Levi marveled at how the group worked together and each had their own stories of war and mating. Yet they all fit together cohesively. He knew most of them had children, as well; though none of them were present at the moment. What he wouldn’t do for a taste of what they had.
Without thought, he looked across the table at Amara and froze. She stared at him, a little crease forming between her brows. It was as if she didn’t know what to make of him. Yet he knew that wasn’t recognition of their fate that he saw within the depths of her chocolate-brown eyes. It was confusion. Wondering why he was there, perhaps? Why he and Seth kept looking at her? Why she was there?
He didn’t know what she was thinking, what she wanted, but Seth’s words rolled around in his brain. It would pain them all when he spoke to her, when he told her what he and Seth were feeling, but standing by and letting nothing happen was an even worse mistake.
Tristan knew he wasn’t keeping his distance solely because of Amara’s feelings. He was scared. So damn scared that he’d lose everything. Things he didn’t have in the first place. Because once he spoke to her, once he told her about what he felt and the idea that their fate might be denied, he’d lose any chance at the dreams he had, at the idea of what could be. Things were in limbo at the moment. She didn’t know that two men wanted her for their own. Didn’t know that their worlds would be forever changed once the truth was out in the open. For now, she was safe, and he and Seth were the only two in pain. Once he revealed all, she’d be in the same agony as they were. He wasn’t sure he could do that.
But not doing anything would make him a coward. And Tristan Archer was no coward.
Amara turned away from him then to talk to Lily, the brownie mated to the warrior angel, Shade. But he’d caught the look of worry in Amara’s eyes before she moved her gaze from him.
“You will have to find a way to make this work,” Ambrose said softly from the other side of him. Ambrose was also a warrior angel. The man was even older than Tristan. In fact, he was pretty sure only Dante was older. He’d seen countless civilizations fall and rise from the ashes, and yet he’d found his true happiness in a demon named Balin, and Jamie, a djinn with eyes only for her men.
Tristan turned to the other man and frowned. “What do you mean?” He looked around them, making sure no one could hear the other man’s words. Though that would be out of his hands since practically everyone was supernatural.
“The only ones that can hear me are the ones with senses that allow that,” Ambrose continued. “And they know what I’m going to say as it is. We all know what you and Seth are feeling.” A shuttered expression passed over Ambrose’s face for a moment before he washed it away. “Talk to her. Get her away from here and find out what is going on. Because there is something going on.”
Tristan shook his head, even as Seth turned toward them. The merman sat on the other side of the table yet still a few people away from Amara. It was as if the group knew the three of them needed to be separated before they took the next step…or at least figured out what that next step was. Only, he was as confused as ever.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tristan lied.
Ambrose raised a white-blond brow. “Don’t I?” The angel shook his head. “Don’t let your stubbornness get in the way of what you could have.”
Tristan risked a glance at Amara, who had her attention on Lily and Shade rather than the other half of the table. His body pulsated just by looking at her, and he could imagine her dark red hair splayed across his pillow as he claimed her as his own.
Only that wouldn’t happen, and he had to get it out of his head.
Ambrose let out a curse under his breath, so low Tristan had almost missed it. “You’re more of a lost cause than I was.”
Tristan didn’t know the story behind the other triad’s mating or what exactly Ambrose had meant by that, and frankly, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. He knew he wasn’t thinking rationally when it came to Amara and Seth, and that killed him. He was a Conclave member and a fae prince, damn it. He held power and responsibly and didn’t shirk those. Only when it came to his personal life and what was left of it did he seem to be at a loss.
Seth met his gaze at that moment and heat flared between them.
Damn it.
If he and Seth didn’t get Amara alone soon and talk to her, he’d kick his own ass. His days of staying back from her and being afraid of what might not happen had to be over.
Amara’s phone buzzed at that moment, and she looked down at the screen, biting her lip as she did. Tristan wanted to take the phone from her and tell her everything would be okay, that she didn’t have to look so worried, but it wasn’t his place. And frankly, women in this century didn’t appreciate barbarian tendencies. At least, that’s what he’d heard from the others.
He was nine hundred years old and hadn’t been celibate by far, but he’d also only dated fae as he rarely left the realm other than to go to the Conclave. Fae women had their own set of rules when it came to sex and relationships, so he’d learned to live in that fashion.
Now things were different. The realms were becoming more open to other races as news of the lightning-struck women reached their barriers. He didn’t know how to react to a twenty-something human and a thirty-something merman. He was so far out of his depth, he was drowning. Yet he hadn’t done anything about the situation, and it had been months since he’d seen Amara at Faith and Levi’s home following the wizard attack.
If he weren’t careful, his indecision would be his undoing.
Amara stood from her chair then and sighed. “I need to take this. It’s my new boss. Sorry.” With that, she grabbed her bag and scurried toward the exit, leaving the rest of the table frowning after her.
Faith let out a curse and shook her head, her dark cap of hair swaying back and forth. “I hate that new job of hers.”
Tristan sat up straighter in his chair. “New job?” He’d been in the fae realm for the past month, and hadn’t heard that Amara had found new employment. He knew she’d been looking, and had heard that she’d subsequently declined offers of jobs and financial help from her friends.
“She’s working as a personal assistant to an asshole downtown,” Eliana explained. “Amara applied for the job because the man works in management for a series of hotels, and that’s what her degree is in. Yet her job doesn’t actually have anything to do with what she’s trained for. Instead, she gets him coffee, fetches his dry cleaning, and picks his kids up from soccer practice because, God forbid, he do it himself. And the man’s wife is too busy with all her committees and bullshit circles to deal with her own kids, as well.”
Tristan fisted his hands on the table. “There has to be a better job out there for her.”
“If she’d look for it, I’m sure she’d find it,” Lily supplied, a frown on her face. “Because she took a year off, her resume has that gap. It took her a while to find this new job. Now she’s afraid what will happen if she quits.”
Faith let out another curse, this time louder. “She took a year off to take care of me when I was in that damn coma. She wouldn’t let anyone else help because everyone wanted the wards in a neutral place to protect us. And now look what happened.” Levi held her close and kissed her temple, whispering something in her ear that Tristan couldn’t hear.
Faith had almost died on the battlefield protecting her friends, and Levi had been forced to create a bond between them. The resulting healing period had taken a while—a year for Faith to find her way back to the land of the living. Tristan knew of the events because of Levi, but he hadn’t known of Amara’s full involvement until now. Her self-sacrifice just made him want her more. Yet he also wanted to find her new boss and teach him a lesson or two when it came to messing with a fae’s mate.
“What will it take for her to find something somewhere she’s appreciated?” he asked. Seth nodded at him and gave him a small smile. It seemed the two of them were on the same page about Amara. The
y might not know the exact next steps, but standing back as they were and breaking their fate wasn’t working.
“What do you care?” Dante asked. He sat back in his chair, one arm over the back of Nadie’s as he absently played with Jace’s long, blond hair. The dragon might look relaxed, but there was nothing safe about a dragon, even in sleep.
“She’s mine,” he stated then looked at Seth, who had a brow raised. “Ours.”
“You have a funny way of showing it,” Eliana put in. “I mean, it’s been how many months since you showed up and joined our group of misfits? Yet all you’ve done is go all broody over Amara from afar.” She nodded at Seth. “And this one’s not much better.”
“We had our reasons,” Seth said, his voice calm. But Tristan heard the undercurrent of anger.
“We’ve all had our reasons for screwing up our matings, and yet, I don’t want Amara hurt,” Faith said. “I’m tired,” she said softly, and Levi held her closer. “I’m tired of all of us going through hell to find our happiness. I fought the bond because I didn’t have a choice when it came to be.” She looked at Levi then kissed his chin. “I was an idiot, but I learned to take life as it is and I found that I love this man.”
Levi grinned, and Tristan felt a sliver of jealousy slide through him. He didn’t want to be jealous. He didn’t want to feel like he couldn’t have what fate had deemed his. He wanted Amara and Seth in his life. He was far too old to be left wanting.
Yet, he was afraid.
And that wasn’t like him.
“Are you going to actually talk to her?” Lily asked. “I mean, it’s good and all that you recognize her as your true half.” She looked over at Seth. “That both of you have seen that. But you haven’t done anything about it. Is it because you’re afraid she doesn’t feel the same?”
The words were like a slash to the heart. Tristan raised his chin. “And you know that, then? That she doesn’t feel that we’re her mates?”
Lily shook her head. “We know nothing for sure.”
“She won’t talk about it with us,” Nadie said softly. “But just because she doesn’t feel it, doesn’t mean it’s not fate. We’re lightning-struck. Since when have we ever done anything normal? Maybe it’s because of what kind of paranormal she is. Maybe it’s because there’s two of you and she’s confused.” She held up her hand. “Each one of us who found our mate or mates has traveled a different path. Who’s to say Amara won’t have a completely different journey of her own?”
“You won’t know anything until you try,” Eliana put in.
“What do you think we should do, then?” Seth asked. “Short of locking her in a room or kidnapping her to one of our realms so we all have to talk it out, I just don’t know.”
Tristan snorted, a smile tugging at his lips. “I might be old and out of touch, but I can safely say kidnapping is not a way to entice a mate to your side.”
“If Malik were to kidnap me, I’d enjoy every minute of it,” Eliana said with a glint in her eye. She’d been dating the lion shifter for a few months, if what Tristan remembered was true. But neither of them had declared their intentions. However, he needed to worry about his mating, not someone else’s at the moment.
“Dirty,” Faith said with a grin and then turned her attention back to Tristan. “Don’t kidnap her, per se. But go outside right now and ask her to go with you. She needs to get out of this realm, Tristan.” Worry passed over her face. “She hasn’t left it in over a year, even though we’ve all invited her to our other homes.”
“She just keeps working for that new boss of hers and burying herself deeper and deeper into her own mind,” Becca added and frowned. “I love her, guys. She’s our sister. And she’s in pain. But we can’t be the ones to fix it. You have to be. So take her to the fae or mer realm and figure out what is going on with you three.”
“Just know if you put our friend in danger, we’ll not only kick you in the nuts, we’ll lop them off when we’re done with them,” Eliana put in and glared.
Tristan did his best to not cross his legs, and Seth pulled in an audible breath. “Are you sure you aren’t a dragon underneath?” he asked the only human left at the table.
She just raised her chin. “Who knows? But what I said wasn’t a threat, it was a promise.”
Tristan nodded. “Hurting Amara is not what I want.”
“And what do you want?” Dante asked. “Make your decision now before you go after her. Don’t break her because you’re in doubt.”
Seth stood then. “She’s ours. I may have let Tristan do the talking just now, but I won’t stand back any longer. She’s in pain...” He nodded at the table. “Thank you for the push.” He met Tristan’s gaze. “Coming?”
Tristan stood and looked into the eyes of the man who would be his mate if fate had anything to say about it.
“Yes. Let’s get our girl.”
Seth grinned, and they turned from the table and made their way to the door Amara had exited the club through earlier. Tristan could feel her; scent her on the other side. They were taking a step that could prove pain-ridden; yet he knew it was the only step he could take.
Without Amara and Seth in his life, he wasn’t sure he would be able to continue on. At least not like he had. He’d fought wars, helped build civilizations, loved and lost. But never mated.
Fate had paved the course in front of him, and now he had to take the next step. For himself, for Seth, for Amara, and for what could be.
Chapter Two
Amara Young ended her call with her employer and shut her eyes as tightly as she could. She hated the man’s voice, his demands, the way he looked right through her as if she didn’t exist beyond what she could do for him. Maybe if she wished hard enough, she’d have a new job and wouldn’t be forced to work with such an asshole.
Of course, she wasn’t a djinn like Jamie, and wishes didn’t work that way. Instead, she slid her phone back in her purse and opened her eyes, knowing she’d have to go back into Dante’s Circle and face her friends’ pitying stares.
And she’d have to face them.
Tristan and Seth.
The two men her body wanted, but weren’t hers. She didn’t feel the pull like the other women had described when they’d met their true halves. Tristan and Seth weren’t her mates, and lusting after two men without a mating bond wouldn’t get her what she wanted. What she needed.
A home.
A family.
A future.
Call her old-fashioned, but she wanted all of that. She’d never had it before. The environment she’d grown up in couldn’t really be called a family, and thanks to that and the obstacles life kept throwing in her way, she didn’t really have a home or a future like she wanted either.
The door opened behind her and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Seth and Tristan were there. She knew that just as she knew if she didn’t move from this spot and walk away, everything would change. She didn’t know how she knew it, but she did. It wasn’t fair that they weren’t her mates. Though having two men when she’d never really even had one was selfish in itself. Nadie and Jamie had each been lucky to find their triads, while Faith, Becca, and Lily had found just one man to complete them.
Maybe one day Eliana and Amara would be able to find their fates, as well.
Hers just wouldn’t be with Seth or Tristan.
“What’s wrong, darling?” Tristan asked as he came forward.
She took a step back without thinking and wanted to kick herself at the look on Tristan’s face. It wasn’t quite pain—maybe hurt in some way? She wasn’t sure, but either way, she’d put it there. She hadn’t meant to, but as they said…good intentions and all.
“I’m sorry, I just…anyway, what are you two doing out here?” she asked as she gripped the handle of her bag tightly. She didn’t feel threatened by the two large men in front of her, far from it, but she didn’t feel comfortable either.
She could never feel fully comfortable around them. No
t when she wanted to climb their bodies and see just exactly how big and hard they were.
Her cheeks heated, and Tristan raised a brow at her as if he could fully sense her thoughts. She knew he was fae, but didn’t know what powers came with that. For all she knew, the man could actually hear her thoughts.
“We came to ask you a question, actually,” Seth said as he moved closer to Tristan’s side. The two men’s arms brushed ever so slightly, and each of them stiffened before relaxing.
Interesting.
If only the three of them were mates. If they were, then all of this attraction would make sense, wouldn’t it? Because there was no way the need she felt was normal. And if she kept telling herself that, maybe she’d start to believe it.
Instead of dwelling on what would never be, she stared into Seth’s eyes and became lost. They weren’t blue or green, but rather aquamarine, as if the color had been pulled from the shallowest depths of the most glorious ocean. She’d never seen him in his merman form, yet she knew he’d be even more beautiful in it.
Tristan was no slouch either, with those forest green eyes and regal cheekbones of his. She knew he was far older than she and Seth but didn’t care. Her life had changed the day the lightning flared within Dante’s Circle, and now she knew to take life and the experiences and new revelations that came with it as they came.
“What did you want to ask?” she finally said, her voice husky. She quickly cleared her throat, not wanting Tristan and Seth to know how much she craved them. They were paranormals, looking for mates, someone to spend their lives with in a most momentous fashion. They wouldn’t want to waste their time on a human that couldn’t be theirs. She wouldn’t shift into her other half without her mates, and even then, she might be different.
She’d always been different from the others in some way. Perhaps she was the only one who, despite the lightning, would never shift, would never find a mate in the ways the others had.
Seth studied her face but didn’t touch her. Instead, he frowned and tilted his head as if trying to figure out what she was thinking.
An Immortal's Song (Dante's Circle #6) Page 2
