My Unfated Mate

Chapter Four

The room was unusually quiet.

A large table occupied the centre of it, covered with maps, handwritten notes, several open books, and a single sheet of parchment that had drawn everyone’s attention. The parchment looked old enough to have survived several generations, its edges yellowed and slightly burned, but the words written across it were still clear.

Cindy stood at the head of the table, one hand resting against the parchment while the others watched her.

“I have already told you everything I know,” she said.

Drake leaned back in his chair, looking unconvinced. “You have told us what the prophecy says. That is not the same thing as explaining it.”

Cindy sighed. “Because there is nothing more to explain.”

She had spent years studying the prophecy. It belonged to the oldest records her people preserved, passed down from one generation of mages to another. Unfortunately, whoever had written it had apparently been more interested in being mysterious than being useful. Every line seemed to raise another question, and the surviving records offered almost no answers.

Cindy looked down at the parchment and read it again.

“Rejected by her own,

Birthed from flames sown.

Known by all

But seen by none.

Bearer of two torches

The mark lights the third.

Child to two great warriors

Offspring of two betrayal errors.

Controller of all three realms

Would herald the return of the destroyer.

And when the destroyer arrives

Only by the conqueror would the realm survive.”

Beto scratched his head.

“I still don’t understand how someone managed to write an entire prophecy without giving us a single useful name.”

“That was not the purpose of the prophecy,” Cindy replied.

“Then what was the purpose?”

“To warn us.”

The room fell silent.

Shey glanced at the parchment. “About the destroyer?”

Cindy nodded.

“That is one part of the prophecy that seems certain. Something called the destroyer will return. When it does, the realm will be in danger.”

“And the conqueror?” Yamen asked.

Cindy looked at the final line.

“That is the other certainty. Whoever the conqueror is, they are the only one capable of stopping the destroyer.”

Drew had been silent throughout the discussion, his attention fixed on the parchment. He finally leaned forward.

“And we don’t know who either of them are?”

“No.”

“Or when the destroyer will return?”

“No.”

“Or who the prophecy is talking about when it mentions someone controlling all three realms, might be the conqueror or the destroyer.”

“We should hope that it's the conqueror.” Cindy answered immediately.

Drake gave a humourless laugh. “So essentially, we know that something terrible is coming, someone will apparently be powerful enough to control the mage, werewolf, and vampire realms, and maybe that person is supposed to save everyone.”

“That is the extent of what we know.”

Beto looked at Drew.

“Then shouldn’t we be looking for the conqueror?”

“We are,” Drew answered.

Before Beto could ask how, the door opened.

Everyone turned.

Elen stood in the doorway.

She looked as though she had been wandering through the mansion for some time. Her expression was slightly embarrassed, but there was also a hint of relief when she saw Drew.

“I was looking for you.”

Drew’s eyes immediately settled on her.

For a fraction of a second, his gaze moved toward the parchment.

Cindy noticed.

So did Shey.

Drew reached for the sheet and calmly placed it beneath the other papers.

“You found me.”

“Eventually,” Elen admitted. “Your mansion is enormous. I think I have passed the same staircase three times.”

Beto chuckled.

“You’ll get used to it.”

Elen stepped farther into the room, her eyes moving from one unfamiliar face to another. She had already spent one night in Drew’s mansion, but she had not yet met the people who lived there. Seeing them gathered around the table made her realize that there was considerably more happening inside the mansion than she had initially assumed.

Drew stood.

“Come in. I’ll introduce you.”

He gestured toward the huge bald young man first.

“This is Beto.”

Beto immediately smiled and approached her.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.”

Beto pulled her into a sudden hug before she could prepare herself. Elen’s feet nearly left the floor.

When he released her, she stared at him.

“You’re strong.”

Beto grinned. “I get that a lot.”

“I’m guessing you’re a werewolf.”

“Correct.”

A short haired girl sitting near the table laughed.

“Don’t encourage him.”

She stood and walked over.

“I’m Alex.”

Elen smiled.

“Hi.”

“I’m a werewolf too. I drive for these idiots.”

“She’s also convinced she’s the best driver in Aetheria,” Shey added.

“Because I am.”

Elen laughed softly.

For the first time since entering the room, she relaxed.

Drew gestured toward the woman sitting behind a laptop.

“This is Shey. She’s human.”

Elen’s eyebrows lifted.

“Human?”

Shey smiled.

“Yes. I am one of the only humans who knows of the existence of Aetheria and am allowed to live here.”

Elen glanced around the room.

That was probably the first genuinely surprising thing she had heard since arriving at the mansion. Shey looked completely ordinary, but the several screens glowing around her showed enough complicated information to convince Elen that ordinary was probably not the right word for her.

“Computer engineer and strategist,” Shey added.

“That sounds useful.”

“It is.”

A quiet voice came from across the table.

“Sometimes.”

Elen turned.

A small young man was sitting with several sheets of paper in front of him. He had barely acknowledged her since she entered.

Drew looked toward him.

“Yamen.”

Yamen finally raised his eyes.

“Hello.”

“Hi.”

“He’s our spy and assassin,” Shey added.

Elen paused.

She looked at Yamen again.

He simply returned to his papers.

“Right.”

Alex laughed.

Elen’s attention then shifted to the blonde girl sitting farther down the table.

She was staring at her phone and had barely looked up since Elen entered.

“And that’s Cindy, a powerful mage” Drew said.

Elen smiled politely.

“Hi, Cindy.”

Of everyone at the table, this was one person that Elen wished to make friends with. A mage like her mother, and a powerful one at that.

So she cranked up her smile and waited for the lady to look her way.

Cindy finally lifted her eyes.

For a moment, she studied Elen with an intensity that made Elen slightly uncomfortable.

“Hello.”

Then she looked away.

Elen raised an eyebrow, her smile falling away.

“I’m beginning to think everyone here is incredibly friendly,” she joked.

Shey gave her a sympathetic smile in return.

“Give them time.”

Drew’s attention moved toward the final person in the room.

“Drake.”

Drake looked up from the weapon he was inspecting.

He was dressed neatly, his dark hair perfectly styled despite the fact that he had several weapons strapped across his body.

“Welcome.”

Elen glanced at the collection of weapons.

“Do you always carry that many?”

Drake looked down at himself.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“One can never be too prepared.”

Elen nodded slowly.

“Of course.”

Drew looked around the room.

“That is everyone.”

Elen folded her arms.

“So these are the rogues you live with.”

“Among other things.”

She glanced around again.

A massive werewolf, another werewolf who drove, a human strategist, a quiet assassin, a hostile mage, a weapons expert, and a vampire who seemed to be the centre of them all.

It was an unusual group.

Yet something about them felt strangely familiar.

Perhaps it was because none of them seemed particularly interested in fitting into the world that had rejected them.

Before Elen could ask about that, Drew gathered the papers on the table.

“That’s enough for tonight.”

Shey frowned.

“We were not finished.”

“We’ll continue tomorrow.”

Cindy’s eyes moved briefly toward Elen.

She seemed to understand why Drew had suddenly ended the discussion.

Drake began collecting his weapons while Beto pushed himself away from the table.

One by one, they started leaving.

Elen watched them go, then turned toward Drew.

“You ended the meeting because I came in.”

Drew met her eyes.

“We were already finished.”

“You weren’t.”

A faint smile appeared on his face.

“You have a habit of asking difficult questions.”

“And you have a habit of avoiding them.”

Drew said nothing.

Elen narrowed her eyes but decided not to push him.

There was something he was not telling her.

She could feel it.

She simply had no idea what it was.

“I was actually looking for you because I need to return your phone.”

Drew nodded.

“I assumed as much.”

“Thank you,” she said, handing him the phone.