Forged by Fate (2 page)

What the hell was happening to her? Her shoulder stung, and she reached to scratch it.

“Hey, wait.” Dasha pushed up Sadie’s short sleeve. “You got a tat?”

“Um…” Sadie stalled. She got tongue-tied at the most inopportune times.

“No way. I wanted to be there the first time you rebelled.” She slapped Sadie’s shoulder. “What is it?”

Sadie had no idea. She’d run a search on the strange symbol and found nothing. Well, except a vague reference to Hell, which freaked her out so much she quit searching.

“I can’t believe you got a tat.
I
don’t even have a tat.”

Sadie pushed open the door and smoothed her sleeve down. “But you have four body piercings, so you make up for that.”

Her best friend stuck out her pierced tongue and wiggled her pierced brow. “But I can take these out. You can’t take
that
thing off. Now what is it?”

Damn, Sadie had hoped she’d distracted her friend. No such luck.

“It’s nothing. Just thought it looked cool.”
Total lie.
Sadie hurried to the counter to check her orders. Two were up and getting cold. She’d get complaints for sure.

She grabbed the lukewarm plates and whirled around, narrowly missing Dasha, who gave her a daggered stare. Probably pissed she’d gotten a tat without her. If only she knew it randomly appeared one night after a wicked hot dream with an even hotter dream guy.

One more hour left of her shift, then it was back to studying. She was
not
going to get her first B, in chemistry, of all things.

Sadie took the long way, skirting the booths to avoid the Groping Grandpa. She kept her focus on the table whose food she carried, but nodded toward the occupants Dasha had said came in during Sadie’s barf-fest. “Be right with you,” she said on her way by.

“I almost started eating my fork that took so long,” the man in his midfifties said as Sadie set the plates before him.

At least he winked, indicating he was kidding. But he wouldn’t be after he tried his cold food. She was just glad she’d handed off the mound of grease; it was bringing her gag reflex back to life.

Which totally sucked, considering burgers and fries had been her staple for the past two years.

“I’m sorry. I—well—”

“Relax. I saw you make a beeline for the bathroom. I’m not going to catch the plague eating this, am I?” He smiled and his dark mustache wiggled.

Yep. He was genuine. She could always tell by someone’s smile. Or lack thereof. Even as a kid. Some of those group home kids were pretty naughty and mean, and that little talent came in handy.

“You’ll be fine. I’m sorry, sir.” She backed away. “Really.”

He dipped his head and shifted his attention to his food. Sadie pivoted and hustled to take the order of the new table.

She dug into her back pocket and fished out her pen and paper. Hopefully the guys at the table knew what they wanted. She glanced at the old fart’s table for a quick assessment. Damn, his coffee cup was empty.
Crap.

Order first. She stopped and finally took in the occupants.

Her heart stopped. There were two men, one on each side, facing each other, but the only one she noticed in detail was the raven-haired beauty whose gaze locked onto hers. Not only did her heart stop, the breath left her in one fell swoop, leaving her knees jellied, belly steaming hot, and her mouth gaping.

His wide, hazel eyes slanted an intense look in her direction. What most caught her attention was his left eye. A section flamed orange, as if he stared at a campfire. It swirled around his expanding pupil.

Energy wafted off him, broadsiding her. Good thing, too, because it knocked her back to her senses, and she remembered how to breathe. After a cough to clear the lump lodged in her throat, she asked, “Are you ready to order?”

Hazel Eyes stared at her, saying nothing. The other one snickered, yet Sadie couldn’t shift her focus. She knew she was making an ass out of herself, but no matter how firmly she ordered herself to break the gaze, she couldn’t.

“We’ll have a couple Cokes, and if you can get us menus we might order some food.” The other guy’s voice was strong, yet low, like a finely tuned bass.

It didn’t matter. Sadie was much more intrigued by the one locked in a staring contest with her. She could get lost in those eyes.

Then it hit her. She’d dreamed of those beauties.

The night she received the mysterious tattoo.

Chapter Three

“
That’s
your Mate?” Justin’s voice cracked on the first word. “I’m sorry, but…wow. You got the raw end of that nine-century deal, brother.”

Theo ripped his attention from Sadie and slammed a glare into his brother. “Do
not
talk about my Mate like that.” His fists tightened, as did the muscles along his jaw. Fangs itched to extend in challenge. No, not in challenge, in defense.

It was built into his DNA to protect and defend his Ahavah, and Justin had just insulted her. Thunder rumbled deep within Theo’s head, and a red hue tainted his vision.

“Be calm.” Justin showed his palms and lowered his eyes. “Sorry. I was out of line.”

Theo’s heart slowed, and his boiling blood cooled. “Her name is Sadie. It means lady or princess. And she is
exactly
that.” He sought out his female and found her across the room, interacting with another female. That one was taller and heavier, with red hair. She rubbed her hand up Sadie’s arm.

Whispers of their conversation touched Theo’s ears.
Breathe, hon. It’s okay. I’ll take over.

No. No. He needed Sadie to come back. He only needed to touch her just once to bring forth the glyph he’d longed to wear for centuries.

“What’s happening?” Justin asked. “Can you hear them?”

“Sadie’s leaving.”

Justin smiled as he studied the two females. “I catch a whiff of desire, but fear is the predominant scent. Are you getting that?”

Theo nodded. The acrid scent of fear made him uneasy. Worried. Mates should not fear each other, yet she did. It should be instinctive to connect. To touch, confirming the uniting.

“How did you find her, Theo?”

“Our connection drew me to this part of town. I came in here to eat at noontime, and I saw her. More, her shoulder.”

“Why didn’t you go in and claim her right then? Instead, you interrupted my pleasure, and just now you froze. She was inches from you, yet you said nothing.”

He couldn’t explain it. After failing miserably to gather the strength to face her this afternoon, he’d come here tonight with every intention of talking to her and touching her to get his long-awaited Mark. Instead, her blue topaz eyes had captivated him. Despite wearing work clothes smudged with grease and smelling of it, she’d rendered him paralyzed with her stare. Over nine centuries of experience tracking demons and returning them to Hades, but one look from the tiny female and he’d choked. Not a single coherent word had formed in his muddled brain.

His Mate, with a coffepot in hand, made haste to an old man’s table. A wide grin filled the geezer’s face.

“Refill?” Her voice cracked.

“Yes, dear.” The man eyed Sadie in the most peculiar way.

She leaned forward with the coffeepot poised to fill the cup, and the old man’s hand landed on her behind.

Theo burst out of the booth, snarling. His fangs extended. A roar vibrated through his stomach and out of his mouth with so much violence he feared fire might have accompanied it.

Sadie jumped back and the coffeepot slipped from her hand, sending the steaming liquid over the table and splashing against her white shirt.

“Theo. Stand down.” Justin grabbed him by the elbow, and amid distant voices and gasps, he steered Theo toward the door. The female Sadie had been talking with earlier met them at the exit, holding a tray with menus and two sodas.

Theo clamped his mouth shut to hide his fangs and focused on his breathing.
In. Out.
Justin’s grip tightened around his arm, and for that, he was thankful. This was not the place to unleash his beast. Even though the gray-haired man deserved the wrath of the Gatekeeper for touching Sadie in such a manner.

No one disrespected Theo’s Ahavah like that.

“So, you don’t want your sodas or menus anymore?” the redheaded woman asked. Her voice was on the edge of Theo’s awareness as his focus remained on Sadie, who now stood at the counter, patting her shirt with a towel. A young boy had appeared and began mopping the spilled coffee.

Sadie turned and hurried into the back room labeled E
MPLOYEES
O
NLY
.

“I’m sorry. My brother isn’t feeling well. We need to bolt,” Justin said. “What’s your name?”

“Dasha.”

“Mmm, Dasha. That tongue ring looks delicious.” Justin tugged at Theo’s arm, urging him toward the door as he dug into his pocket and retrieved a fifty. “Here. A tip for your trouble.”

Justin manhandled Theo out the door and into the cool night.

“Holy shit, she was hot.” Justin released Theo and put his hands out. “Dasha, not your woman. Don’t go all fang on me.” He glanced around. “You need to calm the hell down.”

Theo ordered his despised fangs to retract and with them, the aggression of his beast. Though the Shomrei were angelic in nature, they were vicious. Especially when it came to their Mates. But the fangs were the one thing about being Shomrei Theo had the most difficulty accepting.

They too closely resembled the demons he vanquished. A constant reminder of the small piece of that darkness still in him, despite his dominion over it.

“I thought you were going to shred that old man to ribbons.”

Theo glanced through the windows and into the restaurant. Thankfully, only two other couples were in there. He’d been so focused on Sadie he hadn’t taken his surroundings into consideration as he should have. He might have to send Justin in there to trance anyone needing to forget his outburst, because Theo didn’t trust himself right now to do it.

A punch to his arm yanked him back to the moment. Justin stood eye-to-eye with him. “Is the Shomrei in check?”

Theo nodded. Damn it, he needed to get focused.

“I’ve been by your side for almost a thousand years, and I have
never
seen you react like that outside of slaughtering demons.” He grinned as he waved Theo toward the vehicles. “I never believed in the Mate thing until this very minute. Holy shit!”

“I’ve told you it was true. Just as Mother always said.”

“Parents will tell kids anything to get them to sleep.” Justin glanced at the inky sky. “I mean, it’s enough that we’re earthbound heavenly beings meant to guard the gates to Hades—well, at least
you
are—but to be mated as well? As in
one
woman?” He shuddered. “But the way your beast erupted back there. First with me and then at that old man for touching Sadie…”

“That man touched
my Mate
in a way only I am allowed.”

They reached Justin’s car and he said, “What if she’s been with others? She looks like she’s at least twenty or twenty-one. No way can she still be a virgin.”

“Nothing about her past matters. Only that I’ve finally found her.” Theo closed his eyes, basking in what remained of her vanilla scent that’d wrapped around his senses back in the restaurant. The minute she’d approached their table, her essence had imprinted on him. He would now be able to pick her out of a crowd.

“Did you see how scared she was?” Justin leaned on the roof of his car, resting his arms atop the vehicle. “She has no clue what she is.”

“Mother said she might know nothing of the supernatural world. That I’d have to earn her trust. She told me, like all Shomrei Mates, my female was human—yet
more
than human. I expected the bond to be natural, that she’d innately feel linked to me rather than scared of me.” Theo pointed toward the diner. “There. She’s coming out.”

Sadie pushed open the door. She’d put on a black leather jacket and carried a helmet beneath her left arm. While balancing that, she eased black leather gloves on as well.

“Holy shit. I take back my earlier comment. She’s hot, too.”

Theo let out a growl.

“It’s a compliment. Doesn’t mean I want to jump her bones. She’s yours. I know.”

Theo puffed out his chest. She was his. But she wasn’t
completely
his yet, and that sent a nine-century-old ache through his body. An ache only she could sate.

Theo lurched forward, followed closely by his brother. Sadie turned the corner of the building and a shiny red motorcycle came into view. Was that hers? Could he be so lucky that his Mate enjoyed riding bikes as much as he did?

“Her cool factor just upped another notch.” Justin stood beside him. “Go. Talk to her. Make the connection so you can jump into bed with her and be done with it.”

“Jerk.”

Theo jogged forward, closing in on Sadie. She crouched over, putting something in the tank bag, then her back went ramrod straight. Could she sense him?

Theo slowed to a brisk walk.

Less than ten feet separated him from his future. From the one thing that would seal his power.

Now less than five feet from the one thing that would complete him. After all these centuries, he would no longer be alone.

Faster than he could register, Sadie whirled around. But what surprised him most was that the heel of her combat boot rushed his face.

Even more surprising, it met his chin with enough force to spin him around and plant him on his ass.

No one, human or demon, had done that in centuries.

Chapter Four

Sadie bent her knees and raised her fisted hands. The massive pile of human flesh lay like a heap on the asphalt.
So cocky he hadn’t even tried to sneak.

Snickering wafted in from the darkness surrounding the parking lot, and a form took shape about twenty feet off.

“Stay back.” Despite her insides quaking ten on the Richter scale, her voice came out strong, echoing off the brick wall beside her.

She backed toward her bike, keeping an eye on the man on the ground. Wait. It was the guy from the restaurant. Hazel Eyes. “You.”