Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) by Cynthia Brint

you alright?” Gale asked.
    Frowning
harshly, I turned away, lost in a flurry of thought. I'll
need to tell my Mistress, this has to be part of why she dreamed
about the girl in the first place.
    “ Hello?
Nethiun?”
    It's
connected, certainly.
    “ Nethiun!”
Reaching out, she grabbed at my hand, astounding both of us with her
abrupt gesture.
    Freezing
in my rush of thoughts, I stared at her, matching her surprised
expression.
    Blushing
red all over, she whipped her arm away and tucked it behind her
back, as if hiding it would make what had happened less real. “Uh,
sorry. You just kind of went quiet and looked really upset for a
minute there.”
    Lifting
the hand she'd taken, I smoothed the cuff of my shirt deftly. “Did
I? Sorry, something occurred to me. I should be taking off.”
    “ Taking
off? What? To where?”
    “ It's
just some business,” I shrugged, casting a quick glance across
the club. Ethlyn was watching me, but that was fine. I felt positive
he wasn't going to be doing anything rash.
    “ Business,”
she said beside me. “Is this business with your 'source'
twaelin, then?”
    Startled
enough that I spun back around, my opal eyes found Gale looking
smugly satisfied.
    Lovely,
I think I just gave myself away.
    Scowling,
she flipped her braid over her shoulder again. The motion made her
dress sparkle in the sparse lighting. “Don't look so shocked.
I'm not stupid or something. You already told me you were following
me because someone told you to, I just connected the dots a little
more.”
    Clever,
or maybe I was just too cocky.
    Smiling
wide, I spread my hands and sighed. “I won't patronize you
with a compliment, then.”
    “ But
it is true, you're going to go tell whoever your source twaelin is
about something.” Eyeing me with paranoia, I felt the flickers
of her rising distress. “You're going to tell them... about
what I just said to you. About how I felt your presence, and—and
Ethan—Ethlyn—whatever his name is. That's it, isn't?”
    Now
she's divining too much.
    My
voice was flat, brooding with a promise of danger. “I can't
answer any of that.”
    “ You
said you'd answer my questions!” she snapped, leaning in my
direction with blatant disregard for how obvious she was being.
    Darting
a look at Ethlyn, I hunched low, moving until my nose almost brushed
Gale's. “I said I'd talk while we danced. We aren't dancing
any longer.”
    “ No,”
she said through tight lips, “I guess we're not.”
    That
anger was like fresh coffee on my tongue, bitter but intoxicating.
Yet, I was bothered by her reaction.
    Since
when do I care about such things?
    Without
a word, I strolled off into the thick of the crowd. In the moving,
shifting world of flexing bodies and pulsing life, no one would even
notice me passing through realities.
    I
didn't have time to justify my actions or calm Gale down. My mind
was set on my duty, I knew I needed to report to my Mistress.
    It
was just how it was.
    It
had always been like that.

Chapter 9.
    Gale
Everette

    Furious,
I glowered after Nethiun for long minutes, far beyond the moment
he'd vanished into the blackness of the club.
    My
feet ached, my stomach was a mess of roiling liquid, and my head
felt dull from the small amount of alcohol I'd had.
    Worse,
everything I learned from Nethiun had just given me more questions.
    More
fear.
    He's
going to tell someone—someone who he clearly answers to—about
how I've been sensing twaelin. I
didn't even know how I'd been doing it, I'd only pinpointed what I'd been feeling when
Nethiun had encouraged me to feel his energy beating.
    Recalling
how he'd forced my hand to his hard chest, feeling the firm muscles,
the strange sensation of his very being pumping to a steady
rhythm... It made me dizzy, my breath short.
    No, I
thought angrily. Stop,
don't get all goo-goo eyed over this. Sure, he had some moves, and
yes, he was exciting to dance with... and the closest you've ever
been to a guy, any guy, never mind someone as