Page 69 of Soul Sucker

“May I speak to you, Morosov?” She glared at Alexei. “Alone?”

Alexei disappeared, slamming the door behind him in his haste. She held out the letter to Vadim.

“Did you know about this?” He took the letter from her and read it through before tossing it on the table. “Well?”

He stood up and looked at her, one hand resting on the table, which started to rock. “Fucking hell.”

“Why would they pick you?”

“I don’t know. I swear to God I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

She took a deep breath and retrieved the letter. “It doesn’t have to change anything. I don’t have to accept the match. Hang on. Why aren’t you as furious as I am?”

“Because I received a letter, too.” He opened the drawer of his desk, drew out a familiar brown envelope and tossed it on the table.

“When the hell did you get that?”

He shrugged. “I can’t remember.”

“You lying fuck.” She snatched the envelope, took out the letter and read it out loud.

“Dear Potential Mate,

Thank you so much for your application for the position of psychic mate and anchor to one of our world’s most misunderstood subspecies—the empath. Your sacrifice enables our two great nations to live in harmony, offers you the opportunity to reside in either domain, and significantly impacts your quality of life.

When your potential mate contacts our office to accept you, we will be in touch.

Thank you again, and good luck!

*More details will be provided when your offer is accepted.

The OCOS team.”

She scrunched the letter into a ball, then threw it at Vadim, who didn’t even flinch.

“When did you know about this?” Her voice shook but there was nothing she could do about it.

“I wasn’t one hundred percent sure until I got the letter.”

“Okay, so when did yoususpectsomething was up?”

“When I went into Alexei’s Fae-Web. Our fates seemed far too closely aligned. I assumed it meant we might have an affair, but when I got this, I realized the Fae-Web might be indicating a more permanent arrangement.”

“And you didn’t think to share that with me?”

“Why the hell would I? Do you think I was happy about it?” he snapped. “The last thing I need is to be trapped into another damaging emotional relationship with an empath.”

“And so you said nothing. Didn’t it occur to you that if you’d mentioned it earlier, I might’ve been able to find another mate?”

He retrieved the mangled letter and straightened it out, smoothing the paper with his long fingers, his gaze averted. “Don’t be ridiculous. Everyone knows that OCOS mates are the best possible matches for empaths. It’s one of the rare things that both governments agree on.” He met her gaze and she could still see the cold fury in his blue eyes. He liked to be manipulated about as much as she did.

“Listen, if it stops you from going mad, I’ll do it.”

“What?”

“It might work.”

“I couldn’t do that to you. I couldn’t do that toanyone.”

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