Fate: California Obscura

I leaned forward and told him, “When I’m with Elias, it’s the same as being drunk. I’m under the influence of that aforementioned cocktail of magic and pheromones and whatever else is in the mix, and I don’t have the ability to think clearly. I’m obviously not suggesting Elias would force himself on me. I’m just trying to explain that I’m not in control of myself when we’re close to each other and the mate bond is activated. So, you’re about to put me in a situation where I’m unable to give consent, Carter.”

Despite whatever he’d done to lock me out of his thoughts, I felt the conflict in him. It seemed Carter had principles, and I’d struck a nerve. After a pause, he said, “I have to think about this. Please don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.” What was I going to do, crash the plane out of spite? That wouldn’t exactly work to my advantage. He got up and went into the cockpit, closing the door behind him.

I exhaled slowly, then shifted around so I was leaning against the arm of the couch and looked out the window. The sun was just beginning to rise. By its position, I could tell we were heading in a more or less northeastern direction, but that didn’t narrow down our destination by much.

Maybe fifteen minutes passed before Carter returned to his seat. He studied me with a troubled expression as he said, “I never thought about it like that before, but you’re right. If you and Elias are both under the influence of your mate bond, neither of you can give consent.”

“Exactly. That’s why you need to let me go.”

“That won’t solve my friend’s problem. He needs some sort of closure where you’re concerned.”

“If your solution is to break the bond by killing me, I don’t consent to that, either.”

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Yeah, probably not. You actually seem like a pretty decent guy, aside from the whole breaking into my house and kidnapping me thing. Then again, I don’t really know you, do I? In fact, I don’t even know what you are, or if Carter is your first or last name.”

“It’s my only name, though not my original one, and I’m a demon. That’s why I couldn’t just walk up and knock on your door. Your wards were set to automatically lock out anything that reads as evil.”

“Interesting. I’ve never met a demon before.”

He seemed surprised. “No hysterics? No unflattering assumptions about my kind?”

“There’s a lot of darkness in you. Truly staggering amounts, actually. But I believe we all should get to decide who we want to be, no matter what cards we’re dealt. The fact that you’re trying so hard to help your friend says a lot about the choices you’ve made.”

He asked, “Why are you so quick to give a total stranger—and a demon, at that—the benefit of the doubt, but you won’t do the same for your mate?”

“Because I know him, and there’s no warmth or compassion in Elias.”

“Sure there is,” he insisted. “You’ll see.”

“So, you’re going through with your plan of taking me to him.” When he nodded, I asked, “Did that earlier conversation about consent mean nothing to you?”

“It meant everything to me. That’s why I’m planning to suppress your bond before I leave you with him.”

“You can do that?”

“I think so, but it won’t be easy. Mate bonds are extremely powerful. This can only be a short-term thing, because it’ll require constant effort and energy on my part. My goal is to keep it contained for a week. That should be plenty of time for you and Elias to get to know each other without any distractions.”

“I’ll mean nothing to him without the bond. What if he tries to hurt me?”

“He wouldn’t do that. Also, you’re hardly defenseless,” Carter said. “He might be strong, but he doesn’t have any magical ability, while you’re surprisingly formidable.”

“Does he know what you’re planning?”

“No, and I think he’ll probably be furious with me. I won’t be able to suppress the bond until we’re together, and that means he’ll be deep in its thrall when we first arrive. It might be a shock to his system when it cuts out abruptly.”

“Assuming you’re even able to block it,” I said.

“I’ve learned a few tricks over the years. I’m pretty sure I can do this.”

I thought about it before saying, “I like the idea of getting to talk to Elias when we’re both sober, for lack of a better word. It might be pointless in the long run, because as soon as the bond returns it’ll just override everything again. But I think he needs this. I’ve been able to resist our bond and stay away from him all these years, and once he realizes we’re totally wrong for each other, hopefully he’ll be able to do the same.”