Pandemonium by R.E. Butler
Chapter Fourteen
Demi stood with her mates as Benecio and his people left the park. When their vehicles were gone, the males around her exploded into conversation, everyone angry at the turn of events. She didn’t know what to say because she was dumbfounded to have had the spotlight turned on her by that bastard Benecio. What right did he have to make her choose like that? To sacrifice herself or to let her mates sacrifice themselves? It was a no-win situation.
The noble part of her, the heroine of her own story, wanted to willingly go to Benecio to save her mates. But aside from the fact that her lioness rebelled at the thought of even laying eyes on Benecio again, let alone mating him, she knew Rafe and Rhaider would never allow her to do that. They were willing to fight him. She hoped that two against one would mean the odds were in their favor, but she didn’t trust Benecio even a tiny bit.
He was crazy and dangerous, which was not a good combination. He clearly wasn’t alpha because he’d inherited the position or won a popularity contest. The visible scars on his face and arms, the hardness of his gaze and set of his jaw, told her he’d fought with claws and fangs to be where he was. Alphas who won their position like that often faced a similar fate as the alpha they’d killed to get where they were.
She couldn’t imagine living with the knowledge that someday people you cared about would find a weakness and kill you.
Her gaze moved from the empty parking lot to the SUV where Abbie had rushed to.
Demi knew Abbie to be a calm and sweet female. She’d never seen her look scared before.
She left the males to discuss the situation and walked to the SUV, knocking on the passenger side window.
Abbie opened the door.
“Are you okay?” Demi asked.
“I want to tell you that I am, but the truth is that I’m not.”
“What happened?”
Abbie looked at her for a long, quiet moment. “I saw Benecio with my power.”
“You did? So, there’s a match for him in your book? That’s great! Why didn’t you tell him?”
“Because there’s something wrong with what I saw. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.” Abbie turned in the seat so her legs hung out of the SUV and she faced Demi. The book sat in her lap.
“Wrong how? I always assumed your power was pretty fail-safe.”
She shook her head. “It’s not that I believe what I saw was wrong, it’s that I feel like there’s something wrong with the circumstances. I can’t really put my finger on it, but I believe that who I saw in the book when I used my power to match for Benecio will lead to death. I just don’t know whose death.”
Demi rocked back on her heels. “So, you can divine the future?”
“Not really. It’s just a feeling, but I’m positive the feeling is not wrong. I don’t know what to do about it. I’ve never been faced with the situation before, and there isn’t anyone I can talk to about it. There’s no match-maker helpline or online group.”
“Is the match a female from our pride?”
Abbie didn’t say anything for long enough that Demi started to get nervous. And then a thought occurred to her, and it wasn’t a good one. She didn’t even want to say it out loud, but before she could stop herself, she blurted it out. “It’s not me, is it?”
She looked like she’d been smacked in the face. “What? No, of course not!”
Demi let out a relieved breath. “I didn’t really think it was me, but I felt compelled to ask anyway.”
“It’s okay. I’d probably be asking the same thing myself.” She leaned against the seat and let out a deep sigh. “Yes, the person I saw with Benecio is someone from our pride. But like I said, I don’t think I can go through with it. It seems wrong to send a female to a male who is so clearly dangerous and off his nut.”
Demi wanted to agree. She didn’t think it was right for anyone to be stuck with Benecio. But she also didn’t want to mate him herself or watch her mates fight him on her behalf. It would be easier if he found his own mate and turned his sights off her. “Who is it?”
Abbie’s eyes were closed and she opened them. “China.”
* * *
An hour later, Demi, her mates, and her father were seated at the diner waiting for lunch. She’d been blown away by Abbie’s reveal about China and hadn’t known what to say. Abbie had explained things to everyone once they’d joined them at the SUV. Duke had agreed to abide by Abbie’s insistence that China not be brought into the situation when she couldn’t know what the future held. Everyone was unnerved by the revelation that China could somehow be involved with someone like Benecio and Abbie’s belief that someone—maybe even China—might die if the two were brought together.
“I know she’s your friend, sweets,” Rhaider said, “but I still think someone should at least tell China about it and let her make her own decision about whether to meet with him or not.”
Demi shook her head. “Absolutely not. She’s my best friend. What if she’s the one who dies? I would never forgive myself.”
“We don’t want her to be hurt either,” Rafe said. “But if she and Benecio are meant to be together, if she’s the right female for him, then it seems cruel to keep them apart.”
“Abbie never said that they were heart-matches. This is mate-matching, which is a kind of magic and has nothing to do with the heart,” Demi said.
“Your mom and I were mate-matched,” her father said. “But I believe we’re also heart-matches as well. I think mate-matching can turn into heart-matching.”
Demi threw up her hands. “So, you’re on their side? You want me to tell China to potentially put herself in danger to save me from either sacrificing myself or potentially sacrificing my mates? That’s the height of selfishness.”
“I’m in danger?”
Demi’s heart dropped and her stomach twisted as she recognized China’s voice from behind where she sat in the booth.
Turning slowly, she faced her bestie.
“China.”
“What’s going on?” China put her hand up. “Before you say something like it’s not my concern or I misheard you, just remember that we’ve known each other our whole lives and we both detest lying.”
Demi pursed her lips. China was right—there wasn’t much Demi hated more than lying.
“Sit down,” Demi said, gesturing to the end of the half-circle corner booth. When China was seated, Demi told her everything that had happened from the meeting with Benecio to Abbie’s disturbing vision.
China sat back and drummed her fingers on the table.
The waitress appeared and set everyone’s food down, then asked if China wanted anything. She shook her head. When they were alone again, China cleared her throat. “So, if I mate with this Benecio asshole, someone might die?”
“We just don’t know,” Demi said.
“To be fair,” her dad said, “Abbie said she saw death related to Benecio and that there was something off about the match. So, she’s not sure you’rehismatch, which is why she asked us to keep quiet about it.”
“Sorry,” Demi said. “We shouldn’t have been talking about it in public, I’m just so frustrated.”
“It’s okay, really. I’d rather know than there be this weird thing between us because you needed to keep it from me.”
Demi reached across the table and took China’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “You’re my best friend and I love you dearly. I don’t want you to get hurt in any way. I’d rather deal with Benecio on my own than involve you.”
Rafe and Rhaider both growled softly. Demi released China’s hand and touched both of theirs.
“I understand. I wish he’d never come to Kedrick,” China said.
Demi wished that as well.
“Don’t worry about anything,” Rhaider said. “We’re not going to let Demi get hurt. We’ll defeat him and send him packing, and it will be the end of things.”
“If Abbie wanted you to know, if she thought you were meant to be with Benecio, I think she would’ve contacted you,” Demi said. Which she believed, but she also kind of thought that Abbie hadn’t planned to tell China because she was afraid she was the one to die in the vision. Demi was glad that she didn’t have to deal with that kind of burden of knowledge.
“That’s a good point,” China said. She slid from the booth and stood. “Thanks for filling me in. I hope that he sees the truth that you’re mated and moves on. It’s pathetic that he’s been acting like a toddler who had a toy taken away.”
“Fact,” Demi said. She stood and hugged her. “Love you, bestie.”
“To the moon and back,” China said.
She said goodbye to their group, stopped at the counter and picked up a to-go bag, and left.
“She’s sweet,” Quentin said. “You’re lucky to have her for a friend.”
“I am.” Demi picked up the grilled ham and cheese sandwich. “We still need to talk about this fighting for me business.”
“Trust us to protect you and our mating,” Rhaider said. “Rafe and I were both trained to fight in our human and bear forms. He might be a powerful alpha, but we’re fighting for you and that means we’re going to do everything in our power to win.”
“Let’s just table things while we eat,” Quentin said. “All this fight talk is giving me indigestion.”
Demi smiled. “Sorry. Let’s talk about looking for a new place to live.”
“There’s a house near us that’s empty,” Quentin said.
“Really?”
“Yep, Clive Henderson moved down to Florida after his mate died. His daughter is in a pride down there and he was having some trouble getting around with his arthritis. It’s been empty since he left.”
Demi took a bite of the large sandwich and let out an appreciative sound at the melty gouda and cheddar. “I know the house you’re talking about, and I wasn’t aware it was empty. It might be perfect for us.”
“You can call Duke about it. He’s got the keys to the empty homes that belong to the pride,” he said.
“The pride owns the homes?” Rafe asked.
“Yep,” Quentin said. “It’s one of the perks of being a pride member and it ensures that even if pride members move from the house or leave the pride, the property remains in the pride’s control and part of our territory.”
“That’s pretty neat,” Rafe said.
“It makes it easy to move around if we need to. Someone will take over our place when we leave too. It won’t sit empty for long.”
“I’m game to go looking at houses when we’re done here,” Rhaider said.
“Me too,” Demi said. She sent a quick text to Duke, who told her to come to the bar for the keys and addresses of the empty homes in the territory.
She knew that house hunting was a way to take their minds off the fight on the horizon, and she didn’t mind the distraction.
She really hoped that Benecio would come to his senses about her and move on, but she didn’t think she had that kind of luck.
