Page 19 of A Velvet Kiss After Dark

"Alright my little Avengers Squad, introductions have been made? Acquaintances met?" He didn't wait for a response. "Good. You leave tomorrow evening. You'll find the exact location to cast the portal spell needs to be exact, and it just so happens to be exactly beneath the St. Louis Gateway Arch. Midnight will be the best hour. Witching as it is, and all that jazz. Anything else you need to know is in the scrolls I gave you?"

Kane looked over and saw the they too had a scroll either in hand or shoved in a pocket.

Then, Zeke's body hardened. "Be ready for war. You will bring back the Relic of Souls. My mate's life depends on it. And so does yours."

Where else did one study a scroll and learn about demons but in a historical preternatural library?

Deep in the underground, miles below the city of St. Louis, Kane entered a sacred library only his kind were allowed to enter. Werewolves from all walks of life were bent over heavy leather-bound books: studying, reading, cataloging sacred writings.

Kane frequented the library when he had the chance. It was his favorite place. The smell of aged paper and leather filled him with a peace he rarely found anywhere else.

He picked out his favorite spot, an empty mahogany table beneath a colorful mosaic glass window of an ancient battle scene between his people and and an old race of demons. Seemed fitting considering his new assignment.

He dropped his backpack into a chair and scanned the area for any possible threats. Nothing but a bunch of scholars and elders. He preferred to carry his rucksack when he traveled anywhere. You never knew when you needed a vile of poison, a gun, or a bandage.

After that visit with Zeke he had a lot to moll over. A whole heck of a lot.

He went through the aisles, snatching books on the ancient Demon races called Demonarchies. He grabbed other references on portals, magic, and lastly…one on matings.

He had some information to ingest, and he needed it now. Too many questions lingered. And he was sorely lacking in knowledge about werewolf matings. He had no family left to talk to and no friends to turn to. But there were plenty of books that held all the answers he could seek.

Sweat beaded the back of his neck as he thought about what Zeke had said. The idea of going into Hell territory fired his blood anew. A new battle always renewed his thirst for adventure. He thrived off battle like an adrenaline junkie.

But a mate?

That whole topic left him floundering at sea with nothing to hold on to. He needed to know more.

What exactly were mates?

A thought buried deep in the back of brain whispered the words Fated One in a hushed tone. Fated Ones.

A sudden memory flashed in his brain, and for a long minute Kane forgot he was sitting in a library deep underground, books open before him. Instead, he was back home in Slovakia; and he was six year's old. Father was sitting in his favorite rocking chair telling a familiar, yet long-forgotten story before the fire:

LittleRunik was just like all the other boys: adventurous and prone to mischief. He met his wolf half at his thirtieth moon, first among his peers, and he naturally bragged to all his friends that he'd soon meet his Fated One and be happy first. So excited was he to feel the beast prowl within him, and it was then while the snow crunched under his freshly transformed paw, that he spotted his Fated One by the light of the increasing moon.

Pretty young Daza was out late that night. She'd gone to refill the water pale for her sick mama when the werewolf snarled at her from across the water's edge. So startled was she by Runik's growl, that she dropped her pitcher and fell into the stream. The current sucked her down in its icy grip, freezing her skin and hair and stealing the air from her body. Death was surely taking her that night.

Runik howled to the moon at the wrongness of it all. He'd found his Fated One and she was the most perfect being he'd ever seen; he knew it the moment he looked at her that they were tethered together forever! How cruel to take her now, when he'd just found her!

Furious and afraid, young Runik raced down to the waters edge and leapt into the icy depths to save his Fated One. But the frigid liquid froze him deep into this bones, slowing his movements, and the more the fought the current the further and further away she drifted, until finally, he could see her no more.

Kane snapped out of the vision with a forcible yank. His vision cleared but old memories brought old, painful emotions with them. The sound of his father's voice, the achingly-familiar baritone with that tell-tale scratch to it. The old language he never spoke any more. Not since the last day he saw his brother.

Pain sat in his chest like a hot poker. With some effort he retracted the lance and forced his breathing under control until finally his vision unclouded and he could read the words on the pages before him.

Mates must be real. He'd seen werewolves with them. Even Zeke has his own, and she wasn't a werewolf. She was a witch; something human, yet not. If that was all true then perhaps werewolves could be mated to any species. He needed to learn more.

Being the kind of man he was with the style of job he had didn't exactly leave him open for long romantic discussions among buddies. But if what Zeke said was true, then Tabitha Burke was his Fated One—his mate.

An irresistible urge stole over him. Grabbing his laptop out of his pack, he cranked it open and connected to the library's wi-fi. His fingers hesitated over the keys. After that brief hesitation, he typed in one web address he knew all-too well. It's how he often spied on her. He checked periodically for updates. Every damn day.

V-Society Magazinewas a popping website with the hottest stories on the front page. He didn't have to search far to see her writing pseudonym. She was blasted at the very top of the page. People came to this site to read her articles.

He clicked the name Alaina Morrison and went to her Gossip Column.

There it was. An updated entry as of this morning. He checked the time stamp, surprised to see she'd posted this before he'd even woken up. Did she even sleep last night? The thought left a sour taste in his mouth as he recalled hearing her drag a chair against the door. Was she a workaholic or had she not slept because of his presence? He grated his teeth at the thought.

Did he frighten her?

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