surrounded by Denisa, Christopher, and Sanjay, the other members of their binded group.
Carrie picked at her nails distractedly while Marcus interrupted his joking with Jeremiah next to her.
“Tonight we’re not gathering just for the sake of it. No matter how fucked up things can become, or how sad and devastating we all get when we’re losing our people, sometimes good things come our way too.”
He looked at me, waiting for my permission to tell more. And I gave it to him. Because I’ve never been more excited in my life, and I was eager to share this hope with our friends, even though I knew some would make jokes about it.
“Someone new will be coming soon,” Arc continued. “And that someone is Carter’s mate.”
Silence fell and they all shifted their focus to me.
“Well, that was unexpected,” Carrie drawled, but her eyes still sparkled in surprise, a small smile tugging at her lips.
“Let’s not claim victory too fast.” Kai chuckled. “They might very well turn back as soon as they set their eyes on him.”
“Oh, shut up!” Ann scolded before turning to me and leaning over the table to place her hand on mine. “That’s amazing news! Do we know anything about them yet?”
I hesitated, biting on my lower lip. “Not really,” I said. “I think she’s blonde? And Arc says she has blue eyes.”
Marcus wiggled his eyebrow at me. “So, she’s a she…”
“And a Divine,” Jeremiah remarked, grinning widely. “Good for you, pal. Should we sign up your future kids for school yet? Or are you planning to take a couple of centuries like them?” he taunted, tilting his head toward Ann and her binded group.
She gave him a cold stare. “We’ve been fully binded for barely over fifty years, stop exaggerating.”
“And what’s wrong about taking the time to enjoy us before bringing kids into the equation?” Kai added, getting nods of approval from the rest of their group. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”
What they didn’t say out loud but everyone knew, was that bringing kids right now was a terrifying thought. What if the abductions of our people picked up and they lost their children? What if the humans didn’t learn from their first failure to eradicate us and started a new war?
“Don’t listen to him,” Carrie said. “He obviously has some kind of baby fever and no mate to give him the army of little winged creatures he wants.”
Jeremiah rolled his eyes.
“It’s perfectly fine to wait for a while,” Sanjay added, dropping a kiss on Ann’s knuckles.
“Or to not want any,” Carrie continued, glaring at Jeremiah.
“We’re all getting ahead of ourselves.” Arc chuckled. “I just know she’s coming soon and she’s Carter’s mate. I don’t know if she’s the Core or if he is, or if it’s another one we don’t know about yet. Let’s just celebrate this and let them figure out the rest for themselves.”
He patted my shoulder with a reassuring smile.
He was right. I didn’t have to think about all this now. Soon, my mate would be here. And no matter what happened then, we’d have our whole life to figure out the rest.