by Alexia Black
My cold apartment welcomed me like an ex-best friend. I turned on the lights and toed off my shoes. Food could wait, what I needed was a shower. Thankfully the slime demon had left no residue on my skin. The same couldn’t be said about my mind. I scrubbed myself raw in the shower, till my skin turned an angry pink.
Pulling on a t-shirt and pajama shorts I ransacked my cupboards only to find I just had one packet of ramen left. I had forgotten to stock basic groceries again. Not that it mattered, considering how bad my cooking skills were. At least, I could cook a mean ramen.
I wrapped myself under my blanket and laid my head on Mr.Teddy. Polaroids, covered my wall, mostly Sam and I, some with my parents. Their background was always the same, always my room. Sometimes when I looked at those photos I couldn’t believe it was me with her. Sam and I were identical twins, blue eyes, blonde hair; it was hard to distinguish us from each other at first glance. And I had taken full advantage of that to deceive everyone and protect her. But, now I wondered if even she would recognize me.
I hugged Mr.Teddy tight. The polaroid wall was a failed attempt at bringing some warmth into my apartment, to make it feel like home; but all it did was remind me of everything that I had lost.
I checked my phone to see if there were any messages. Nope, nothing new. Sam hadn’t even seen my messages for months. I was pretty sure she broke her phone in anger when it turned out no one was going to get her out of that hellhole, not even mom was going to try. It had been at least half a year since I had seen or talked to mom. I wonder where she was placed right now. I wonder if I will ever know what her job was.
On a whim, I dialed mom. I held my breath till the ringing died down. I didn’t bother dialing again. What was the point? Neither mom nor dad had been there when Sam had left. Max and I had held her as she cried her eyes out, clinging to us like we were her last hope, till grandma had asked her to leave with a sharp glare.
I shook my head. Stop thinking so much, I yelled at my brain. I rolled out of bed and turned on the TV, playing a random movie. Letting the background chatter fill my apartment, I hugged my teddy and fell asleep.
* * *
I woke up with the sun, grumpy and craving coffee. Nightmares had kept me awake throughout the night and when I had finally fallen asleep, my alarm had rung. Nursing a cup of coffee, I cursed the past me who thought it was a good idea to hit the gym today. Calling it a gym was a criminal offence though, it was for combat training, taught by some of the best in the country. Funny thing was, the one who was training me currently was the same guy who had been training me for the past six years or so. He still hadn’t managed to figure out the Samantha Blazewood he was called to train under the request of the Blazewood Matriarch had actually been me. A little switcheroo and I got to learn to fight while Sam got her uninterrupted time from Grandma to write her novel.
My phone pinged. Surprised that someone was messaging me I checked the screen.
u free?
It was a message from Max. I smiled fondly. Annoying bastard that he was, he was family. Despite knowing what I was, he was the only one I could count on to have my back. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have had the courage to leave my former home.
10 mins!
I showered and changed into an oversized t-shirt, skinny jeans and leather jacket. A chill had settled under my skin despite the summer heat. Hopefully, it wouldn’t get worse.
Hmm, what was this? I looked at the small black spot above my clavicle. Had I really had a mole there all this time and not noticed at all? Weird.
Ah never mind. I was late and Max was a stickler for time.
* * *
Max drove me to my charm shop knowing it was my favorite place to hang around. I had even gotten my favorite dagger from here, one with a ferocious dragon designed around the handle. Our conversations revolving around Sam and his work overseas. Mostly Sam. He was incapable of speaking two sentences without mentioning her. It was adorable.
“That’s a lot of stuff,” he said seeing the big bag of charms I’d just bought. He didn’t know anything about the demon attack and I didn’t know if it would break client confidentiality to tell him since he wasn’t the official CEO yet, so I kept mum.
“You know how much I love magical stuff.”
“Yeah yeah, I thought you were going to save up for a bike. If you keep blowing money up on these trinkets you will be 80 and still walking everywhere,” Max said, as if he was a hundred years wiser and not just a year older than me.
I rolled my eyes, “Some of us are human, Max. We need our weapons.” Technically, I could ask dad to buy me one, he would be happy to. But, a girl’s gotta have some pride.
We turned to leave when his eyes caught a pendant hanging on a display case. Gold twined around a white crystal, charming in an old fashioned way.
“That will look good on Sam,” he said, turning towards the witch manning the counter to purchase it.
Max did not bat an eye at the exorbitant rate the witch quoted. Apparently it brought good luck to its wearer. The absolute sap that he was, he bought it immediately.
“Whipped,” I teased him fondly.
“I am not,” he denied. “I just think she should get whatever she wants.”
“Like I said, whipped.”
My phone pinged. I fished it out to check. Who was messaging me at this time? I was only supposed to report past noon.
Office. ASAP
It was from dad’s assistant. Weird, my shift was supposed to start at noon.
“Can you drop me at the office? Work calls.”
“Sure,” he said, taking the perfectly wrapped gift from the witch.
I leaned my head against the window. Max was yammering on. I had zoned out when he had started repeating how ecstatic Sam was going to be when she saw the gift. He could give her a twig and she would still be ecstatic.
What would it be like, being born as her? To be the apple of everyone’s eyes, to be stronger than anyone else, to have a boyfriend who loved you unconditionally. To be publicly acknowledged as part of the family.
Jealousy clawed up my throat. I tamped it down. Guilt wormed in instead.
Max drove into the parking lot. I got out and waved my thanks. He waved back distractedly while he took a business call.
“Busy boy,” I chuckled. I took off my jacket and held it as I walked into the building. I was feeling hot suddenly. I scratched my neck, vaguely remembering I had seen a mole there today. Maybe, it was some kind of new rash. I was starting to feel feverish, my eyes were losing focus.
“You are late. Selene is in Boss’s office. I think they are going to kick you out of …,” Bart stopped mid-sentence and stared.
“When did you get a tattoo?”
“A what?” I scratched my neck. My mind struggled to make sense of what he was saying as my vision began to swim.
“You are late,” dad’s PA dragged me by the wrist, her attention still on the tablet she was using to arrange his schedule, and pushed me into his office.
I stumbled and almost face planted into the floor. Great, even my balance was shitty today.
Selene was briefing dad about yesterday’s incident. Pretty sure dad was going to put the entire company sans me on the job to find this demon aficionado kidnapper. In the darkest part of my mind, I was a tiny bit relieved that I wouldn’t have to be part of it.
Dad waved me in as he swiped through the photos of Mr.Slime demon being projected on the screen. Neither paid me much attention as Selene continued delivering her report in a monotonous tone. If Selene was here, away from the client then she must have quadrupled the security around Aiden.
I took the seat beside her, opposite from dad.
I scratched my neck again, unable to stop myself.
“Ms. Ravenlocke,” dad began, “considering your status as a human, I’m taking you off this-” dad’s eyes widened in shock.
“Hmm?” It took energy to form a coherent sentence.
“Your neck…”
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Dad didn’t complete his sentence. It was weird to see my always unflappable dad act like that. Even Selene looked shocked.
I took out my phone and turned on the front camera.
“What the hell?” What I thought was a mole earlier had expanded and grown into intertwined thorn shaped marks around my neck like a choker. It glowed with a faint iridescence. How the hell had this happened in an hour? I swear it was only a small dot when I had left the apartment. My jacket’s stupid lapel had covered the mark so I hadn’t noticed it in the mirrors inside the shop too.
Dad’s voice was steady when he finally answered me.
“That’s a soul mate curse mark.”
Chapter 8
A soul mate curse mark? Was this some kind of joke?
“What is that?” I asked.
“Did you meet anyone new in the last few days?” Dad ignored my question.
“Lots of people. I was assigned a new case, remember?” I rubbed my arms. I could feel the chill burrowing deep under my skin. I put my jacket back on. “How exactly does this soul mate thing work?”
The only time I had heard about soul mates was in the novels Sam used to read. At least, there had been popular myths about demons existing; this soul mate thing didn’t even have that.
If the way Dad was glaring at the wall behind me was any indication, he wasn’t planning to answer anytime soon. I turned to Selene, and gave her my best kicked puppy face, hoping that it translated into some answers.
“How much do you know about it?” she asked.
“Absolutely nothing.”
“I don’t know why a human would get a mark,” Selene tilted her head, looking at me like a zoo exhibit. “It has only happened among dragons. It’s not like humans have any trouble breeding”
“Br…breeding?”
“My great grandmother used to tell stories of how the three deities blessed dragons with soul marks for our devotion to them. It’s a way of marking two people who are physically compatible so that we had the best chance of creating a progeny and protect our species from dying out.” She paused, “The more magic we have, the harder the conception. It often takes centuries of trial before we are able to reproduce.” I knew that. It’s why there were so few fire dragons left despite being second in power only to Fae. There were just five families in total in the entire country and they ruled over all the other dragons.
I knew Sam and I were born almost a century after our parent’s marriage and even that was considered pretty fast in dragon terms.
“It’s interesting that you have a soul mate despite not being a dragon. My great grandmother will roll in her grave if she ever heard about this,” Selene chuckled. “Your soul mate must be an exceptionally powerful dragon, too powerful if they got matched with someone powerless like you.”
Selene was just stating facts. But, it still hurt to be reminded.
“Won’t my soul mate be another human?”
Dad almost opened his mouth to say, “Obviously not,” but at the last minute remembered that Selene only knew me as a human.
“This is supposed to be a dragon only thing. I am still trying to figure out how you got into this mess. The fates sure have a sick sense of humor.”
“This is a special dragon thing. I get it.”
“You don’t,” she answered simply. “As a human, you cannot create a progeny with a dragon. And this mark is specifically for that. You will be in pain or even die if you don’t copulate with your soul mate soon. A lot of times soul mates found each other too late, that’s why it began to be called a curse too.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. This day was getting worse and worse. I don’t care what this stupid curse wanted, I wasn’t going to have sex with some random guy because dragons wanted to preserve their line. And I so did not have time for a soul mate now.
“Has the pain already started?” dad leaned forward in concern.
Selene gazed at my dad, eyes sharp. I knew why she was so suspicious. It was the way his voice had unknowingly softened.
“I feel feverish and I have been having a mild headache since yesterday,” I admitted.
“The longer you are away from the soul mate, especially when the mark has just started forming, the more it will hurt,” dad said.
Fucking fantastic.
“Am I supposed to be glued to my soul mate for the rest of my life?”
I had wanted to feel special at least once in my life. In fact I had fervently prayed for it. I just didn’t expect the fates to answer like this; stuck with a soul mate curse in the middle of trying to keep Aiden from getting kidnapped, oh and not getting eaten by a demon again.
“Till it stabilizes, you will need to be in constant physical contact,” dad answered and he did not look happy about that.
I face-palmed. “How much physical contact are we talking about?”
“Hand holding, at least. Cuddling. Kissing,” Selene was the one to answer. “Copulation would be easiest way.
“Definitely not,” dad thundered, slamming his hand on the table. A fissure ran through the middle of the table where he had slammed his palm. His hands half shifted into claws.
Oh god, dad was going to blow my secret. I glared at him, telepathically willing him to calm the hell down.
I couldn’t be glued to some random dragon. I had a job to do. For now, I didn’t have an option but to hold this dragon’s hand. I was going to hold their hands so much even the fates were going to get sick and realize what a mistake this was.
I don’t know if it was because of my glare, Selene’s shrewd gaze, or his fatherly instincts taking the back seat, dad immediately calmed down.
“Your situation is quite unfortunate. Let us know if there is anything we can do,” dad said in a monotonous tone that could give Selene’s a run for its money. Unfortunately, she didn’t look a bit fooled by this sudden chill act.
“One more question,” I turned to Selene. “Say, if my soul mate suddenly dies then will I end up with another soul mate or will I be free?”
“Neither. You will also die,” Selene’s tone was absolute.
Wonderful. I was starting to understand why it was called a curse. There was just no way of escaping it. But, if I don’t manage to break it, my soul mate will die in a few years when my soul dies.
“Is there any other way to break this curse, maybe nullify it without getting any magical backlash?”
Selene gazed at the ceiling thoughtfully. “I don’t know. It’s considered a blessing on the clan so I don’t think anyone has ever tried. Till now, I had thought it was a fairytale my great grandma had cooked up.”
“The last soul mark was seen almost a millennia back,” dad said, dashing my hopes of searching for it online. Even if there was information that old, it would be hoarded like a secret. But, there was one special place that could help me.
“I have heard a lot about Blazewood manor’s library. Could I borrow a few books?” I asked dad.
“I will send for them ASAP.”
I was pretty sure dad was going to break a few speed limits in his rush to get to my old home’s library.
“Even if that’s the case, most of the library books must be written in Agneya. You would need to find a translator,” Selene said.
“I know Agneya, no problem,” I blurted out then immediately bit my tongue.
Agneya used to be the common tongue of dragons in ancient times. Something not many knew to read in this day and age. Almost all the dragons, except for a few extreme traditionalists spoke the language of their region nowadays. Reading it was not something a human would know.
“One of my dragon friends taught me some of it when we were in school,” I lied easily. “It made passing notes fun.”
Selene hummed.
Her phone vibrated, she entered the password in a quick motion and opened the text.
“Your soul mate has been found,” she said.
“Who is it?” dad asked.
I didn’t dare make a sou
nd. This was too fast. I wasn’t ready to meet my soul mate.
She turned her phone towards us. It was a text from Emilia.
Something’s wrong with him. Looks like a curse. Called a druid. Come ASAP.
So my soul mate was a he.
There was a blurry picture attached to it. I leaned forward and squinted.
The person didn’t look happy with his photo being taken suddenly if the way he tried to cover the camera was any indication. But, part of him was still visible.
The iridescent soul mark lay stark against the tan skin of his throat, the skin around it red from scratching. Silver locks flowing past his shoulder.
Silver locks…
I sagged against my chair, “Aiden is my soul mate.”
Crack. The table split in two under dad’s fury. Selene and I jumped back, chairs screeching on the floor, to avoid the heavy table falling on our legs.
“We should be paid double,” Selene told my dad, calmly ignoring the mess in front of her. “Not only do we have to protect him, we now have to protect his soul mate too.”
Dad nodded in reply. Guilt coiled in the pit of my stomach. I was just becoming more and more of a liability, not only to my family, but to Aiden too.
I scratched my neck. The mark was starting to burn again as if reminding me that I have a soul mate I should be holding the hand of right now. Selene pocketed her phone and got up. “Want a lift to your soul mate’s place before you both start screaming in agony?”
I smiled wanly, “That would be great.”
Chapter 9
This had to be the most awkward moment of my entire life. It was so awkward, if you looked up the word in the dictionary, you would find a picture of me and Aiden sitting on two opposite ends of the couch and staring at the wall.
I tried not to wince from the pain shooting up my body. In the time it had taken for me to pack and for Selene to drive till Aiden’s place, the iridescent thorns around my neck had spread till above my breasts. My chest had more tattoos than skin at this stage. I was so glad that the mark was black and not neon green because at this rate I wasn’t going to look any different than a glow stick.