21

Emily stood in shock as the word ‘mate’ rocketed through her mind. Mate. The word mate was always found throughout paranormal books. Even her own books had her characters finding their mates. Finding a mate was when one being found their other half. Their soulmate. Their mate who they couldn’t live without. A mate wasn’t someone passing through someone’s life. A mate was someone for forever. 

“Kian...” she wasn’t sure what to say. Part of her was jumping for joy. The other part of her wanted to tell Kian to shove the mate talk up his ass. 

“I know my actions haven’t shown it. I was selfish.” He took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. His eyes finally rested on Emily. “I should’ve told you from day one. Instead, I let Nikki get in my head about the chance of you leaving and never coming back.” 

Emily didn’t speak. She didn’t know what to say. Even if she knew the words, she doubted she could say them out loud. The sadness in Kian’s voice made her choke up. 

“Please? Don’t leave me?” he pleaded.

Silence stood between them. All they did was look at each other. Emily wasn’t confident in the words she had finally managed to dig up in her mind. He had her heart. She had given him twenty-four hours to reveal the secret; however, the lie had started as soon as they met. He had waited days to tell her. Maybe even weeks. Emily had no clue what the date was. All she knew was not once had he brought up him having something to tell her.

As much as she was mad at him, she was mad at herself. With all the suspicions she had towards the town, she should have just asked him about it. Maybe then he would have told her. All the heartache would have been spared. Instead, she kept her questions to herself leading to this; her and Kian standing in the middle of an apartment complex trying to mend something that had barely begun. 

“How long has Selma known?” She finally gained the courage to ask. 

“That I’m not sure. I figured Cas wouldn’t tell her until after I told you.” Kian shrugged. “He didn’t tell me she knew. However, we aren’t that close. Wolf shifters and incubi aren’t the best of friends in our world.” 

“Then who are you friends with?” 

“I really don’t have friends. James is part incubus so we have things in common, but he’s also a shifter. Like I said before, I was a loner until you. I was okay not having anyone around me.” He stepped towards Emily and took her hand in his. “Everything changed when I met you, sweetheart.”

“You’re an incubus, Kian. That’s probably your line to pick up women.” She watched him wince at her words. His shoulders slumped.

“I can understand...” he cleared his throat. “I can understand how you might see it like that. But I’m an incubus who has found his mate. That’s a whole different world, sweetheart.” 

“I just don’t understand. How can an incubus care about anyone? How can a moose fit in an elevator?” Kian chuckled.

“Frank.” Emily raised an eyebrow. 

“The moose. His name is Frank. He’s a moose...”

“Shifter?” Kian laughed and nodded his head.

“What about dog boy? Werewolf?” 

“I like that nickname,” he admitted smirking. “Dog boy will probably flip hearing that.” Emily shrugged. 

“He deserves it! He caused the accident.” He was no longer smiling. Instead, he was frowning.

“Yes. That he did.” He gritted through his teeth. “I wanted to kill him. If you hadn’t woken up the next day, I would have.”

“I can...” Her brain calculated everything he had said to her when she woke up. “Wait! You said I was out two days. Or was it three days?” 

“Oh,” he breathed. “Yeah. Um... we needed a reason to explain how you healed so fast.” Emily placed her hands on her hips.

“How did I heal so fast?” 

“Honestly, Nikki and I both don’t know how. One minute your face was bruised and scraped up. Within twelve hours, there wasn’t a scratch on you.” 

“I’ve always been a fast healer, but not that fast, Kian.” 

“I swear. You healed just as fast as me.” Emily sighed. Everything boggled her mind. The more they talked the more insane everything seemed.

You’re never going to forgive me, Kian thought.

“Forgiveness isn’t something that comes easily for me, Ki—” She clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized his lips hadn‘t moved. “Did I just...” The rest of the sentence she couldn’t form. 

Reading minds shouldn’t have surprised her compared to everything else she had just learned. However, reading minds had always been one of those powers she said she would never want. Reading minds invaded privacy. She imagined everyone’s thoughts would flood her mind. 

“I don’t want to be able to read minds...” Panic struck her. Her heart raced. Her lungs stole her breath. She felt like the world was spinning. Even her stomach was reacting to her panic. She placed her hand on her stomach. It’s okay. We’ll be okay, she said to her stomach.

“You’ll learn to control it. I can teach you. Or James if I’m not around. Although, I prefer you stay away from him since he is an incubus, and he’s clearly attracted to you. I’d have to...” He stopped talking when he realized Emily was staring at him. “I mean, if you stay,” he whispered. 

“I don’t even have a car,” she groaned. “Hell, how come you haven’t left?” 

“Ugh. That’s a story in itself.”

“I have no car so I have the time.” She sat down on the parking lot curb. Kian sat next to her. 

“As you said before, we’re trapped in time. At least we think we’re trapped in time. We haven’t been able to leave Camden in forever. We didn’t even know if there was still a world outside the force field.”

“Force field?” He nodded. “How did Selma and I get in then if none of you can leave?” 

“That’s the thing. None of us know how. That’s why Gabby showed up the first night wanting to talk to you. He is desperate to get out of Camden.”

“I feel his pain,” Emily muttered. Kian took a deep breath and sighed. “Sorry. Go on about the force field. How did it get there?”

“That would be Malakai’s fault.”

“Malakai?” 

“He’s the mayor.” 

“He cast the force field?” Kian laughed and shook his head. 

“If only it was that simple. Then he could undo it. Instead, he is the one who caused it because he messed with a spell Nikki was doing. No one really knows what kind of spell. We all just know Malakai interfered. Intentional? We aren’t sure of that either.” 

“So this... Malakai is the one who trapped you all in time?” Kian turned to her. His face was full of worry. 

“Yes.”

“Is Malakai in hiding? Is that why I haven’t seen him?” 

“Ha! He needs to be in hiding. But after the first decade, we gave up on wanting to kill him.” 

“That’s horrible.” 

Emily couldn’t help but feel sad for Kian and everyone else in the town. She hated being stuck in the clinic for even fifteen minutes extra. She couldn’t imagine being trapped in the office for a decade plus. She would have gone mad the first year. 

“Wait... what am I saying?” Emily reprimanded herself and stood up. “I need space.” 

“What,” he gasped.

“This is too much. I am a clusterfuck of emotions, Kian. I don’t know if I’m coming or going... well,” she snorted. “I know that I’m not leaving. Thanks to dog boy and Malakai.” 

“Dog boy... I mean, Cas would help if he could. Your car is on the other side of the force field. He can’t get to it.” 

“Yeah. Yeah. I get it. Force field. Trapped. My car. Stuck. Gotcha.” She took a few steps away from Kian, scuffed her foot at the ground, then screamed up at the sky. “I hate you, Camden! I fucking hate you!”

Her emotion of rage began to take hold of her body. Like at Casper’s apartment, the world around her began to turn shades of blue. She clamped her eyes shut. No. No. No. Please? Go away. She didn’t want her emotions on the loose again. Those emotions turned her into a luring siren with venom in every word. A hateful person she never was. Just because of Kian, Camden and all the other factors, she wasn’t going to become one.

With her eyes still closed tightly, she took slow deep breaths. The pain began to serpent through her with each breath she took to soothe herself. The pain didn’t stop Emily, she wanted to keep her morals and being intact. She was scared of losing control and never being able to turn back. She didn’t want to become the monster her parents always said she would be.

“Emily, it’s okay,” Kian cooed. She could feel the warmth of his body. Soon his arms were wrapped around her from behind. “I’m right here.” 

“I can’t...” Emily said taking in a sharp breath. “I can’t... I can’t be evil.” 

“You won’t be. I promise. I won’t let you,” he turned her to where she was facing him but her eyes remained closed. She didn’t want to face the blue world. 

“Kian,” her voice shook. A tear slipped down her face. It was the tear that broke the camel’s back, in a sense, because she began to bawl. Her tightly closed eyes didn’t slow down the tears. They raged down her face. 

“Emily,” Kian said softly. “Look at me.” 

“No,” she sobbed shaking her head. 

“Trust me.” He placed his hands on both sides of her face. “Whenever you feel alone, scared or even if you just need me, summon me.”

“Summon you,” she shrieked with her eyes wide. Kian nodded and stroked a strand of her hair behind her ear. His blue-green eyes were looking down at her. The sun was hitting him just right. He looked like the Greek god she had always seen him to be. 

“How does the world look now?” Emily hadn’t realized until then she wasn’t seeing shades of blue. She took a look around the apartment complex before looking at Kian again, who was smiling. “I told you I won’t let you turn evil.” 

“This is all too much,” she admitted. 

“I know. I’m sorry about that. This is my fault.” She sighed and shook her head. 

“Regardless of it being you or James or...” At the mention of James, Kian growled. Emily could only roll her eyes at his jealousy. “Regardless, this entire situation with paranormal beings being real and now me being...” Pregnant by an incubus, she finished her sentence in her head. 

“I know. You weren’t born into this world.” He dropped to his knees in front of her.

“Kian,” she gasped. She began tugging at him to stand back up. His head was lowered, palms of his hands flat on the ground. “What are you doing? Get up!” 

“Ambo te ignosce me. Ambo te ignosce me,” he chanted with his head still lowered. 

“Kian,” Emily asked as he continued to chant the phrase. “You’re scaring me. What are you doing?” A few more chants were said then he rested his forehead on her legs. She could feel his body quaking. Panic struck her. She dropped to her knees in front of him, took hold of his face in her hands and made him face her. 

A tear slipped down his face when their eyes met. Seeing Kian vulnerable made Emily’s heart break. There was no doubt in her heart or soul that he was sorry. She could see it all over his face. His heart was hurting just as much as hers. Letting go of everything in the world, Emily wrapped her arms around Kian.

“I am so sorry, Emily,” Kian whispered putting his arms around her. He showered the side and top of her head with kisses. Emily held onto him for dear life. She was afraid of letting go of him now. Or ever. 

She wasn’t sure how much time had gone by since they had sat on the ground embracing each other. Her legs had gone numb, cheeks were cold and the tip of her nose felt frozen. Kian stood up and slowly helped her up. When her knees buckled, he scooped her up into his arms.

“I can walk, Mr. Nordin.” 

“Maybe I don’t want you to run away,” he teased. She sighed and laid her head against his chest. He began heading towards their apartment building. 

“Where are you taking me?” 

“Our place.” Emily couldn’t help but sigh at the words ‘our place.’ His apartment didn’t feel like it was her apartment. They still didn’t have anything figured out or worked out. But she supposed that was a good enough place to start as any.

“Oh.”

He continued walking with her pulled in close to his body. Emily looked around wondering how many people had been watching their emotional display of affection. She didn’t see anyone. But like everything else in Camden, looks could be deceiving. 

Deciding to not worry about the others, for now, she asked Kian, “What did you mean when you said I could summon you? Like a genie?” 

“I guess you could say similar to that,” he chuckled. 

“Oh. But... I mean... How would I...” The words weren’t coming together for her. She knew what she wanted to ask but the words were jumbled. 

“All you have to do is summon me. Doesn’t matter when or where. If you need me, all you have to do is say the words ‘Kian, I summon you.’” 

“How will you hear me though?” He tapped the side of her neck where he had bitten her. 

“I’ve marked you.” A groan escaped Emily. “I know. It’s another thing that I will have to make up to you if you stay.” 

“So... now you own me,” she asked in a hesitant whisper.

“Far from it, sweetheart. If anything, you own me.” 

“Right,” she said sarcastically. 

More pieces were coming together. Somehow, others were able to see Kian’s mark on her neck but not her. Vivek, Nikki, and James had all seemed to have known and commented on it. Her and Kian had much to discuss. 

“What’s on your mind, sweetheart?” Kian asked walking up to the apartment building’s door. 

“I’m just thinking about...” Her words were interrupted when something caught her eye. She looked over Kian’s shoulder. Across the parking lot, walking down the sidewalk was Frank the moose. Kian turned to see where Emily was looking. When he spotted Frank, he chuckled.

“Hey, Frank!” Frank turned in their direction and lifted his head up in an acknowledgment gesture. A gesture Emily transcribed to say, ‘What’s up?’.

“Um... hey, Frank,” Emily said shyly as she waved at Frank. He bobbed his head at her then continued his way down the sidewalk. 

Seeing Frank, made Emily think of how she saw him in Selma’s building. Her thought of that pulled her to thoughts of her and Selma’s argument earlier in the day. Emily hadn’t meant to be so angry towards the other woman. All and all, Emily understood why Selma acted the way she did. She was most likely protecting Casper or not sure how to tell Emily. 

“Ugh,” Emily groaned and leaned her forehead on Kian’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” 

“Selma and I...” 

“How about we go over there so the two of you can talk?” 

“No,” she insisted.

“Sweetheart, it won’t get fixed if you guys don’t talk.”

“Hell, we’re not even fixed,” she replied wiggling herself out of his arms. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and grinned. “What? What’s that look for? Don’t think you can hex me or some shit.” She waved a finger at him. He threw his head back and laughed. 

“First of all,” he said looking at her and putting his hands down to his sides, “I’m not a witch or warlock. They do hexes.” 

“You know what I mean, Kian,” she warned putting a hand on her hip. 

“Us incubi have other ways of getting our ways...” Emily glared at him before he could get his next word out. “However,” he chuckled, “that way doesn’t work on you, sweetheart.” 

“Let’s just go inside.” 

“Okay,” he smirked then heaved her over his shoulder.

“Kian!”

“You said to go inside. We’re going inside.” He began heading down the sidewalk with Emily pounding at his back. 

“Kian, I said inside. Where are you taking me?”

“Inside Casper and Selma’s apartment so you and Selma can talk.”

“Kian Lucas Nordin!”