Mated to the Chaos - Georgette St. Clair Page 0,64

the portal slowly closing over her head as she watched the smile and the mask drop from her sister for the first time.

All that was left behind was a sad, broken girl who was terrified.

“I love you, sister. I always will. But I hate what we've become so much more.”

Skuld’s whispered words were snatched away into the Chaos as Nanshe tumbled around lost in the chaotic storm.

No.

She’d lost her sister forever.

Nanshe tumbled back and forth toward Encantado, gripping to the tether of a man who had run away, hoping he would be there when she landed.

She also had to accept he may not be there.

“You are all I have left, King of History. Do not fail me now.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Carlo met her in the Chaos. Nanshe’s body floated in the miasma, her dress tangling around her legs. Delicate tears flowed down her face, staining her cheeks. He pushed harder to get to her as she flailed, but an invisible pull flung them together, even as he reached his hands out to reach her.

He was close, so close.

She slammed into him, and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, breathing her scent deep into his lungs.

“I've got you, mate. I'm right here.”

“Skuld,” Nanshe cried.

“Did she hurt you?”

“More than you will ever understand or know.”

“Let's get you home and then we can talk about it.”

Nanshe shook her head. “I can't go back to Ashes right now. We need to get to Encantado.”

Carlo’s cheeks burned hot with shame and embarrassment. By walking away from her, he’d made her feel like his home wasn’t hers too. “I meant Encantado when I said that.”

“Oh.” She looked up at him and blinked, more tears spilling from her eyes. “But you know I can't stay there forever.”

He nodded. “I know, but we'll worry about that when the time comes. Let me take care of you right now.”

Nanshe tucked her head into his chest. She had never looked more fragile than she did in that moment. She appeared more like a woman rather than a Norn with great power and even greater responsibility. Right now, she was simply his mate, Nanshe, a woman he loved from his past, from a land he couldn’t remember. She needed him—he could sense it. His wolf went wild with the need to protect his mate.

We will have her, Carlo promised his wolf. She's here, she's safe.

Carlo directed them through the Chaos, pulling them toward Encantado as he’d practiced. He firmly held the current timeline in his head to make sure he landed where he meant to. The portal opened and dropped them directly onto his bed, and they bounced on the surface.

Her silent tears and shaking shoulders broke his heart.

“Tell me.” He traced his fingers up and down her spine.

“Skuld is my sister, my twin.”

“I figured as much after seeing some of the elements of the past. Continue,” he whispered.

“For so many years we were close, but I didn't see the darkness in her. I couldn't see she was hurt by the responsibility that was forced upon us. We were like goddesses, acolytes of the gods. We were commissioned to hold the flow of time. It was a great honor, one we thought we would never turn away from. But slowly, things changed, and we realized the gods had lied to us. They didn't tell the whole truth of what we were meant to go through. And because of that, my sister suffered. She struggled against her bonds. And it became more and more painful for her to be locked inside the walls we were put in. Enough so that when I met you from the past … Well, you've seen it now.”

Carlo nodded and gently motioned for her to continue.

“When I met you in the past, I wanted you immediately. We were drawn to each other, physically unable to stay apart. You were the only thing that made me believe that maybe, just maybe, I didn't want to be ignored. But my responsibility was too great, and you seemed to be accepting of my place. Because of my fear, I did not tell you about Skuld. I wanted to keep you to myself.”

Carlo shifted, remembering some of the past he had seen. “I thought you betrayed me. Did it have something to do with her?”

Nanshe nodded. “She slept with you, but you didn't realize it wasn't me. At that time, we had the same coloring. It was before we took on our positions. Then she also slept with other