Prim and Proper Fate (Twisted Fate Series Book 2)

PRIM AND PROPER FATE

Twisted Fate Series, Book 2

TAMI LUND

SOUL MATE PUBLISHING

New York

PRIM AND PROPER FATE

Copyright©2016

TAMI LUND

Cover Design by Syneca Featherstone

This book is a work of fiction.  The names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual events, business establishments, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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Published in the United States of America by

Soul Mate Publishing

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Macedon, New York, 14502

ISBN: 978-1-68291-158-7

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I wish you’d conquered those demons, Brady.

Chapter 1

“What if his curse was lifted?”

Prim jerked from her doze and blinked dazedly at her companion. Righting the crystal champagne flute slipping from her lax fingers, she contemplated the dredges of the mimosa she’d been drinking before the warm sun and uninspiring conversationalist had lulled her to sleep.

“What did you say?”

“What if he wasn’t cursed anymore?”

From behind hater-blocker sunglasses, Prim stared at Killian, the Fate whose home in Arkansas was currently overrun with a pack of Light Ones, one cursed Rakshasa, and the only Chala the world believed existed.

“If Gavin wasn’t cursed, Sydney would be dead.”

He meant Gavin Rowan, the cursed Rakshasa who had somehow not only become leader of arguably the largest and most well-oiled, honed pack of Light Ones she’d ever encountered, but who also considered himself mate to the aforementioned Chala, Sydney Amataya.

“She’s surrounded by Light Ones, all the time,” Killian argued. “They will protect her with their lives. Especially if she takes one of them to mate.”

“They are Light Ones Gavin trained. And as much as Sydney is in love with him, I cannot imagine her accepting anyone else as her mate, whether he is cursed or not.”

Killian clenched his teeth and blew out a breath, which Prim took as a sign of his frustration that he did not have a good comeback for her reply.

“He would kill her in an instant and without remorse if he were no longer cursed,” Prim pressed. She had cursed him herself, two hundred years ago. She understood that curse better than any other, save, perhaps, Gavin himself. She had also seen the look of utter devastation in his eyes when, several months ago, she had informed Sydney that she and Gavin could not truly be mates, could not procreate, because, despite the curse, he was still a Rakshasa, and Chala were not meant to mate with the doppelgangers to the Light Ones. Light Ones protected humanity. Rakshasa ate them for dinner.

“We are supposed to guide and protect the Chala,” she added, warming to her argument, spurred by her own fears. If Sydney died . . . “She is the last known Chala in the world.”

“And she believes she is mated to a Rakshasa.” Killian practically spat the words. “I’d say we haven’t been very good guides. Have you forgotten Chala are the only fertile female Light Ones? She and that cursed Rakshasa cannot even procreate. How is she supposed to birth more Chala if she remains mated—or whatever you want to call it—to him? And if she does not birth more Chala, what happens to the Light One population? The humans? Without Chala, there are no more Light Ones. Without Light Ones, eventually no more humans. The Rakshasa will dine on their bones until they are extinct. You know this as well as I.”

Despite the sun beating down on her and the almost too warm temperature, Prim shivered. She wanted to plunge into the ocean gently lapping at the beach a few feet away, although that was admittedly to get away from this conversation, more so than because she needed to cool down.

“They are immortal,” she said. “So long as they maintain the current population, there is no need for Sydney to procreate.”

Killian made a noise in his throat, like a growl. She almost laughed at the absurdity of it. He sounded like Gavin when he did that, although she doubted he would appreciate the observation.

“The Rakshasa have historically been better warriors than the Light Ones. They have no conscience, no guilt over killing. They eat humans, for the love of Fates. The Light One population
will
be decimated.”

“But they have Gavin now. He was once a Rakshasa. One of their strongest. Trust me. I was well acquainted with the un-cursed version of Gavin.”

She shivered again, as the memories slid through her head, one after the other, a slideshow of all the Chala she had loved and lost. While most Rakshasa made a hobby out of stalking and killing humans, Gavin had preferred stalking and killing Chala, before Prim cursed him.

“And now he’s on our side. Not to mention, he loves Sydney more fiercely than I have ever seen anyone love another. He will not let anything happen to her.”

Prim recognized the irony in her own defense. Only a few short months ago, she had left her private island and taken a rare trip to the mainland so she could inform Sydney and Gavin that their relationship was an abomination. Cursed or not, Gavin was not a Light One, and therefore could not technically be Sydney’s mate. Despite what his heart told him. And now she defended him to the very Fate who played host to Gavin and Sydney and their entire pack of Light Ones.

“Why do you hate him so?” she asked.

“He is a Rakshasa. I hate all Rakshasa.”

“This is more than that. You are much too adamant.”

Grabbing the tube of sunscreen lying in the sand next to his lounger, Killian slathered a layer onto his face and then turned away from her. “I am a Fate. Our job, our entire existence, is to protect the Chala and see them mated to Light Ones. We are neither protecting her nor mating her to an appropriate shifter, and yet I allow them to live in my home, under my roof. It isn’t right.”

There was more to the story, Prim was certain, but she knew she wouldn’t get it out of the other Fate, and frankly, she was tired of the conversation.

“You claim he loves her,” Killian said, apparently not ready to change the subject yet. “But it isn’t truly love if it’s dependent upon the curse.”

“Perhaps,” she acknowledged. “But Gavin has been cursed for more than half his life. At this point, he knows nothing else. He has
become
the cursed Rakshasa. He believes what he feels for her is genuine, so therefore, it is.”

Prim had been battling this particular argument in her head since she’d nearly broken Gavin and Sydney’s hearts with her proclamation. The guilt had yet to ease, despite their determination to stay together. Killian’s words did nothing more than bring it to the forefront of her mind. Not wishing to talk about it any longer, she said, “You said they were leaving your home soon?”

A month ago, Gavin and his pack had shown up on Killian’s doorstep, seeking a place to hide Sydney, who was being hunted by a pack of Rakshasa that had picked up her scent. They’d moved into the overlarge house tucked into the Ozarks of western Arkansas, much to the owner’s chagrin. Not that Killian could have turned them away. Sydney’s Fate, William, had asked for the favor, and Fates did not say no to one another. Especially when the favor involved protecting a Chala. Fates existed for the soul purpose of protecting Chala.

Killian blew out a breath. “Yes, finally. In fact, I suppose I should head back soon. I believe they are leaving tomorrow or the next day. I will have my privacy back. It won’t quite be a beautiful sandy beach and this glorious sunshine all the time, but it will be free of shifters.”

He sighed, and she felt his gaze on her person, much as it had been every day for his extended visit. She knew her red-streaked, thick auburn locks, dark skin, and chocolate-brown eyes were attractive. That was before one’s gaze traveled down to her ample chest, frozen in perpetuity as a twenty-five-year-old woman, and her narrow waist, slightly flared hips, and long legs, ending in colt-like ankles. She was fully aware of her own beauty, and while she supposed she was flattered on a basic level—and had not lain with a man in more years than she cared to remember—responding to Killian’s obvious interest was the very last thing she intended to do.

Killian wasn’t just a glass-half-empty guy; his glass had never been filled in the first place. His depressing personality could drag anyone down, and Prim often felt as though she barely held on to her sanity as it was. Sleeping with Killian would no doubt send her over the edge.

She’d also never been a fan of Killian and his constant complaining about everything and everyone. She imagined he could leach out what little happiness was left in her life if she let him any further into it. They were on friendly terms because they were both Fates, and their responsibilities forced them to be allies. But as far as personalities went, Prim would much rather be stranded on a desert island with the cross-dressing, eccentric Fate William any day over the depressing, gruff, and constantly complaining Killian.

“Do you know where they’re going?” Prim didn’t particularly care. She only intended to steer the conversation away from the memory of the look in Gavin’s eyes when she told him he was not truly Sydney’s mate. Not to mention what she knew was Killian’s hope for a quick romp before he headed back to the mainland.

It wasn’t happening. As far as she was concerned, Killian could leave sooner rather than later. The solitude did often get to her, but it was still far better than his company.

“Back up north,” Killian said, making a sour face. “Why anyone would choose to live in such a miserable, cold place is beyond me.”

His comment was amusing because first, nothing could possibly be any colder and more miserable than living with Killian, and second, Fates were immune to temperature fluctuations, so it really didn’t matter where they lived. Prim had visited the northern United States on occasion. The area was quite lovely, with four distinct seasons and the strong sense of pride the residents carried like a flag into battle.

They both fell silent, lost in their own thoughts. The waves gently lapped at the beach as tropical birds called out to one another. Somewhere in the distance, a monkey screamed. Her little slice of paradise really was wonderful at times like this . . .

“Are you the only one who can?”

Prim jerked out of another doze. Killian really needed to leave. She was normally neither this tired nor lazy. She glanced at the sky, judging the position of the sun. Nearly noon. She had whiled away the morning with nothing whatsoever to show for it, save the ability to say she had managed to put off Killian’s advances for part of yet another day.

“Can what?”

“Lift the curse.”

“Gavin’s curse? Why on earth would you ask such a thing?”

Killian shrugged and drained the rest of his Bloody Mary. “No reason. Just curious, is all.” He pushed himself out of the cushioned lounge chair. A dainty female brownie named Gaya appeared as if from thin air and took his empty glass before turning to Prim and taking hers as well. She wore a skimpy, chocolate-brown bikini that was only a shade darker than her skin tone and left almost nothing to the imagination. Killian’s gaze was hungry as he watched her swaying backside while she hurried toward a small tiki bar under a cluster of palm trees on the edge of the beach.

“I suppose I should go pack my things. One of your brownies will take me to that other island so I can charter a plane?”

“Of course.” Prim watched him walk across the sand toward the house-on-stilts that was half-hidden in the small copse of palm trees in the middle of the island.

She did not miss the look that passed between him and Gaya. Undoubtedly, Gaya would make her way to his bedroom soon, to give him her own personal parting gift. Gaya was a lustful brownie, and Brokk, the brownie Prim employed to feed the few inhabitants who lived there, was the only eligible male on the entire island. Gaya had long ago grown bored with him, and Killian undoubtedly gave her a delightful change of scenery.

It is just as well
. Prim settled back into the lounger. One hundred seventy years ago, she’d handpicked the brownies she’d wanted to move with her to this small slice of paradise. She’d chosen them for their strengths and abilities and their lack of family or other ties that might cause them to pine away here, in a paradise that often felt far too secluded. At the time, Gaya and Brokk had already been sleeping together, and Prim had erroneously assumed the affair would stand the test of time.

But 170 years was a long time, and Gaya had become restless of late. Perhaps a weeklong romp with a willing Fate was just what she needed to ensure she stayed on the island and continued to do Prim’s bidding.

Though the pair had long disappeared from sight, she called out, “Take your time”.