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"Please tell me Elva and Kali are mates," I asked, and Nox smiled.
"Of course! And I'm going to make sure the others find their mates soon too," he said with a grin, making me roll my eyes. Seeing him like this, I had a hard time believing he used to be the Keeper not that long ago. He was different now, so much lighter and happier. The change was clearly good for him.
"Where's your shadow?" I asked, suddenly realizing his mate—who more or less acted like his bodyguard most of the time—was missing.
"He's in Mistvale 'visiting' his family," Nox said, using the air quotes since Harlan couldn't actually visit them. He'd died a few years ago, and Otherworlders weren't allowed to reveal their existence—that is, the fact that they were dead—to the people of the human realm, unless the person they were telling was their mate. Since that wasn't the case here, all Harlan could do was watch his family from the shadows to make sure they were okay.
"Did you find out why we couldn't recognize our mates?" Nico asked, and Nox sighed.
"Yeah, we did. Turns out Artemus and Fate knew about it."
"They did?"
"What the fuck? Why didn't they change things then?" I demanded, since I didn't have Nico's tact.
Nox shook his head, making the snow-white strand of his hair fall into his eyes.
"Let me explain!" he said, raising a palm up to stop me as if I was about to attack him or something. "You know how Fate's position is something that's passed down right? When Celeste became Fate, they got all the powers of Fate along with all their knowledge. But that knowledge is more like a library archive, so even though they have it, they only know about specific things when they go looking for answers in their mind. Does that make sense?"
"A little bit," I said, trying to understand what he'd said.
"You mean when Fate thought 'why couldn't the demons recognize their mates,' their mind gave them an answer?" Nico asked, and Nox grinned.
"Yes! Exactly. Same for Artemus," he said, referring to one of the Consorts of Otherworld.
"So what was the reason?" I asked, and he winced.
"It's pretty dumb. Back when demons were first created, the magic of the realms decided to block off that part to make you better at your jobs."
"That is dumb," I agreed, and he sighed.
"Yeah. Well, every demon except Mammon can now recognize their mate. I'm really sorry we didn't find this out sooner."
Mammon was the demon who'd helped the dark souls escape, someone who'd let the darkness corrupt him.
"It's not your fault. But thank you for helping the others. Please thank Kym for us too," Nico said, and I nodded in agreement.
"Will do! I just came by to update you guys. I'm gonna go find my mate now," Nox said, then grinned at me. "And Star, you might want to talk to your lovely mates instead of the cat."
With a wink, Nox disappeared as I scowled at him, and Nico shot me a curious look that I ignored. Damn the troublemaker!
Sparing me from explaining myself because he was a kind soul, Nico asked, "Sandwiches okay for lunch?"
I'd never agreed to anything faster.
Eighteen
Dakota
The weekend came sooner than I'd expected, or, rather, the week passed a lot more quickly now that I was counting down the minutes to rush home the minute my workday ended, much to Divya's amusement. I'd told her about my new relationship with my roommates, and after she was done teasing me, she'd showered me with support in her typical no-nonsense way, making me feel thankful I had a friend like her in my corner.
Now, it was Saturday, and we'd finished cleaning up much quicker than I'd estimated. The attic had been surprisingly dust free, which had made our work much easier. After we'd finished up, we'd sat down and made a few lists about things we needed to buy, including general groceries, some furniture, and Ryk's painting supplies.
I drove us to one of the big outlet malls for the groceries and furniture. For Ryk's supplies, I intended to take them to a speciality art supplies store Divya had told me about.
"How about we divide and conquer? Nico and I will get the groceries. You two get the furniture," Ryk suggested, his eyes already unable to stay still as he glanced all over the place. Sometimes, the way he—and even Nico and Star—acted made me wonder exactly how they'd grown up. Sometimes, the simplest of things looked strange to them, and I couldn't help wondering just how sheltered their life had been. I was glad they'd gotten away from it, glad our paths had crossed.
"Sounds good to me," I said, and Ryk grinned, grabbed Nico's hand, and started dragging him toward the shopping carts.
