Chapter 6 Secrets Unveiled
The night in Atlantic City was filled with a tumult of emotions and sounds. From the window of Mia's small apartment, the waves roared fiercely, crashing against the walls and dancing frenetically. The wind carried the salty aroma, and in the distance, the silvery glow of the full moon illuminated the choppy waters, as if the ocean itself was in a state of anger and passion. Mia slept peacefully in her bed, immersed in a deep dream, her heart beating slowly, warm and rhythmic.
In that dream, Mia found herself at the bottom of the sea, surrounded by a world that seemed both familiar and magical. There, she swam gracefully, with her tail of orange and gold scales shining under the filtered light of the water. In front of her, a fish named Abundia, in that dream Mia was a mermaid, but it seems to feel so real, that actually She forgot human beings and having legs was actually the normal, She started to feel lke if she always have been a mermaid.Another huge gulp of air reminded me I was on land playing human. The last thing I needed was someone to walk in and scream about a mermaid in the bathroom. All that would accomplish was a council goon coming to contain me.
I tugged down the high neckline of my borrowed dress to remind myself of why I was here. To human eyes, my mating mark would look like an old tattoo that might be called abstract on a good day and tacky on a bad one, but this was formed by magic rather than ink. What was once a symbol of my mate’s claim over my soul was now a pixelated mess with no form. Just like our bond.
My stomach still roiled at the idea of betraying him, even though he was the one who abandoned me twenty-two years ago when I needed him most. For four thousand years, I stood by his side through anything and everything, and he discarded me without one word.
Fuck him. Fuck loyalty. Fuck the mating bond.
I hadn’t meant anything in the end.
The mirror rippled and the ocean goddess Ocio replaced my reflection. Out of all the gods, I ended up with this bitch. She lifted one critical blonde eyebrow at me. “What are you wearing? That doesn’t look like anything you own.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I hissed.
“Maleene.” Her blue eyes glowed with a harsh warning. “What are you doing?”
“I have a date.” No point in lying to the bitch. All that would do was make her angrier when she inevitably found out the truth. While I had no problems incurring my goddess’s rage, I preferred to keep the wrath semi contained.
Her piercing eyes widened as if I’d spat at her. “What riff-raff could be better than who I specifically selected for you?”
“Anyone other than your precious son who never does anything wrong.” Another reminder that she was, at least partially, to blame for the position I was in. She was thinking about his well-being when she paired me with my mate, not mine. “I hate you.”
“I’ve heard that before.” She toyed with her perfect wavy hair, rolling her eyes at me.
She vanished as swiftly as she came, leaving me glaring into my own eyes that matched hers as if she’d copied and pasted them.
I glanced at my watch. Five minutes until show time. If I was going to run away, now was the time to do it.
No.
This was happening.
Squaring my shoulders, I glided into the dining room and sat at the table the host led me to earlier. As I sat there, an old sensation tingled low in my gut. I squeezed my thighs together, hoping to restrain the building desire to be filled. The center of the world throbbed between my legs, and nothing else mattered.
Not now.
The last thing I needed was for the hysterics to flair up and potentially send my date into a frenzy. When my friend, Cassia, set me up with this person, she didn’t tell me anything about them. I didn’t know if it was a man or woman, beast or mage. If it was a mage, it didn’t matter, but if they were a beast, my scent would encourage them in a way I may not want to.
I dug into my clutch for the tiny syringe full of a potion crafted just for me. I discreetly injected it into my old mating mark and took a breath as the painful, unfulfilled desire left my body. Before I had the hysterics, I’d heard about them, always from a male. Those dicks had no clue.
The hysterics were the gods’ way of making sure a female didn’t leave their mate. Once a female was marked, she can’t even masturbate, much less let someone that isn’t a mate touch her. So the hysterics made her so horny she’d never consider leaving the mate her god cursed her with.
The problem came when the male left the female, and it was out of her control. Sometimes, I was so horny it was the only thing I could think about. Sometimes, it made me go insane and hurt people I loved. This potion was my lifeline. It was the only thing keeping the constant lady blue balls at bay ever since the last piece of my fragile bond shattered about ten years ago. The twelve years before that was a mere nuisance until that moment. Those dicks sharing their ancient wisdom with the young men didn’t have a single clue.
The luna witch that invented this potion saved my fucking life. No thanks to the piece of shit that left me behind.
I eyed my watch as I tapped my finger on the table. A sound that reminded me of shaving wood dragged my attention away from the fact that this stupid idiot was twenty minutes late. My nails had turned into long piercing claws meant to cleave skin from bone and left a sizable divot on the table.
I brushed away the wood shavings as a handsome man with the shiniest black hair walked up to me. A huge smile came over his face. “Maleene?”
“That’s me.” I forced what I hoped was a friendly smile on my face and accepted his outstretched hand. He gave my hand an uneasy glance, and I realized I’d left my claws out. “Sorry.”
Before I could retract them, he grabbed my hand anyway. “Happens to the best of us.”