Chapter Five
“The answer is still no .”
Lucifer waved Castiel’s words off with a casual flick of his wrist. “Of course, you don’t want to. No one in their right mind would want to.”
Killian sighed. “You’re not helping.”
Castiel glanced around the table and studied his friends’ expressions.
All jokes aside, their request was odd. No, odd didn’t even begin to cover it.
It was fucking baffling. Out of all the things they could have asked of him, requesting that he teach a bunch of young supernaturals at a local magical academy had not been on his list.
It didn’t make sense on any level. Combat wasn’t his particular area of expertise. Sure, he was a warrior, but that didn’t mean he could teach others how to fight. He’d learned those skills in another lifetime, and now they were instinctive. The same could be said about his other magical abilities.
While he considered himself a relatively patient individual, helping a bunch of ancient reapers was vastly different than being responsible for a bunch of hormone-driven supernaturals barely out of their teens.
The thought of dealing with an entire class asking him a barrage of questions he would be expected to answer politely made him want to shiver.
The very idea was abhorrent to him.
“No.”
Seneca leaned forward. “Right now, we are having a big issue with the Magical Combat class at Trifecta University. Since I have access to all of Killian’s memories to help me figure out how to fight and use his magic, I’m exempt from the class.
But my friends at school are all having a lot of trouble. ”
“What do you mean?”
“The old professor was fired recently after he almost got two students killed. Now, we are stuck with a professor who is totally useless. People aren’t learning how to defend themselves.
They aren’t learning even the basics of how to strategize getting through the mazes or how to get enough points to graduate.
It’s a big fucking mess, but the school won’t replace him since he is related to a member of the Supernatural Council. ”
Fucking politics sucked, even in the supernatural community.
Castiel frowned at Killian. “Why don’t you do it?”
“For one, most people think I’m some kind of mob boss.
Would they really accept me teaching at the university?
People are already nervous that Seneca is still a student there.
Having me around would push them over the edge.
Besides, I am too damn busy dealing with all of the freed reapers to take on this task.
You might have a handful over at your place, but Seneca and I have been dealing with the majority of them. ”
That was true enough.
Castiel was aware that Seneca had been a student at Trifecta University before she had met Killian.
Now that she had reaper powers, it was natural that people were nervous about her being at the school.
Since she was so powerful, there really was no reason for her to remain at the magical academy except for the fact that graduating was important to her for personal reasons.
Killian had made some valid points, but Castiel still had the feeling that wasn’t the whole truth. Something else was going on here. They were hiding something from him. He could sense it, feel it like a whisper of caution humming over his skin.
His instincts weren’t wrong.
They never were when he got this kind of feeling.
Reacting to his mood, Ash and Myst got up from where they had been resting in the sunlight and came back to flank his chair.
Both wolves rested their heads on his legs and stared up at him in question.
Reaching down, he stroked their heads to assure them that he was fine, making sure to rub their ears exactly how they liked it.
“Why me?”
“Why not you?” Lucifer asked cheekily.
“I can think of a thousand reasons.”
Lucifer wagged a finger at him. “Ah, but there is one good reason why it must be you.”
Castiel raised a brow. “And that is?”
“Luc!” Killian warned.
“What? He’s going to figure it out anyway,” Lucifer said, unrepentant. “There is no point in trying to outmaneuver him when it comes to things like this.”
“Figure what out?”
“Fate, my dear friend. Fate has taken aim at your obstinate ass, and we are trying to figure out how to shove you in the right direction without fucking everything up.” Lucifer grinned as he stood up. “And now that it’s done, I’ll be going.”
“Wait, what? You can’t leave yet. You haven’t actually told me anything,” Castiel protested.
“So, I can’t actually be blamed.” Lucifer laughed when Killian let out a vicious curse.
“Somebody better tell me what in hellfire is going on,” Castiel demanded.
“No can do,” Lucifer denied. “That would be breaking a promise.”
“You already broke your promise,” Killian scoffed.
Lucifer’s expression darkened, hinting at some of the madness he hid inside. “I never break promises to my darling daughter.” He flashed a grin again. “I’ll leave that to you.”
Killian muttered another curse.
“Here.” Lucifer dropped a small box on the table in front of Castiel. “That’s for you.”
“I don’t want it.”
Whatever it was, if it was coming from the King of Hell, it meant it was dangerous.
“No takebacks,” Lucifer said in a sing-song voice, then he disappeared.
Sighing, Castiel shook his head. “I swear, I think he sustained permanent brain damage back when he fell into the devil fire in the Black Mountain.”
“Probably, but it’s part of his charm,” Killian said with a reluctant laugh.
Castiel snorted. “If you think that crazy bastard is charming, maybe you’re the one with brain damage.”
Seneca laughed. “He might be a little crazy, but I guess there is something charming about him. But mostly, I just think he’s terrifying.”
“There is no need for you to think any other male is charming, mate,” Killian growled.
She kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry, my love. You are still the most terrifyingly charming male I know.”
“Stop flirting and tell me what is going on,” Castiel demanded.
Killian heaved out a sigh. “We really can’t. Or we might end up messing things up for you.”
Castiel’s mind began to race. They hadn’t told him anything outright.
Of course, they hadn’t. However, even without them telling him the full truth, they had dropped enough subtle hints for him to start putting clues together.
The lunch. The sudden urgency. The way Killian kept dodging, and the way Lucifer had slipped that single word into the air like a sharp blade.
Fate.
They weren’t asking him to teach because Trifecta University needed him.
Any competent instructor would have been an acceptable replacement.
He realized they were trying to lure him to the school for a reason.
Trying to put him in a particular place, at a particular time, then stand back and watch what happened.
And the most damning clue of all was the promise Lucifer had made to his daughter-in-law, Devon, who had recently been working on a matchmaking project to help bring mates together. If Devon’s project was involved, then this wasn’t a favor.
It was a setup.
A carefully staged collision dressed up as an opportunity.
The world narrowed to a single, shocking truth. Suddenly, it felt like his heart began to beat for the first time.
“My mate is at Trifecta University.”
“Wow, you really did figure it out,” Seneca said, sounding impressed.
“Fucking hell,” Killian groaned. “How did you put that together so quickly?”
That was all the confirmation he needed.
Castiel pushed back from the table so fast the legs of his chair scraped against the stone floor. Ash and Myst sat up on alert, and he called them back to him without thinking. They shifted into dark smoke mid-stride before sliding back onto his skin, curling around his arms like living armor.
He needed to find his mate now.
Right now.
Centuries of restraint, of convincing himself he could wait several lifetimes, disappeared in an instant.
He had waited through wars, through self-imposed exile, and the slow rot of time.
He had carried the quiet hope of finding his mate in his heart like a treasured secret, never allowing others to see just how desperately he wished for it to come true.
He’d even warned himself she might not exist. That he might be the one exception fate forgot. But now that he knew she was real, nothing could keep him from finding her.
“Wait, you can’t go yet,” Killian ordered. “There are some things you should know before you leave.”
It took every ounce of control he had to slowly sit back down. “Explain.”
“Yes, your mate is at the school. I wasn’t lying about students struggling because they need a new Magical Combat professor.
And one of the people who has been struggling the most is your mate,” Seneca explained.
“Ava Fortier is a wolf shifter who is having trouble using her new magic. On top of that, she has developed a touch of soothsayer abilities that aren’t very user-friendly. ”
So, her name was Ava Fortier.
He repeated her name over and over in his head, savoring the sound of it.
“That is a rare gift for a shifter,” Castiel murmured out loud.
Killian nodded. “It is. Recently, Devon created a magical app that helps bring mates together under the guise of providing something else they need.”
“I heard about that.”
He just hadn’t expected it to be used on him.
“Right now, your mate is using the app to look for a tutor. Someone to help her learn how to use her magic and figure out her soothsayer abilities. We were going to just let the app bring you guys together, but she chose the video connection option because she is nervous about meeting someone in person to discuss her magical issues,” Seneca clarified.