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LUCIAN
Words left me. I stopped struggling against Fate’s hold. Beside me, Rumir had gone completely still.
Natalie's voice was distorted, like a thousand voices compressed. But what really sent a chill through my body were her red eyes.
How was she infected?
Hekate had tested her, and she was fine. And while the infected animals and souls outside the S.R.F. had smelled wrong, Natalie smelled like her usual self. But looking at her now with those eyes, the power I could sense coming from her, and her changed voice… this wasn't my mate.
Someone else was standing within the barriers erected by Fate, and it wasn’t Natalie.
My mate wasn’t bloodthirsty, but that was all I sensed from her now. There was no room in her threat to take lightly. If she broke free, she was going to attack Fate—and us.
And even knowing that, I had to try and get through to her. I refused to lose another person I loved! While we had yet to say those words out loud to each other, I loved her.
“Natalie!” I called, but she didn’t even glance my way.
I fought Fate’s hold once more, and beside me, Rumir’s skin grew scales.
There was so much going on and so much to process that it was giving me whiplash.
I was Natalie’s true mate? I wasn’t a fan of Rumir, but this was just cruel. I knew the things he struggled with, like not being accepted by his father and thinking he stood in second place behind me in his mother’s eyes.
Having Natalie taken from him had to be like a final, lethal blow. Yeah, I disliked Rumir, but wrong was wrong. There was no joy in this for me, especially since it would hurt Natalie, too.
It was obvious that Rumir was worried about her—deathly so because they were still mated despite Fate's words. But he looked… defeated.
I'd worry about this mate bond mess later. Right now, I needed to get to Natalie.
“Natalie! Can you hear me?” I yelled. “Do something!” I growled at Fate, and she released Rumir and me.
However, before either of us could approach the barriers, she held her hand up to keep us back. Rumir’s wings sprouted from his back.
“Don’t go near her!” she yelled.
Natalie remained still and unmoving. I paused when a red mist slowly floated out of her body, and so did Fate and Rumir. It was like low fog rising off a piece of ice, but Natalie was surrounded by it. It was the same red mist we’d seen rising from areas in the forest where the ground had looked red and infected.
"How is she infected, Fate? Hekate said she was fine. Who did you send Taner to get?” Rumir growled. “You knew about this, didn't you?”
Fate took a step towards us but then stopped when Natalie moved. Taking a breath, Fate changed into her childlike form once again but remained put.
“While everything I said about creating the mate bond between Natalie and you, Rumir, was true, I would have kept that to myself and waited to discuss it with the Moon Goddess herself."
“Why?” I asked, eyeing Natalie. She was like a statue. "How could she be infected? Even Hekate couldn’t tell.”
“The virus hid within her, and I needed it to show itself. The moment she was infected, her future was blocked from me, but I couldn't tell why until I saw her. I'm guessing that after facing the infected fae in Rehema’s shop, the experience woke the virus that had been lying dormant inside her. Otherwise, it would have remained that way, growing stronger.”
Fate took a breath. “Hekate sensed a change in Natalie at the shop, but she needed to get the girl out of the city before trying to prove her theory. So she contacted me.”
Looking at Natalie now, I could understand their reasoning. The energy coming from her was nothing like the fae’s. It was a thousand times worse.
Natalie was strong as an Enchanted, but this… she was a completely different person. If this had happened at the shop, all hell would have broken loose right in the middle of the city.
“Why is she so calm?” Rumir asked. "Other infected souls are deranged. And why aren’t other infected souls’ futures blocked like Natalie’s?” It looked like this situation was starting to get to him. He was shaking. “Come on, Fate, speak up. We need to help her!"
Rumir was obviously losing it, but so was I. But then, if Fate had been able to help her, she would have, instead of erecting barriers.
“She’s not calm,” Fate said softly while staring at Natalie. "If these barriers fall, you'll regret those words. But I can tell you one thing: she's not behaving like other infected souls because she's not like them.”
