Page 27 of Air of Seduction

I’ve only lost one elemental in the last two thousand years since the first one was born, and that was because he took the wrong mate. The fact that they didn’t truly love each other killed them both. And that disaster was the reason we took an oath never to fuck a human and never to mate. The first elemental mate was a human, and I became convinced that her nature was part of the reason why it went wrong.

It seems I’ve been proven wrong about that, though. Erica, Ingrid, and Olivia are all human, and Erica and Ingrid have both turned out to be a blessing for the team. They’ve even adopted some of their mate’s abilities, which was an outcome none of us predicted.

What will happen with Olivia remains to be seen, but it’s vital that she comes to accept Noah as her mate like the other women have. Because I doubt either of them will live for long if she doesn’t.

A true mate is different than a taken mate, something I’ve just fully understood in the last few days. True mates are fated, and the bond starts forming as soon as the two people meet. It might take them a little while to understand what they are to each other, but seldom more than a few days. A taken mate on the other hand is only a mate by choice and becomes one only after the act of mating.

I study the blond man in front of me. He’s adamant that she’s not, but I would be very surprised if Payton doesn’t turn out to be Ronan’s mate. We might have to help him see that, though.

I don’t know why the loss of Patricia struck him so deeply, but it did. And I might have been careless and allowed him too much time to get over her, but that stops now. He can’t deny fate any more than the rest of us. And if I have to be cruel to help him see that, I will.

Chapter 16

Payton

I stand in the doorway, staring at Olivia’s sleeping form. It took a while to help her settle down, but now she finally seems to rest peacefully.

After closing the door to her bedroom, I move into the living room of her small apartment. But instead of sitting down, I end up standing in the middle of the room.

The calm and comfort I usually feel in her space isn’t here anymore. Her lingering fear saturates the walls like a bad smell and prevents my lungs from drawing a full breath.

I still don’t know what Barry did to her apart from holding her captive. When I asked her about it, her mouth snapped shut, and she turned away from me. But her reaction was enough to tell me that whatever he did was bad.

I pull my phone from my pocket and stare at it. If only there was someone I could call that could help me. But I’m not sure there is, since Olivia wasn’t taken by a regular criminal, and Barry might have done things to her that a regular offender wouldn’t do. No one would understand, or even believe me if I told them what happened. Except Ronan.

I find his number and stare at it. He’s only a phone call away. Or a text. But I’m not sure he really wants to speak to me after what I did to him.

Although, he’s the one who purposely saved his number on my phone. If he didn’t want me to call him, then why bother?

And he did try to convince me to go back to Aidan’s house with him to make sure I was safe. He wanted Olivia to go, as well, but it was my hand he kneaded in his while he tried to persuade me.

I couldn’t go, though, because even though Olivia didn’t object at the time, I knew she would refuse to go with me. And there was no way I could let her go home alone after what she has been through.

Squeezing my eyes closed, I stuff my phone back into my pocket. It’s been hours since Lucas and Erica dropped us off outside Olivia’s apartment, but there hasn’t been one word from Ronan. If he really was as worried about me as he made it seem, why hasn’t he texted me?

An old saying pops into my head, and something twists in my stomach. Out of sight out of mind. Is that how it is? Has he already forgotten about me?

I guess our scorching kiss in the car didn’t mean anything to him, and his claim that we would continue where we left off later was just words.

But for some stupid reason, I believed those words. And for the same stupid reason, I thought he might want me for more than a couple of kisses. But then I’m clearly an idiot.

∞∞∞

Markus

The entrance hall in Aidan’s house is more crowded than I’ve seen it in a long time, if ever. Six people I’ve never met before, but Aidan has told me all about them so, at least in theory, I know who they are.

We’re not exactly known for throwing large parties or smaller parties, for that matter, so seeing this many peoplein this house feels strange. It’s not often the whole team of enforcers are gathered in one place, and when we are, it’s typically because there’s a serious threat to humans, supernaturals, or both. Because that’s what we do; we handle those threats that most people can’t deal with, and most people don’t even know about.

I’ve already been introduced to Callum and Vamika, our current tech support, and Henry and Eleanor, Lyn’s blood sister and her wolf alpha mate.

“And this is Nes and Gawen.” Aidan indicates the two people next to him, a woman with short spiky black hair and a man with white-blond hair like Ronan’s.

I stick out my hand toward Gawen. “I’ve heard a lot about you, and everything you did in Scotland.”

“That sounds ominous.” The man chuckles and takes my hand in a firm grip.

I jerk as a powerful force slams into my chest. I immediately try to yank my hand back, but my fingers won’t let go. They’re curled around his hand like a vice, and so are his around mine.