Chapter 16 #2
“Yes,” I admit, holding his intense gaze. “I’m trying to… to understand if that’s possible.” Resurrection can take on so many forms, but Mythos Fae should never be subjected to the process because our souls are immortal.
However, Demeter did something with my gift to… to manipulate eternal life.
“Omegas are not meant to be mortal,” I utter aloud now, looking between Maliki and Morpheus. “Serapina is human, and yet…”
“She accepted every part of me today,” Maliki says. “My bites. My aggression. A human would not have survived what I did to her.”
Morpheus nods. “An Alpha can’t knot a human, Hades.”
“I know.”
“Yet my knot didn’t hesitate,” he adds. “Not only that, but she bit me. Just like an Omega should when wanting to claim her Alpha.”
“Not just when she wants to claim an Alpha, but her mate,” Maliki tells him. “You should have seen her bite my cock earlier.”
I wince, not because it sounds painful, but because his words… hurt.
He doesn’t notice, though, because his focus is on Morpheus as he muses, “Maybe she’ll offer a repeat performance later.”
“Styx, I hope so,” Maliki groans, leaning back in his chair. “She can mark me whenever and wherever the fuck she wants.”
Morpheus touches his lip, highlighting the crescent scar there. “We are in agreement on that, Enforcer.”
“I wonder where she’ll bite Hades,” Maliki murmurs, glancing back at me. “Any ideas or desires?”
His questions render me speechless as a deep-seated ache echoes inside my soul, one I’ve ignored for thousands of years. “I would just be pleased to be bitten,” I admit quietly.
Maliki frowns at that. Or maybe he frowns because he can sense the agony I’m failing to suppress.
“Persephone never bit you,” Morpheus whispers, his words not a guess but a statement.
I’m not sure how he came to that conclusion. Maybe because he can relate to the pain of an unestablished bond and recognized something in my tone. Or perhaps I don’t give him enough credit for his observational skills.
Regardless, I confirm his assessment by saying, “It wasn’t in her nature to bite.
” She let me claim her and, in fact, encouraged me to as well.
But she never marked me in response. “Our bond was complete in our own way.” I could hear her, and she could hear me.
Our souls were always fated, too. So I just… never pressed the issue.
But deep down, I mourned the lack of a mark.
So for Serapina to claim Maliki and Morpheus in this way, it… it gives me a sense of hope and dread. Hope that she’ll choose me like she’s chosen them. Dread that she’ll reject me because of everything we’ve been through.
I clear my throat. “Anyway, as Morpheus said, the past is… not what we need to focus on.”
“That’s not exactly what I said,” he replies softly. “But the sentiment is shared.” He leans forward. “So what should we do if she’s actually in heat right now? Other than knot her, of course.”
I shake my head. “I wish I knew, Cousin.” Because nothing about this is standard or expected. “My only suggestion is to try to discover what Demeter did and perhaps use Persephone’s memories to do that.”
“You could also try replicating whatever she’s done,” Maliki says, his expression thoughtful. “By working with Sera, I mean. Because maybe it’s not just her heat instincts that are buried right now, but her soul’s powers, too.”
I consider his words as I study Serapina again, wondering if he could be right. “You’re suggesting that her human shell is some sort of facade.” I frown. “Demeter does appear to possess a penchant for illusions.”
“When I took Serapina to the Mythos Fae Realm, no one recognized her as an Omega,” Morpheus replies in a slow, measured tone.
“I found it strange at the time but assumed it was related to whatever suppressant Demeter had crafted. So what if it isn’t a suppressant at all, but, as you said, an illusion of some kind? ”
“One we can only partially see through because our souls are fated,” I add, meeting Morpheus’s gaze. “So how do we shatter the mirage? Because both of you mating her didn’t work, which suggests my bite won’t fix it either.”
Silence falls between us for several beats. I comb my fingers through Serapina’s golden hair, my purr strengthening as my inner Alpha fights to solve this puzzle.
But I don’t know what to do or how to fix this.
“I think Maliki is right,” Morpheus finally says, voice soft. “You need to spend some quality time with Serapina and see what the two of you can re-create in terms of power. The answers are somewhere inside her soul, but you’re going to have to help her search.”
Maliki nods. “Yep. But try not to piss her off in the process, yeah?”
I look at him. “That’s helpful advice, thank you,” I deadpan.
He grins. “Just let me know when you start so I can make popcorn.”
“Maybe I’ll start by showing her how a soul gains access to the Death World,” I tell him.
“You do that in the way I think you’re suggesting, and you’ll piss her off,” he drawls back at me. “Which would be against my advice, by the way.”
I roll my eyes. “I know how to please an Omega, Maliki.”
“With your knot, sure. With your personality?” He pauses. “That’ll be a bit more work, I think.”
“He proved earlier that he knows how to make jokes,” Morpheus says conversationally. “Maybe he can make Serapina laugh?”
I push away from the table and stand with Serapina in my arms. “This mate-circle-meeting bullshit is done,” I inform them both. “Next time, I’m in charge of the discourse.”
“So we’ll all brood in silence, then?” Maliki asks.
My jaw ticks. “You’re lucky our Omega likes you,” I inform him quietly, allowing him to hear the lethal threat underlying my words.
But all he does is smile. “Luck has nothing to do with it, my lord. It’s all skill on my part. I mean, as you once told me, I’m good with women.”
“Men, too, from what I hear,” Morpheus comments.
Maliki glances at him. “Piqued your interest, have I?”
I don’t stay to hear the response, very much over this inane bonding session, and instead mist Serapina to the bedroom.
She’s still lost to her dreams, her deep sleep very heat-like. If Morpheus’s hypothesis is right, she’ll probably wake in a few hours and be ready to fuck again.
Or maybe not.
Nothing about this situation is typical or expected.
Which makes what Maliki and Morpheus said valid—I need to spend more time with Serapina. Get to know her mind. And solve this mystery… as a team.