Chapter Seven: Catra

Daniel was her mate. Catra was as sure about it as she was sure that Ryan was her mate.

And that was the problem. How could two entirely different men both be her mates? How could she have two different mates at once? And how could one of them be human?

It was unheard of to her.

Catra had heard of second chance mates. When the universe brought another mate to someone who had lost their first mates to death.

But Ryan wasn’t dead and Catra did love him and want him.

What the f*ck was the universe up to?

Catra had even escaped to the bathroom for a minute to speak to her ancestors. Luckily the wall-to-wall mirrors were excellent for crossing the plane between the living and the dead, because Catra didn’t have much time.

Ma, I want to see you. Catra sat on the toilet seat and stared at her reflection. Her belly was growing and the fact that she was pregnant was a lot more noticeable now.

She sat up straight and placed two hands on her stomach, cupping the bump. God, how had this happened? How had she gotten here?

She was pregnant and had two mates, and one of them was a human who did not even know he was her mate.

Ma, please I need to talk to you. She pleaded with her reflection and suddenly the spirit of her grandmother was looking back at her.

What is it girl?

Katrina looked younger than she had at her death. Her coily hair was pulled into loose braids and her brown skin had smoothed out.

How can I have two mates? It must be a mistake! Am I losing my mind?

Katrina laughed then, though Catra knew only she could hear it.

No, my baby. You are just getting double the blessings. It is not a mistake. Both those men were designed perfectly for you by our Creators.

Give thanks and an offering. And remember do not be stubborn. Be grateful that the universe is looking on you so kindly. But I must go now. I don’t like to be among the living for too long.

Catra nodded as her grandmother’s spirit faded.

Okay. Thank you.

Catra gave her silent thanks to her grandmother, before getting up. She had to get out there and help her second mate become a demon. She also had to make sure that the spell went perfectly, and she had to keep him safe.

Catra would suck Daniel’s soul out the old-fashioned way, and then go into his psyche and start throwing death magic around like she was trying to wash bugs off a windshield.

That was the way she usually did things but looking at her mate- well one of her mates, Catra knew she had to be gentle. Daniel was different if she considered all the medication he was on.

She had to be careful with him. And with his soul.

The kiss, when she kissed him, deepened quickly. He didn’t know they were mates yet, but he was desperate for her. And Catra was desperate for him too. And for Ryan. She wanted them both right then.

His hard d*ck met her crotch when Daniel pulled her gently on top of him, and Catra rocked her hips against his c*ck instinctively. She wanted him inside her right then. She wanted him so badly that she ached for him.

It was when the kiss started becoming frantic, when Catra felt her sweetest, softest part becoming slick, her arousal pooling in her panties, that she knew she had to stop.

She couldn’t let the mating bond be sealed with Daniel before she told Ryan.

How the f*ck was she going to tell Ryan? Would he accept this?

Catra scrambled off Daniel, pushing him away, as she tried to right her robes. They fell awkwardly over her body, hitching over her growing bre*sts and belly and flaring out weirdly at her larger hips.

“We’re going to do something different.” She told Daniel grimly, before she used a simple charm to render him unconscious.

The charm worked quickly, and she caught Daniel just before he could hit the ground and hurt himself. Then, laying him carefully on the bed, she started the spell.

Demons were inherently and inextricably tied to death. Catra wasn’t sure how or why, because most of the demons she had met were the most vibrant beings of any in the magical community. They loved life and clung to it, making the best of it.

Catra would use less death magic with Daniel and would use more of herself in the spell than she normally would have.

It would be okay, she told herself, as she looked down at Daniel’s prone form. Catra closed her eyes before she pulled her wand out and started chanting.

She was speaking a language only intelligible to her. A language that Katrina had taught her.

Catra’s surroundings faded away as she continued chanting. The penthouse suite disappeared into darkness, leaving only Catra, cross-legged on the floor with Daniel in the circle next to her.

Lights flickered on in the darkness and Catra was relieved to see that they were finally in her psyche. It would be easier for her to reach Daniel’s psyche if her subconscious mind was dominant.

She always reveled at the inside of her head. Catra’s psyche took the form of her grandmother’s house in Cape Town, in Walmer Estate, at the foot of Table Mountain.

They were in the living room and Catra watched as Daniel’s eyes opened, and he looked around slowly, an expression of deep bewilderment on his face.

Catra whispered the word that would open Daniel’s psyche up, and he gasped as both their subconscious minds blended together. The room around them changed, but only slightly. They were mates, Catra had to keep reminding herself.

Their psyches were so similar that it would look almost identical.

But she had to forget that they were mates, just for a moment, and focus on the spell.

She couldn’t leave Daniel in the state he was in for too long. He was still human and very fragile.

The longer Daniel remained in this plane, the longer their psyches remained so close, almost melding together, the higher the risk that he could develop a blood clot in his brain or suffer from cardiac arrest.

Catra went over to Daniel and reached for his hand. He looked at her, his eyes wide and gentle.

He trusted her so much that it almost broke her heart.

Why were humans always so gullible?

She whispered the words of the spell first, summoning her own magic and using the power of her ancestors to imbue Daniel with death.

Catra also sent blessings to Daniel. Blessings that would do him well. Blessings of strength and speed and magic.

She would give her mate as much magic as she could, shore up his defenses, and make sure he could always take care of himself.

Catra knew something was wrong when the room around them started changing. It faded away slowly, the colors oozing off the walls like sludge. The furniture changed to puddles of red liquid, and Catra gasped with surprise as stabbing pains struck her right in the center of her chest.

Her eyes shot open, and she looked over at Daniel, who was clutching her hand, and grimacing. He was biting his lower lip so hard that he had drawn blood and then, in a second, he was bowing over with pain.

“Daniel!” Catra scrambled to her feet, shouting his name as the room around them turned into an ocean of grays and blacks and reds, threatening to swallow them, drown them, wash them away into nothingness.