"Freeze!" she barked into the phone. A second later, there was silence. "Listen, I'm a grown woman; please don't interfere."
"You're barely grown and only because you're half human. I thought we agreed you wouldn't mate until you were two hundred," Caiden argued.
"No! You told me I couldn't mate until I was two hundred. I have met him. He's my mate. Get over it."
"Shifty, blond bastard. I bet he makes shoes or something," Caiden grumbled.
Amelia pinched the bridge of her nose. "Cai-den!"
"Yes?"
"Where am I?"
"Lycaonia."
"And..." She waited to see if he would put two and two together.
"Oh Gods! You're moving!" he practically wailed.
"Can she do that?" Kyran demanded.
Fuck my life right now!
"Lycaonia is the city of..."
"Shifters," Tristan answered.
"Exactly!" she exclaimed. "What type of fae live in a shifter city?"
Silence.
Silence.
"Do you have the roster?" she heard Caiden ask.
"Right here," Tristan shouted. "Okay, so her fae bastard mate could be Larik Li'Mileren from Beta, Barak Ri'Anvial from Delta, Alanis Vi'Kilernan from Epsilon, Sulis Ri'Orthames from Zeta, Gods, if that is her mate, then he isn't getting the two hundred bucks I owe him."
"Tristan!" Caiden barked.
"Right. All that's left are the brothers Darian Vi'Alina or Oron Vi'Eirson."
Amelia sat up straight. "Wait, how can they be brothers if they have different last names?"
"Gods, it's one of those two surly assholes," Kyran groaned.
"Which one is it, baby girl?" Caiden asked.
"How are they brothers?" she repeated.
"From what I've heard, they were raised by the same foster parents. Now, which one?"
"Darian."
She heard them swearing softly.
"Is he treating you right?" Caiden finally asked.
She felt her eyes fill with tears. She wanted to cry and tell him it wasn't fair, that all her life she had wanted her mate and now he was denying her. She wanted her big brother to fix it, like he always did, but she knew he couldn't fix this. She smiled through her tears.
"He's been so unpredictable. He looks exactly like I dreamt him." Technically her words weren't a lie, but her heart still felt heavy.
"Okay, baby girl, we'll stay out of it. We don't really want to be around when you're freshly mated; that would be weird. But if you need us for anything--and I do mean anything--you call, day or night."
"I promise." She tried to keep her voice upbeat and cheery.
"Also, don't hesitate to go to Aiden. He's a good guy. He'll help you any way we would," Caiden said.
"If the need arises, I will. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm heading to bed. Remember, I'm three hours ahead of you now."
"We'll visit soon," Kyran called out.
"Miss you guys already." This time she couldn't keep the tears from falling down her cheeks.
"We miss you, too, baby girl. Now get some sleep and give that mate of yours hell," he said gruffly. She knew he was fighting his own emotions.
"Night, night, CaiKryTri," she said, using the abbreviated nickname she had for the three of them.
"Night, night, doodlebutt," Tristan said, making her smile.
She ended the call, curled up on her side, and hugged the phone to her chest. After a few minutes of sniffling, she realized the room had gotten cold so she decided to turn out the light and get under the covers. Before she knew it, she was asleep.
CHAPTER FOUR
In her dreams, Darian was no longer her prince. She stared at his back as he walked away from her. She chased him down a long, narrow corridor. Menacing, bony arms reached out from the walls to grab her. She had to get to him before he went through the door at the end of the hallway. Once he went through that door, she knew she would never see him again, but no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't catch up. She felt a new wave of panic overtake her when he reached the door and turned the handle. When the door swung open, there was nothing but an unending, black abyss. He spread his arms wide and jumped, plunging into darkness where there was no light to save either of them. She ran to the open doorway and looked down; he was quickly falling away from her. When she jumped after him, he welcomed her with open arms, an evil grin on his lips.
Amelia woke with a start; Darian's sinister smile was burned into her mind. She prayed that what she saw wasn't a warning for something horrible to come. The image of the long hallway hit a little too close to home when it came to her mate's current mental state. She turned over and stared at the ceiling for a moment before reaching for her phone. It was after noon! She had slept the morning away, and despite the extra hours of sleep, her head felt like it was packed with cotton. Groaning, she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Compared to Darian's atrium, her room felt empty and dead. It had the warmth of a hotel room, despite the quality of the furniture and linens. She wondered what it felt like to go to sleep listening to the magic of the wind blowing through the trees and the birds singing you to sleep each night. She shook her head. What she needed was a nice, hot shower. She turned the water on to the hottest setting then backed it off a fraction. In no time, the room was filling with steam. She pulled off her nightshirt and stepped into the shower. Her travel size shampoo only served as a reminder that, for all intents and purposes, she was in limbo. Without being claimed, could she really call this place home?