“Joy swiftly smashed by Kirill’s second.” Zeus shook his head. “That guy is a piece of work. I got Hades to check on Yakov, the second in charge of the coven, after I witnessed what happened on the pavement. It was Yakov who was driving the car that day. That vamp has a black soul, although he does his best to hide it. It seems he hates shifters, something I thought Cass could help with, because Cass would see the hatred and darkness in Yakov’s soul.”
“Yes, well, I imagine Kirill knows about it now, because it was Yakov who shot the coven master full of tranquilizers and chained him to a basement wall until he could get rid of Arvyn.” Ra was still fuming over the state of the vampire when he found him although he did his best not to show it.
“So, you have seen them then?” Paulie asked eagerly. “You’ve seen Arvyn and Kirill?”
Ra shrugged. “There might have been a bit of finger twitching around that helped Kirill get out of his cell without anyone in the coven seeing him, and that same finger might have sent Kirill to where Cass, Wes, and Arvyn were busy handling three mercenaries that’d been sent to kill off Arvyn. Not that I would know who was responsible for that bit of magic, because I don’t interfere in the affairs of mortals.”
“But if you’ve seen them, why are you here?” Paulie threw up his hands, turning to his mate. “I didn’t get it wrong. I know what I saw.”
“It would help if you told me what you saw.” Ra had already guessed. He knew what he’d seen, both when he’d seen Arvyn for the first time and Kirill. But for some reason, call him perverse, but he needed to hear confirmation from the mouth of the young demigod. “Why did you send me to meet up with Wes and Cass?”
“Connections.” Paulie sounded upset now, and that hadn’t been Ra’s intention. “Like fine silk threads in brilliant gold.”
“Between Arvyn and Kirill.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes, and a third.” Eyes still bright with tears, Paulie faced Ra, his chin jutting out. “Floating above their threads was a headdress depicting the sun, just like the one I see above you every time I see you. The threads connected all three. I’m so sorry, so very sorry. I felt sure you were their third and I just wanted you to be as happy as we are. But if it’s not you…” He turned to Zeus. “Could it be Helios? Can I meet him? Maybe if I could see if he has a similar headdress…”
“Their third is not Helios,” Ra said sharply, feeling guilty now he’d upset Paulie so badly. He’s very young, he reminded himself. I shouldn’t have let my teasing go this far. “I know I’m their third – I saw them bathed in the light described by so many others of our kind.”
“Then why aren’t you with them?” Turning his face into Zeus’s chest, Paulie wailed, “Orin was right. Gods always get things wrong with their mating. I felt sure this one would work, but Ra’s here, and they aren’t…”
“You forget, my sweet young mate might be a demigod, but he’s lived most of his life as a shifter,” Zeus said to Ra as he stroked Paulie’s hair. “Shifters know their mate by scent, and then it’s pretty much ‘jump their bones and bite their necks’ and the mating’s done. Vampires take a bit longer – they see a person, have an overwhelming urge to be with them, and then, when they’ve fed from that person, they know for sure the person is their beloved. I take it you didn’t let your two get that close to you?”
Ra thought about the drop of blood he’d left for Kirill, and how he’d made sure to rub his hands over the alley wall he’d been hiding by. “Not physically close, no. But I left clues I’m sure they’ll find. The thing is,” he appealed to Paulie directly, “I didn’t mean to upset you, but I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me your suspicions before I went there. Wes, Cass, and I worked out the alpha and the vamp must’ve been fated or have some connection. But the vamps hadn’t told Cass anything and the alpha didn’t know why he was in town, he just was.”
“He would’ve been feeling the mate pull.” Paulie wasn’t as visibly upset