by J. S. Scott
“Fuck!” Kristoff exploded, moving Athena out of the way so he could move again. He was restless and quite honestly horrified by imagining where his mate could be right now. “Thanks for reminding me,” he growled at Hunter.
Athena propped her hands on her hips. “Just where do you expect us to look for her? You mated with her. You should have a connection to her. What’s happening? Where is she?”
“I don’t know. Dammit! I can’t feel her!” For Kristoff, that was the scariest part of his mate’s disappearance.
He’d followed her essence, able to track her only so far before he lost his communication with her. It was as if her thoughts had suddenly closed off completely.
“Where in the hell is my sister?” Zach bellowed as he popped into the room with Kat.
“She’s gone. We mated and she disappeared,” Kristoff admitted as he glared at Zach.
Kristoff felt himself suddenly slammed against the wall, his mate’s angry brother holding him against the surface by his neck.
“You swore you’d protect her. She can’t be gone. Not again,” Zach said angrily.
He had failed Zach, and he could see the look of anguish on his face, even though his tone was furious. But he was already on the edge. He shoved Zach away, sending him flying until his Sentinel slammed into the wall on the other side of the room.
“I know you’re pissed off,” Kristoff told Zach angrily. “But stay the fuck off me. I just lost my mate. I don’t need your shit right now.”
Athena spoke up and turned to Zach. “You have no right to be angry. You lost your own mate when you bonded, and Kristoff pulled your ass out of the fire. Maybe you should remember that.”
Kat raced to Zach’s side, but she stayed silent as she made sure he wasn’t injured.
“Maybe you should all get a grip.” The words came from a much calmer Drew who had just appeared with Talia seconds earlier. “Is this bickering going to help Sophie?”
Kristoff shook his head, knowing his most levelheaded Sentinel was right. He needed to connect with Sophie, but he still couldn’t feel her, and her silence was driving him toward madness. Being bonded, then losing his connection made him dangerously unstable.
“What happened?” Drew asked in a rational voice.
Athena quickly explained to Drew what had occurred.
Drew nodded. “Athena is right. We know Sophie is a special radiant. She must have a skill that could possibly be out-of-control right now.” He hesitated before asking, “You really can’t connect with her?”
“No,” Kristoff snapped.
Zach and Kat drew closer, the look on Zach’s face somber as his mate ventured, “What could her skill be? I think all of the Sentinels felt the balance snap back into place when Kristoff mated with Sophie. The release of Sophie’s power was noticeable. That’s why we came here. It’s probably why Drew and Talia did, too.”
The couple nodded their agreement.
“What need do we still have?” Athena asked, almost as if she was talking to herself.
“The prophecies didn’t give us a clue,” Talia observed. “I never thought about the fact that Sophie was obviously going to have a special power since her actions of bonding to Kristoff righted the Universe again. We’re rock solid. I thought that would be her contribution.”
Kristoff had never thought about it either, but he wished he had. He had needed Sophie, and he could sense she needed him, too. The fact that she’d disappear to go find her destiny had never fucking entered his mind.
“I need to go probe for her,” Kristoff decided. “I’ll search every damn dimension on Earth to see if I can make contact with her.”
“It’s not the dimension that’s blocking her,” Zach argued. “You should still be able to reach out to her. It has to be Sophie blocking you.”
“She can’t,” Kristoff countered. “She doesn’t have the power to block me, and we’re bonded now. There’s something else happening.”
Unable to sit and try to reason anything out, Kristoff left Hunter’s home, determined to search as long as he had to in order to bring his mate back to his side.
He needed her, and deep down he knew that she needed him, too.
He didn’t question it.
He didn’t second guess whether or not he deserved her.
He was done living a half-life.
Wherever Sophie was right now, he’d find her, and he was determined to make her happy.
I just need the chance.
He regretted every moment that he’d spent fighting their bond. When he should have embraced it, he’d fought like hell not to give in. Now, she belonged to him. Sophie was his to protect, his to adore, his to spoil, and he’d start just as soon as he had her by his side again.
“Kristoff?” Athena yelled as her half-brother disappeared.
He didn’t hear her. The king had already gone in search of his mate.
Sophie had appeared in a place she’d never been before, dazed at first because she didn’t recognize the man she was watching.
Knowledge came to her effortlessly, and she knew instantly that the dark-haired man lying in his bed was a warrior Sentinel, one who had fought the recent war against the Evils. He was still recovering, but his eyes were opening slowly. As she held her breath, afraid what he’d think of her just appearing in his home, she breathed a sigh of relief that he obviously couldn’t see her.
She was like a phantom that he was unable to visualize as he looked around his empty home groggily.
He needs his mate!
As weird as everything was right now, Sophie didn’t question the fact that she knew that this Sentinel’s intended mate had been one of the women who had died at the hands of the Evils. An unbound radiant who had died a few decades ago.
Bethany!
She was one of the unfortunate women that Sophie remembered well and had befriended.
Relaxing, feeling the urgency to fall into another dimension, Sophie allowed herself to float until she reached a small space that was brilliant with light.
“Mate of Sentinel warrior, Randolph…come to me.” The words left her mouth in a loud command, and her hand stretched out to grasp the bolt of light that raced toward her.
Bethany’s soul. It’s been kept here all this time, and the rest of them are all here, too. They were never really gone. They were all…waiting.
A heart-pounding happiness spurred Sophie on with her task, leaving the light-filled dimension and letting herself be taken to the woman who would be Randolph’s mate.
It didn’t surprise her when she appeared in a strange house, but her heart ached as she saw a woman crying at a small kitchen table, her face in her hands, her sobs so heartbreaking that Sophie could see her pain.
Some man used her and left her. She thinks she’ll never be loved.
Sophie sensed immediately that the weeping woman’s soul was so broken that it would never heal. Time after time, she’d searched for a man who would love her just the way she was. And time after time, she’d been hurt even more than the time before until she had nothing left to give. No man had ever adored her, and like Sophie herself, the female was desolate that her physical appearance was going to keep her from finding the man she dreamed of encountering.
“Not an earthly one,” Sophie muttered to herself. “It’s not your destiny.”
This woman had been born to be a radiant, but she’d lacked the radiant energy and a target male.
Sophie realized there were other women like this, females born to replace the mates of those who had perished. They’d never be happy, never find the man they longed for because they were fated to be something...more. They were meant to be with a Sentinel. It was the only way they’d find what they were longing to have.
“No more pain for you, sister,” Sophie said emphatically as she floated toward the woman and put he
r palm on her upper back. The soul meant for Randolph entered the unhappy woman’s body with a flash of light, her body jerking suddenly as she stopped crying.
Sophie smiled as she stood back and surveyed the situation, watching as the woman rose with a sense of determination and went to make herself something to eat.
“Eat well my new friend. You’ll need the energy to deal with a Sentinel,” Sophie warned the woman as she felt herself floating away, knowing that somehow Randolph would now find his mate. They’d encounter each other in the near future, and both of them would stop longing and start living for the first time.
This is my special skill. This is what I’m supposed to do. I’m meant to help all of the Sentinels who lost their radiants find them again.
Sophie was euphoric as she landed in Kristoff’s bedroom. Maybe she couldn’t bring back the exact mates that the Sentinels had lost, but she could bring back the radiant souls and meld them together with another woman who had been born to reincarnate the Sentinel mates.
The women she’d watched die hadn’t ever really disappeared. Although their bodies hadn’t been strong enough to endure, their souls had been kept safely to someday be reunited with their Sentinel.
As she solidified, she said joyously, “Best. Job. Ever.”
“Sophie!” The anguished and angry voice of the Sentinel king roared out in the distance.
I’m here. I’m at your house. She sent the message out mentally to Kristoff immediately, sensing he was distressed. They’d been disconnected during the time she’d turned into some sort of phantom, losing her contact with her mate.
She waited, knowing he had to be frantic. If he had disappeared on her, she’d be devastated.
When she was in phantom form, her mind had disconnected with his, making it impossible to send him a message that she was okay.
When she was in the moment, she hadn’t thought about it because what she’d been doing was so surreal that she simply followed her instincts.
Now, she realized that the disconnection had been painful, and she was exhausted.
Dizzy, she sat down on the bed.
“Where in the hell did you go!” Kristoff roared as he appeared in front of her.
She looked up at him, realizing with relief that their minds and bodies were connected again. Their bond hadn’t been broken. It had just been temporarily blocked.
Sophie stood, looking at him with amazement. “I’m not sure you’ll believe me. I’m not sure I quite believe it myself.”
Kristoff took her by the shoulders and shook her gently, even though Sophie knew he was nearly out of his mind. “You scared the fucking hell out of me. Where were you, Sophie. What happened?”
She became dizzier and dizzier, and she slumped into Kristoff’s chest. He caught her and held her against his strong, powerful body. His arms came around her protectively, holding her in a vise-like grip that Sophie couldn’t have broken if she wanted to…which she didn’t.
Even though what had occurred still seemed like a dream, she knew it was real. But it had taken a toll on her body.
With the energy she still had left, she told him simply, “I have a skill. It seems that I’m a matchmaker.”
Kristoff began to shoot questions to her, but Sophie heard nothing more. Her world went black, but she wasn’t worried. She’d never be scared again as long as her mate held her in his capable arms.
She let the darkness take her, knowing Kristoff would take care of her.
Kristoff didn’t let go of Sophie the entire night, nor did he sleep. He watched over his mate as she slept a healing sleep, discovering what had happened by sharing her memories.
A matchmaker? How in the hell had that happened? She was more like a restorer of radiants.
While he was grateful that his men would find their radiants like it was meant to be, he sure as hell didn’t like the stress it put on his mate’s body.
He watched the sunrise, the light filtering through the bedroom window as he held his entire life in his arms, wishing he could will her some of his strength. There was nothing he wouldn’t give to keep Sophie from harm.
If this was her task, he couldn’t keep her from doing what was in her power to do for his men. On the other hand, the thought of her drifting away from him again made him completely and unreasonably insane.
Her task would be never-ending. The soul of every radiant lost was in the small, soul-holding dimension. It wasn’t just the women who died in the demon realm. Every radiant who died before meeting her mate from some tragedy had their soul on hold, waiting for Sophie. And there would be more. There had always been some Sentinels who had never found their mate. Now that Sophie was here, it was her task to restore them all in the right women.
He was fucking conflicted. Never again did he want to feel disconnected from his mate. Yet his men deserved to be as happy as he was being bonded to his radiant.
“I can help.” Athena’s voice was unnaturally quiet as she approached the bed where he rested with Sophie.
He didn’t take time for the niceties. “How? And how did you even know what happened?”
“I was called,” Athena informed him sleepily, like she’d just gotten out of bed. “The oracles still speak to me occasionally.”
“So you know what happened?”
She nodded.
“How in the hell do I make a decision between my men and my mate? My duty and my life? Damn the fates for giving Sophie this power but making her pay every time she does it. The souls are endless, Athena,” he told the goddess huskily.
“I hold the remedy, Kristoff. You don’t have to make that choice. You’ll never have to make that choice. I didn’t make you a king to have you tormented. You’ve waited a long time for Sophie. It’s your time to be happy now.” She moved forward and stood by the bed.
“What do I have to do?” he asked anxiously, ready to do whatever it took to keep his mate from feeling anything but joy in the future. “Sophie’s had enough suffering.”
Athena reached over and placed her hand gently on the top of Sophie’s head. “You don’t have to do anything. I’ll give her what she needs to get through a reincarnation without losing contact with you, and without it being so hard on her physically. It’s not my power. It’s a gift I’ve always been holding for Sophie. I just never knew it until tonight.” She paused and looked at Kristoff. “Giving her this gift will take away her scars, restore her to what she should have been. Are you okay with that?”
Kristoff really didn’t want Athena to change a hair on Sophie’s head, but if it meant that she could be stronger, powerful enough for them to stay connected and still do her job, he didn’t care if her physical appearance changed.
Finally, he nodded at the hesitating goddess. “Do it. She sees her scars as ugly, so I doubt she’ll mind. And they’re a reminder every day to Zach about how he feels he failed her.” He paused before adding, “I don’t like seeing her changed at all. I love her. But I’ll love her no matter what changes happen to her physical appearance. It doesn’t matter. It never has.”
Athena shot him a soft smile and quickly transferred her gift to Sophie without waking her up. As she pulled her hand away, she told him, “She’ll still sleep for a while. But next time will be better.”
“I sure as hell hope so,” Kristoff rasped. “If it isn’t, I’ll lose my mind.”
Athena rose up, shooting her brother a questioning look. “Does she know that you love her?”
She didn’t. Not yet. But Kristoff knew he’d spill his guts pretty quickly when she recovered. There was no way he could hide anything from her for long.
“No,” he answered simply.
“Tell her,” Athena suggested. “I know from experience that a radiant needs to hear it. I think we get all hung up on the bond, but we want to be loved, too.”
Kristoff wasn’t quite sure how Soph
ie could not know how he felt, but since their joining didn’t start off all that well, maybe she didn’t. “She’s everything to me, Athena. A miracle I never expected.” He no longer felt like he needed to be guarded with his half-sister. In some ways, he’d always kept himself distant from everyone. Now, he wanted to be closer to his sister and get to know his daughter.
“I know,” the goddess answered. “But it helps to hear the words.”
“She’ll hear them,” Kristoff vowed.
Kristoff had never had the time to have a real discussion with Athena since she’d gotten freed by Hunter. “Are you really happy?” he asked curiously. “With Hunter?”
Athena sighed. “It could never have been with anyone but Hunter. He was always my protector, always sacrificing for me. I wish I would have known. I would have sent for him sooner. He went through a lot more pain than he needed to experience. When I asked you to send him to me, I still didn’t know why. I just knew he held the key to something. I didn’t know just how vital he was to my own happiness.”
Kristoff regretted every punishment that Hunter had ever had to take for his behavior…now. At the time, he had been frustrated as he’d watched one of his friends sliding down a slippery slope that he was certain wasn’t going to end well. “He can be an asshole,” Kristoff warned her.
“Not anymore,” Athena told him with humor in her voice. “Okay…yeah…maybe he is still a smartass, but he’s a happy one. He’s a good man. None of it was his fault. Kind of like you.” She winked at him.
Kristoff was stunned by just how little anybody blamed him for what he used to be. “Do the rest of the Sentinels know?”
“What?”
“What I used to be. That we’re related. That I was a killer.”
Athena frowned at him. “Yes, they know. Before they went out to help search for Sophie, I thought it was better that they know everything. I wasn’t sure at the time how any of it could be related, but I did give up your secrets. I’m sorry.”
Kristoff shook his head. “Don’t be sorry. Anything you ever do to better help protect my mate isn’t an issue to me.” He hesitated before asking, “What did they say?”
