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“Do you disagree?” I ask.
“Oh, no. She’s beautiful. It’s the way you said her name that made me chuckle. Nat-a-lie… each syllable drawn out, like it’s the prettiest name you’ve ever had the privilege to say. All reverent and shit.”
“It is a lovely name.”
Rosetta removes the welding helmet and sets it aside. Her red hair sticks out in every direction, having long since escaped a bun, and she makes no attempt to smooth it. “Look, there’s no denying you’re the reigning Mr. Congeniality in Fate’s Falls, but let’s be real here, okay? Just between us girls,” she winks, “you’ve got a little crush on my cousin, don’t you?”
“I do not have a crush. I’m intrigued. At this point in my life, I should only be attracted to one woman.”
“And you’re attracted to a bunch? Look, I’ve been there. I used to have my eyes on lots of guys at the same time, so I’m not judging. But that won’t sit well with Nat. Even short-term. She’s not boring or a prude, but she is traditional. Definitely someone who wants to stay inside the white picket fence, not someone who plays the field. You’re a good friend to Dak and me, and I like you, but I don’t want Nat to get hurt. So, this is me asking you to look elsewhere, instead of at my maid of honor. In fact, I’ll head into town now, before the dayshift ends at The Brew. I know Dela has a one-bedroom apartment, but she’s a sweetheart. I bet she’ll let Nat crash on her couch for a couple of weeks.”
“No,” I say, blocking her forward motion. Totally out of character for me, and the wide-eyed expression on Rosetta’s face is enough to make me step aside immediately. “I apologize. And now I’m requesting you don’t find other accommodations for your cousin.”
“Give me a good reason not to. How do I know I can trust you with the closest thing I have to a sister?”
“Because when I said I should only be attracted to one woman, I meant that I am only able to be attracted to one woman. Once a Minotaur reaches a certain point of maturity, our biology demands we find our mate. I reached that age fifteen years ago, and haven’t been attracted to anyone since. Believe me, I’ve tried, I’ve looked—a decade and a half is a long time to go without…companionship. I don’t get to choose my mate; Minotaur pairings are governed by innate forces. By fate. I’m attracted to Natalie—and only to Natalie.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying? You think she’s your fated mate? From looking at a picture?”
There’s no way I’m telling her it began earlier than that. “Any doubts I had disappeared when I heard her voice.”
For a moment, Rosetta covers her mouth with her hand. Then she shakes both out at her sides. “Shit, she’s going to freak the fuck out.”
“Because I’m a Minotaur.”
“Well, yeah, that’s part of it. I haven’t told her there are non-humans here, or that I’m in love with an orc. All I said is that my parents disapprove of Dak because of his skin color. Which is not a lie,” she says, raising her index finger. “But I think she’s going to be okay with the whole ‘monsters are real’ jazz once she stops hyperventilating and meets everyone.”
“Then why do you believe she’ll freak out about being my mate? Both you and Natalie have told me she’s a permanent, committed-relationship type of person. Wouldn’t that make her inclined toward a positive response?”
“She wants a happily ever after, but she’s planning to choose who she spends her life with, not be told she’s someone’s fated mate.”
“Do you feel you chose Dak? That finding each other had nothing to do with fate and your mate bond?”
Though he’s not one to engage in extended or deeply personal conversation, Dakgorim has stated a firm belief that fate led him to find Rosetta’s online metalworks shop. At the time, he had no projects that required unique, handmade metal fixtures, yet he searched the internet for such, anyway. And found Rosetta’s creations—and his mate.
In front of me, Rosetta makes a sound that’s part sigh, part harrumph, the noise accompanied by a narrowed gaze and hands on her hips. “This has nothing to do with Dak and me.”
Meaning, I’ve made my point. But this isn’t the time to gloat or tease. I need Rosetta’s support, not her ire.
“Even if Nat is attracted to you,” Rosetta continues, “she’s only going to be in town for a couple of weeks. Boring as I think her life in Toronto is, she’s a creature of routine. I had no issue packing up and changing venues, but I don’t see her uprooting from everything she’s known for twenty-eight years to stay here. Plus, it sucks that my parents are dicks and I may never speak to them again, but it’s not even a sacrifice to me because I have my life with Dak. Nat, on the other hand, is super tight with her parents. There’s no way she’d lie to them, or give them up—either or both of which she’d have to do if she moved her to be with you. I’m sorry, Constantine, but there’s no way she can be your fated mate.”
Arguing is pointless. But I know the truth. There’s no way Natalie Somers isn’t my fated mate.
Three
CONSTANTINE
The people who work in my businesses are incredibly good at their jobs, and my presence is rarely required. I hired Shay Winterlock when she moved to Fate’s Falls. The Brew was relatively new back then, still in its first year of operation, and only a coffeehouse at that time. In the beginning, I worked in the business full-time. Didn’t matter that I, the owner, was on-site and technically the manager. Shay quickly assumed the role. She saw ways to improve operations and forged forward without permission or assistance, tweaking things to make them more appealing, efficient, or profitable. She’s a doer whose decisions always have a positive effect.
Fifteen years later, I still drop in at The Brew a couple days a week, but spend most of that time in the kitchen or back office. Shay and Dela keep the customer-facing side running like a well-oiled machine. My bulky presence behind the counter tends to be more of a hindrance than a help.
Today’s visit isn’t about offering to help or staying out of the way.
Mid-afternoon is a steady time. A continual but light flow of customers, nobody in a hurry, generally speaking. There are three people in line when I enter through the front door. A shapeshifter named Trace from the outpost, Razbunare, a vengeance demon who I’m sure is here to soak up Dela’s presence more than he’s here for the coffee, and Lexi, the little witch who owns Every Witch Way, an online sex-toy business that’s earning a tidy residual income for many of Fate’s Falls residents.
I give them all a casual wave as I pass, then head behind the counter toward Shay, where she’s cleaning an espresso machine as if the equipment needs plague-level decontamination. “Did we have another malfunction since you called this morning?”
There’s not much Shay can’t handle without me, which is why I cut my call with Natalie short this morning, when Shay called for a second time. Our usual tech wasn’t picking up when she tried him. She was this-close to asking one of the larger customers in line to carry the possessed piece of equipment out to the back alley.
