Tainted roots

Ari didn't wake me up early. Instead, I awoke to sunlight streaming in through the gap in my curtains. Which somehow managed to hit me right in the face. I rolled over and threw a pillow over my head, but the damage was done.

Giving up on sleep, I climbed out of bed and got ready for my day. Dressing in a pair of leggings and a loose-fitting shirt—perfect for sitting around a library researching. I didn't bother with my hair, and just pulled it into a ponytail, not caring if it looked messy.

Ari was already in the kitchen, standing on the counter, reaching into the top shelf of a cabinet.

"Did Ander hide food from you again?" I asked, leaning against the granite island counter.

"Damn blood mage, using his stupid fucking blood magic to cheat," she grumbled as she reached into the cabinet until her shoulder and side of her face were pressed against the cabinet.

While she continued searching and swearing, I pulled out a container of yogurt from the fridge. Instead of sitting on one of the stools, I opted to sit on the island counter, eating as I watched Ari move onto the next cabinet. "Isn't it a little obvious to hide food in the cabinets?"

Moments later I ate my words when Ari cackled with delight as she pulled out a box of glazed donuts. Energy radiated off of the box, letting me know Ander had cast to hide the scent. She plopped onto the counter, pulling out a donut and instantly devouring it. After finishing off her fifth, Ari closed the lid and left them sitting on the counter as she left the room. Before she left, she pointed at me, telling me not to take my eyes off them. Rolling my eyes, I finished off my yogurt as I waited for her to return.

When she came back a few minutes later, it was with a green crystal in hand. One with a rune carved into the surface that she stuck in the box, before hiding said box in one of the lower cabinets. Laughing under her breath the entire time she did so.

"You two are absolutely ridiculous," I said as I discarded the empty container.

"He started it," Ari grumbled, wiping a sterilizing wipe over the cabinets, meant to mask her scent. It didn't completely hide her scent, but it made it seem less fresh.

Those two had been at this for years, and have even gone as far as hiding the food in random rooms.

"My word is, that Jade I see? Out of the house before six?" A deep voice called out as we exited the house.

Sitting on the steps leading up to his house, was our new neighbor Parker. The morning sun accentuated the blonde highlights in his dirty blonde hair. Curly strands brushed his shoulders as he leaned back and rested his elbows on the top step, spreading his long jean-clad thighs in the process. A white long-sleeved shirt molded to the muscles of his chest and arms—not to mention complimented his sun-kissed skin. His light brown eyes glittered with amusement as he watched us.

There was no denying it, the sorcerer was gorgeous. Especially when he flashed his wicked grin, full of dirty promises. If I wasn't tied down with this bond and ruined for all other men, I would've seriously considered fucking him.

Almost three weeks ago, he moved into the house next door and made a point to introduce himself to us. And for some reason, Ari and I both decided to make lame jokes about his name. Ari asked if he had siblings named "Driver" and "Reverser". While I went with a classic: Parker? I hardly know her. It wasn't too surprising when he didn't laugh. Even Ander looked embarrassed to be friends with us.

Ari chuckled, nudging my shoulder with hers. "And I didn't even have to drag her out of bed kicking and screaming."

"What has Jade willing to brave the morning sun?" Parker asked casually.

"The library," I answered, not giving any more details. It wasn't like I distrusted Parker. Just the opposite. I could see us becoming good friends in the future, but I wasn't ready to let those outside of our house know I had been ditched by my fated mate. Hell, I hadn't even told Reed, but I suspected the others had.

Parker raised an eyebrow, obviously not believing me. "You got up early—which you've never done the entire time I've lived here—just to go to the library? Yeah, I'm not buying it."

"Well we're not selling anything, so fuck off," I called out over my shoulder as I stepped onto the cobblestone walkway. He wasn't offended by my response, in fact, his amused chuckle followed us as we took the pathway into town.

The library was a multilevel building with tall windows. Inside was one giant room, where if you stood in the center, you could look up and see the many different levels of the library along with the ceiling. As we entered the building, we were immediately greeted by the rich scent of paper, with a hint of vanilla.

Rows upon rows of wooden bookshelves covered the space. Nearly any and every type of book was here. Human-written paranormal romance books? We got it. Books about human and Mythic histories? It's on the third floor.

In the center of the room was a podium with a crystal the size of my fist, and when Ari waved her hand over the top, it lit up a projected screen with a list of book genres. After searching for fated mates, we were directed to the fifth floor. Where there was a whole section dedicated to the subject.

I quickly scanned through dozens of books, and so far I wasn't finding anything I hadn't already known. One book mentioned how you shouldn't attempt sleeping with someone that wasn't your mate—which I technically hadn't known before last night, and would've been helpful had I come here after the first time—but it didn't tell you what to do if you were a dumbass and tried it.

Obviously at least one Mythic was as dumb as me and did so, otherwise they wouldn't have known about the symptoms, but there wasn't anything written about them or what happened. Which probably wasn't a good sign.

Another book spoke of how fated mates didn't need to switch court allegiances to be mated. One mentioned how Mythics of different races could be fated mates, but when they had children their child would take the race one of their parents, not both. Hybrids weren't a thing in our species.

Just when I was close to throwing the book I was currently holding, I came across a passage talking about how fated mates could feel each other's emotions: As the cord of the fates solidifies, the mates will begin feeling the other's emotions as if they were their own. This allows the mates to be able to sense if the other is in danger. Shit. I mean, I already suspected this, but to have it confirmed fucking sucked. Not to mention, was a complete invasion of privacy.

A sense of horror froze my body as realization hit me. If I felt his emotions, then that meant he was able to sense mine. Strung together curse words filled the air as I began panicking. The last thing I wanted him to know was how devastated I was when he left—even though I was pretty sure it was obvious just by looking at my face—or how I was still destroyed by his absence. It was humiliating for him to know how attached I was when he didn't feel the same way. He wouldn't have left otherwise.

"What's wrong?" Ari asked, peering up from her stack of books.

"This damn book just confirmed the emotion-sensing theory," I answered, my voice sounding hollow. Ari patiently waited, knowing that wasn't what had me so upset. "This entire time he's been able to sense my emotions."

"Ah." That was all she said as she leaned back in her chair. The table she sat at was one of the many in the middle of the fated mates' section of the library. I, on the other hand, was too wired to sit down. Reading technical books was boring enough, if I sat down, I'd probably be out cold within the hour.

She sawed her bottom lip between her teeth, as she stared off into space. "Do you feel his emotions right now?"

Her question pulled me out of my downward spiral, and for once, I actively reached for the cord. I didn't know if it was a good thing or not, but I came up empty. "No."

Cocking her head to the side, she asked, "How often do you feel the cord?"

"At least once a day."

"And are you able to sense his emotions every time?"

Even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I thought back to every time I felt the pulsing cord, trying to remember if I ever felt emotions that seemed out of place. "I think I might've felt them one other time."

Ari slowly nodded. "With your bond being incomplete, you don't always sense the cord, and therefore his emotions. So I doubt he has a direct line to your emotions—he probably only senses yours when you do his."

A relieved breath whooshed out of my lungs as I flopped into the chair beside Ari.

I dragged my hands down my face with a groan. "Have you been able to find anything useful?"

"Yes, but you won't like it."

"Just tell me." My voice was muffled by my hands still covering my face.

"You have to fuck your mate," she said bluntly, making my hands slide off my face. I shot her an incredulous look, hoping she was making a tasteless joke, but she just shrugged. "In simple terms, you've upset your bond and the only way to calm it down is to reaffirm it in some way—also known as fucking your mate."

"That is the last thing I want to do," I whispered in horror, trying to keep my voice from rising.

Ari held up her hands in a placating gesture. "I know, and unfortunately I haven't found anything else yet."

* * * * * * * *

I groaned and dropped my head on the table, mentally drained from the hours of research. We found plenty about fated mates, but nothing else about calming down the bond—other than "reaffirming the bond" with your mate. It said that in many books and each time I wanted to scream and throw the damn thing across the room.

If my mate had wanted to be with me, I wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place. Hell, even if I wanted to reaffirm our bond, I had no clue where he was and when he'd be back. If he ever came back.

After we left the library, we found ourselves at a cafe a couple of buildings down. Because according to Ari, I was hangry. Which I couldn't deny, because as soon as I started eating, my irritation went down a fraction.

The entire time I ate, I couldn't stop my whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. Over the past month, I sometimes wondered how I would react if I ever saw him again. Would I try and kick his ass? Would I tell him off? Or would I be a pathetic moron and fall back into his arms, and forget all the pain he caused me? In all honesty, I wasn't sure which option it would be, and that terrified me.

Ari's sigh pulled me out of my chaotic thoughts and dragged my attention to the glowing crystal table, showing court-wide news. "What's going on?" I asked, unable to read upside down.

A crease formed between her brows as she stared down at the table. "There's been more reports of violent outbursts."

Over the past few weeks, there had been random attacks and outbursts. Every time the Mythics involved were questioned, they each claimed they had no memory of the attack. Based on the reports, no one knew what was causing it, or if they even had memory loss. From what I've heard, there has been no pattern to the attacks. And it wasn't happening in just one court or territory; the reports have been coming in from every court.

To make matters worse, there had been a steady increase in Mythics vanishing without a trace. Sorcerers and sorceresses have been unable to find their magical signatures. Blood mages couldn't track them by blood. Summoners were unable to scent anything unusual, nor could they follow the scent of the missing. Now, the elementals have felt a shift in nature—Harmony has mentioned she felt the shift—but they had no idea as to what caused it.

Something was going on in our realm, and I had a sinking suspicion it had something to do with those damn creatures. There haven't been any sightings of them, but it was too big of a coincidence that all this began right after the attack on the Lunar Eclipse court. After they created a rift between our two realms.

"Where did it happen this time?"

Ari looked up from the table, worry filling her expression. "The Sandstone City."

My stomach sank. The sandstone city was in the Fire court, where Reed has been for the past month. I still had no fucking idea why he was even there in the first place. Nor did I know why it seemed like he'd been avoiding it the past couple of years. "Did it mention any names?"

Ari gravely shook her head as she pursed her lips. It wasn't all too surprising. The only reason the attacks and disappearances were probably reported, was because it was happening throughout the realm. If it had only been happening in one court, they would've kept it a secret. Case and point, the attack on the Lunar Eclipse court. The details on it were on the light side, and there had been no reports on the rift.

Unable to get rid of the growing pit in my stomach, I sent Reed a message, asking if he was okay. Once I was done, I anxiously waited for his response. Hoping this wasn't one of those times he didn't respond for hours because he was busy getting laid.

When several minutes passed with no reply, I sent a message to Ander, asking if he'd heard from Reed recently. And unlike Reed, he responded right away. He's okay. He's not one of the missing. Come home as soon as you can. I frowned down at my wristband as I powered it down, before relaying Ander's message. Ari exhaled sharply as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "He better not start getting overprotective again, and try enforcing a curfew—again."

Memories of the shocked look on Ari's face, when Ander first tried to enforce curfew had me laughing. That wasn't a battle he won, not by a long shot. At the time it hadn't been funny, but now it was something I looked back on and laughed at.

"There's only one way to find out," I said still chuckling as I pushed my chair back.

"Should we go home right away, or should we make Ander wait a little while?"

I pursed my lips as I cocked my head to the side. "Tempting, but I don't think we should try and push Ander right now."

Ari huffed out an exaggerated breath, climbing to her feet. "Fun-sucker."

I had a suspicion that Ander wanted to talk about what happened in the Fire court, and there was a good chance he knew more than us. If that was the case, I definitely wanted to be home as soon as possible. I was done with being out of the loop.