Astherin's POV
He stood at the window; arms folded behind his back like he was born to command attention. Had thick black hair, eyes were silver flecked and a beautiful olive skin. His uniform was perfectly tailored and ironed too perfect, like it had been stitched to match his body atom by atom.
And the moment I stepped through the doorway, his gaze snapped to mine. What's the problem with these new boys? Why do they have to be hot and somehow attracted to me. Alexis spotted him.
"Ouu! Another new one? I think our school is on a spree of accepting gorgeous people. And the universe on the other hand has plans of getting you laid" She winked and I smacked her head.
Alexis disappeared before I could say jack, I'm sure I didn't blink twice, and Mr. olive skin was in front of me.
He tilted his head. "So, it's true."
I stopped. "Excuse me?"
He didn't answer right away. He took his time to study me, like he was scanning for some sort of authenticity, and he looked at me the way people look at people they shouldn't still love. I was so confused.
"Mr. man why are you looking at me like I failed you or something? And if you didn't know staring is rude"
"Your name is Astherin Khaelith," he said softly. "You don't remember me, but we are mates."
The room spun.
Alexis leaned into me, whispering, "Okay, this one's weird. Hot, but weird. Do we like him or…?" I didn't even notice when she came back.
"I don't know yet," I said, heart thudding.
He walked toward me, slow and deliberate, like a predator who didn't need to run. "I'm Riven. I'm a tribrid born of three dying bloodlines. Cursed by the gods, banished to the outer rim of existence and you are tethered to my soul."
And then he reached out and touched the air near my chest never making contact, but I felt it. A warm pull, like my ribcage had turned into a magnet and his voice was dragging my heartbeat toward him.
Behind him, the windows rattled.
"What are you doing?" I breathed.
He looked down at his hand. "It's not me. It's the bond. Your soul remembers mine, even if your mind doesn't."
I took a step back. He didn't follow.
"I didn't ask for this," I whispered.
He smiled sadly. Like someone who'd heard that before.
"No," he said. "But you did summon us. And now that you're awake, we can't be unbound."
I turned to leave. I didn't care if I looked insane. I didn't care what Alexis's thought. My body moved before my brain could form a plan.
"Ash! take a seat you look like you are about to pass out" I didn't listen.
I bolted from the homeroom.
Down the hallway, past the lockers, past the rows of kids who felt more like shadows now. I didn't stop until I hit the back exit. And even then, the world didn't feel real. My breath was ragged, and I was shaking.
Another one. Another stranger who somehow knew me better than I knew myself. Another boy with glowing eyes and another leaving me with more questions. What the hell was happening to me? My phone buzzed in my pocket.
Unknown number. No message. Just a blank screen.
And then it buzzed again.
And again.
And when I finally looked down… five unread texts.
Every one of them said the same thing:
"You are not safe."
I internally screamed, I felt my body pulse, and I blacked out.
"Mr. and Mrs. Riven, your baby is hereby cursed with the burden of a tribrid. He'll be born with the blood of all three major factions of the paranormal world." The witches said.
"You don't have a mate?" the other pack members snickered at me.
"weirdo"
"Cursed one" their mockery echoed through my ears…
"Astherin wake up your nose is bleeding" The voices felt distant…
"Asther…wake up!"
My body jolted forward, and I open my eyes and I saw the two beautiful men that decided spawn into earth.
"Here a tissue for your nose" Taryn stretched his hand forward but paused and stared at me.
"What?" I asked. He said nothing and proceeded to clean my nose for me instead. While Riven stood there with a jealous look on his face. He sincerely looked like he was using his willpower to restrain himself.
"Tell the mister to get his hands of you" I legit heard this man or boy or whatever in my head and I coughed…hard. I took the tissue from Taryn and left them.
I didn't go back to class.
I walked. I didn't even know where. Past the school gates, across the field behind the gym, over the old soccer pitch that hadn't been mowed in months. My heart was still racing, everything still trying to make sense, why I was having every body's memory but my own and the five identical texts burned behind my eyes.
You are not safe.
I already knew that. But seeing it spelled out like a warning label slapped on my life five times from five unknown numbers shoved the panic into a new gear.
I sat on the bleachers, shaking still recovering from the mid trance I had.
The sky was cloudless, too bright for the chill in the air. I wrapped my arms around myself and tried to remember what normal felt like. Just one day. One hour. One breath that didn't feel like it came with a question mark.
I didn't get it. I didn't remember these people. But they knew me somehow and not just on the surface, they knew me deeply, intimately. Like their entire identities were written around the idea of me. I wasn't some chosen one. I wasn't even particularly interesting. So why was the universe playing matchmaker with monsters who claimed they'd died for me?
"Skipping class already?"
The voice behind me was familiar in a way that made my core tighten.
Taryn.