Page 28 of Glitched Fates & Stolen Mates

Nausea roiled heavy in my gut. I’d probably made everything worse by hanging up on her like that. By not directly refuting her statements.

My phone lit up with an incoming message from Priya, and my heart seized.

Priya

So this is random, but don’t bring lunch tomorrow. I have loads of spare quiche, and I need your help to eat it.

I stared at it in disbelief. Lunch? All I could think about was Emma’s voice—how desperate she’d sounded, how worried she was about Priya’s safety. How she’d mentioned the police.

Oh, and don’t forget what I said about those glasses. The tea leaves don’t lie, Felix. They don’t lie.

9

Kit

Iknew something was wrong with Felix from the moment I heard his footsteps in the lobby. Too quick. Quicker than usual, like he was running from something.

By the time he’d pounded down the basement stairs, I’d already leapt to my feet.

“Felix? What’s wrong?” I sounded fraught, and I cringed at myself. “I mean, good morning. Are you alright?”

He stood in the basement, chest rising and falling in shallow bursts. His eyes darted around the room like he expected someone to jump out from behind the furniture. Something was definitely off—this was beyond his usual nervous energy.

“Is Priya here yet? She’s not in the kitchen.”

“Rory sent her to Fat Cat’s. What’s the matter?”

Felix started pacing, tearing at his hair with both hands. The black strands stuck up at odd angles, and two bright spots of colour adorned his round cheeks. He almost looked like he was on the verge of tears.

My wolf stirred restlessly. Something was threatening our mate.

I stood, wanting to move closer, but stopped myself. After the other day—touching his face, stroking his goddamn lips—I couldn’t trust myself not to get carried away again.

“Can you sit down, Felix? I promise you, whatever it is, it’ll be okay.” And I meant it. Whatever had put that look on his face, I’d fix it. If someone had hurt him, I’d kill them. Simple. “Has…” I swallowed hard. “Has something happened with Wren?”

My wolf perked up, shamefully hopeful. If Wren had upset Felix, the bastard would pay for it.

“What?” Felix stopped pacing long enough to stare at me like I’d grown a second head. “Wren? This has nothing to do with him.”

I deflated like a punctured balloon.

“It’s about Priya.” Felix looked me dead in the eye, and I saw real fear there. “I think I’ve messed up really bad.”

He was physically trembling now, his whole body vibrating with anxiety. Every instinct I had screamed at me to pull him into my arms, to wrap him in my cardigan and tell him everything would be fine. Instead, I clenched my fists as tightly as I could.

Felix erupted into rambling—more words than I’d ever heard him speak in one go. A bizarre tale about Emma ringing him last night, about questions and suspicions and lies unravelling faster than he could patch them up.

“So you see,” Felix said, gesturing wildly with both hands. “She basically knows Priya’s lied to her now. I didn’t do anything to convince her otherwise. I basically confirmed her beliefs!”

I couldn’t resist any longer. I reached over and touched his arm, feeling the tremor running through his muscles. His eyes widened in surprise, and I found myself gazing into them—those dark, expressive depths that always gave away every emotion he tried to hide. Right then they were full of guilt and terror, and it made my soul ache.

“Felix. This isn’t your fault. Priya will not blame you for what happened. It’s going to be alright. We’ll tell her together.”

“Do you think?” He looked so trusting, so relieved at my reassurance that I nearly broke my own promise to keep my distance.

“Absolutely.” I dropped my grip before I could do something stupid like stroke his cheek again.

The sound of footsteps echoed down the staircase. Priya appeared in the basement, armed with our usual morning coffee haul from Fat Cat’s. She looked between the pair of us, taking in Felix’s dishevelled appearance and my obvious concern.