The nervousness was pouring off Jason’s skin in waves. Lasse kept a friendly hand on his back as he led him through the vast vaults and huge rooms that made up just part of Poseidon’s palace. It was clear his father wasn’t around. Poseidon always knew when there were people in his realm and was known to move corridors and hide rooms completely depending on his mood. But today the solid walls stayed in place and Lasse was pleased to see the library doors were open. That meant Artemas was around.

“Hey, Artie, stop jerking off over ancient porn. We’ve got company,” Lasse yelled, sticking his head around the door. Like every other room in his family home, the library was larger than life. Floor to ceiling bookcases lined every wall, while Poseidon’s more ancient works were kept in climate controlled glass cases arranged in rows across the room. In the middle, a battered old round table took pride of place. Legend had it, it originally came from Olympus and was handed down from Zeus during one of his re-decorating phases, but Lasse wasn’t concerned with its provenance. He was more perturbed to see Artemas wasn’t sitting at it.

“Haven’t you ever heard you’re meant to be quiet in a library?” Artemas came from one of the back rooms, carrying an armload of books. “If you’re looking for father dearest, he’s with his wolf. If you’ve come to ask me for another spell to find your fated mate, I’ve already given you all I’ve found. If you’ve come with some misguided notion of taking me out clubbing or something equally abhorrent, don’t waste your breath. I’m busy.”

“A mate finding spell?” Jason asked quietly as Lasse’s cheeks suddenly felt overly hot. He didn’t need his brother to remind him just how desperate he’d been to find his fated one.

“I’ve got an interest in magic,” Lasse muttered back. “Artie, I want you to meet my fated mate Jaxarinth Savopoulos commonly known as Jason.”

There wasn’t a lot that fazed his brother, but Jason’s appearance certainly did. “Another mate? Already?” Artemas gasped, slamming the books he was holding down on the table, and hurriedly searching through a stack of papers.  “No, no, no, this is not looking good at all,” he muttered as he pulled out a large chart. “The fates must be working overtime. None of this computes.”

“Artie,” Lasse snapped. “Take your head out of your books for just five fucking minutes and show some manners. You’re the first member of my family Jason’s met, and you can’t even be bothered to say hello?”

“Hello, Jason. What did you say the name was again?”

“Jaxarinth Savopoulos.”

“Paranormal type?” Artemas was making notes.

“Sphinx,” Jason said shortly.

That made Artemas look up. “Sphinx?”

Jason nodded.

“Well, slap me with a tentacle, that’s really thrown my calculations out.” Artemas sat down heavily in the nearest chair.

“Take a seat, Jason,” Lasse said heavily. “This could take a while. What do you mean about your calculations, Artie? Are you running odds on family matings now?”

“What? No, don’t be so crass,” Artemas frowned. He was as tall as Lasse, but slimmer, with dark hair he kept short and a pair of black thick rimmed glasses perched on the end of his nose. Lasse was sure his brother didn’t need to wear them, but he couldn’t remember ever seeing Artemas without them since their invention around the 1300s.

“If you must know, I’m working on a predictive theory, trying to determine who in our extended family will find their mates next. By adding in more variables from past matings I anticipate being able to predict when one of our family will find their mates and what type of paranormal that mate will be.”

“If anyone could predict what the Fates will do next, they’d make a fortune. Are you sure the Fates aren’t just messing with you?” Jason asked drily. “Tell me, where did sphinxes rank on your list of mate types?”

“You didn’t.” Artemas glared at his large chart. “I’ve got a flaw in my calculations somewhere, but then it’s not as though I have a lot of data. The first recorded mating I had was Nereus. He got wolf shifters, which was fair enough. Unusual for a being of the sea, but he can shift into a horse as well, so it wasn’t totally out of the bounds of possibility.”

“Is this guy for real?” Jason whispered.

Lasse nodded. This was typical Artemas, who was still explaining his chart. “Obviously, I needed more data, so I included Sebastian’s mating because he’s Nereus’s friend. He mated another wolf shifter, no surprises there. I always knew his infatuation with Alexander was based on lust rather than any true feelings and with Sebastian’s connection to the Underworld, having a wolf shifter as a mate makes sense.”

“I wouldn’t let Sebastian or Madison hear you mention Alexander,” Lasse said drily. “Sebastian has learned the error of his ways and is ecstatic with his new mate.”

“Yeah, yeah, compatibility was only one of ten factors I included. Now, see here, maybe this is what upset the calculations. Abraxas mating with his human, Jordan.”

“Don’t you go dissing my dad’s mate, either,” Lasse rumbled. “Jordan is perfect for him and I’m really happy for them both.”

Artemas looked up. “Oh, I agree, Abraxas deserves all the happiness he can get after pining for dear old dad for thousands of years. But Jordan is, or was, human. Of course, he’s immortal now, but he was human when they met.”

“I still don’t see how you make the leap from Abraxas mating with Jordan and Lasse mating with me?” Jason leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I didn’t. I had Lasse pegged for mating with a cute cuddly cat shifter, much like Alexander chucked Sebastian over for,” Artemas huffed. “But Lasse’s mating wasn’t supposed to happen until after Baby met his mate and Thor met his. You see, that’s the pattern that was evolving.” He pointed to his chart.

“See here. Nereus mated with two wolves, Sebastian also claimed a wolf. Thanatos is another one who found a wolf shifter as a mate, and so did our Father. Abraxas was the only anomaly so far. So, I accumulated data based on when they met, ages, lifestyles, personality types, experience, and degree of attraction to others.”

Lasse laughed. “You quantified all that?”

“I’ll admit it’s not an exact science.” Artemas scowled. “But the pattern was there. You see, it relies on degrees of closeness. Nereus is our, or rather my half-brother and your full brother. He mated first. Then his best friend Sebastian and then Sebastian’s father. Abraxas found Jordan about the same time and then Poseidon met his mate. So, anticipating a reverse bell curve, in accordance with my calculations, the next person to find his mate would be Baby, because he’s hanging around with the Tulsa pack. Then Thor because he’s your best friend, then you Lasse and then either Odin or….” He peered at his chart, “maybe Himeros, but that could be where my anomaly is.”

“And where do you fit on this chart, brother dear?” Leaning his elbows on the table, Lasse tried to see but he could never make head or tail of his brother’s scribbles. Most of it was in code anyway.

“I didn’t. Besides, that isn’t relevant. I’m a lot older than you and if the Fates had a mate for me, I’m sure they’d have let me know by now.” Artemas snatched up the chart and rolled it up. “Besides, my calculations need adjustment to account for ancient historical beings who may or may not still be in existence and who bear no resemblance to the cute little cat twink I had you pegged for.”

Lasse shot a quick look at Jason, worried his brother’s lack of tact had upset his mate, but Jason’s expression hadn’t changed except for a slight twitch on the side of his lip.

“You clearly underestimated your brother,” Jason drawled. “Why would the fates give this mountain of a man a kitten to play with, when he’s more than capable of tussling with a full grown lion?”

“I don’t need to hear about your sex life,” Artemas said primly.

“It’s your brain that dived in the gutter,” Jason snapped back. “I was simply pointing out your brother and I are evenly matched. His sweet temperament complements my rugged nature. In our nature, we’re complete opposites, yet we fit.”

“Opposites, darn it; I didn’t even consider personality complements. Damnation, that changes everything.” Artemas started scribbling on another piece of paper.

“Art. Artie,” Lasse knew if his brother got too engrossed they’d never get their answers. “We came to ask you about the catalogue of father’s treasures.”

“Father’s treasures?” Artemas at least put down his pencil. “I recorded forty two thousand, seven hundred and fifty two separate items, but that was thousands of years ago. I’m not sure the list is up-to-date. I try, but you know what father’s like. He keeps changing the rooms around making it impossible for me to know when he adds a new piece.”

“This piece would have been found a long, long time ago, if it exists,” Jason said quietly. “I wanted to know if there was any likeness of my sister in the treasures Poseidon accumulated. I know many were made, because at the time, my sister was one of the most beautiful and powerful women of her time. But by the time I went to look for them, they were lost.”

Artemas bit his lip. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he said quietly. “I understand Zosime hasn’t communicated with anyone for a very long time.”

“You’d be right,” Jason inclined his head slightly. “I like to think, that by the time her features were removed from her original form, that she’d already submerged herself so deep in her psyche, so as to not realize the horror she might have felt when her likeness was erased from her stone form.”

“It was a crime. One that should have been rectified but the gods had lost a lot of their sway at that time,” Artemas looked as though he was going to say something else on the question of Egyptian gods, but he changed tact. “However, it would seem the Fates will finally give her justice. From all accounts, any attempts to fix the replacement face have been unsuccessful. She’ll eventually find the peace her soul wishes for.”

Jason was quiet, but he nodded. Lasse’s urge to make his mate feel better increased. “Come on, brother of mine. If anyone could track down a likeness of Zosime, it would be you.”

Artemas tapped his fingers on the table as he thought. “I’m almost certain father doesn’t have one in his collection, but” he added as Jason rubbed his hand over his face, “there is at least one I do know about.” He leapt from the table and going over to the far corner of the library, hoisting a huge leather bound book from the shelves.

Coming back, he laid it carefully on the table, flicking through the pages. “When the Antiquities department in Egypt started trolling through the world looking to reclaim the treasures plundered from tombs and caves, they started keeping photographic records of everything they claimed ownership to. I’d only met your sister once; I had a fascination with the changing flow patterns of the Nile at the time, but I do remember what she looked like. There,” he said, turning a page and pointing to a picture.

The statue in the picture was listed as just ten inches high, but it was beautifully detailed. It showed an Egyptian maiden, wearing a simple shift, her hair falling straight around her face in dozens of plaits. Unlike other pieces from the time, the woman was alone, with none of the symbolic accoutrements usually found determining a person’s status. Her face was unadorned, letting the viewer know this wasn’t an important person from a cultural perspective, but the detailing of the small piece showed the artist’s love for the subject.

“That’s Zosime.” Jason reached out, lightly tracing the photo. “I spent a lot of time hoping, but I never dreamed I would see her sweet face again.”

The photo was a good likeness, but Lasse was seized with an urge to give that statue to his mate. He didn’t approve of stealing, and with the statue listed in the antiquities catalogue as a national treasure, there’s no way it would ever come up for sale. To see Jason smile, Lasse would make an exception to his no theft rule. “Is the statue in a public exhibition or stored somewhere?”

“In storage,” Artemas peered at the tiny print accompanying the photo. “There’s no artist attributed as was common for that time. It was found in a private collection in Britain and returned with a number of other items. But brother,” Artemas looked up and met Lasse’s eyes, “if it’s ever found out the piece is missing, it will cause an international incident. The Egyptians will accuse the Brits of stealing it back.”

Lasse was prepared to take that risk; human politics had never interested him. For all intents and purposes the statue was the one link Jason could have with this sister. He deserved to have it. If anything, it was a family heirloom. But Jason must have seen his intent on his face and shook his head. “Please, don’t do anything you’d regret, my mate. I understand how you feel and I thank you for it. I’m sure with just one click of your fingers, I could be holding that statue in my hands. But from a cultural perspective, it wouldn’t be right. Yes, the statue is an excellent likeness of my sister and I’d give anything to have something like that to remember her by, but no.”

Jason was silent for a moment, then he said, “Egypt’s cultural history has been pillaged for hundreds of years; first from thieves among the poor elements of society looking to make a quick buck, and then later by people with degrees who took items recovered from graves in the name of research or because they believed because they found them, they owned them. None of those behaviors were right and the damage done will be a permanent scar on Egyptian history.”

“But this is your family heirloom,” Lasse protested. “You are its rightful owner as your sister’s heir.”

“Technically, my sister’s not dead and my relationship with her is hardly something I can prove,” Jason grimaced. “But what I do know is that if she ever decided to release herself from her self-imposed exile, the first thing Zosime would do was clip me around the ears for stealing from the government. Thank you for your help, Artemas. If I can get a copy of that picture, it would mean a lot to me.” Jason’s chair scraped the floor as he stood. “If you’ll both excuse me.” He hurried from the room.

“Leave him for a few minutes,” Artemas said as Lasse made to go after him. “I imagine a man of his nature and stature would be embarrassed by the emotions he’s desperately trying to hide at this time. Give him a chance to pull himself together before you go after him.”

“I’d give him the world if it was in my power,” Lasse said quietly, staring at the empty doorway to the hallway Jason disappeared down. “He has so little, has lost so much, and walked the world alone for so many years.”

“And now he has you and I’m thrilled to see you looking a lot happier,” Artemas said, patting his hand. “Now, tell me how you met him. Clearly, my mating equation needs tweaking if I am going to get it to work.”

“You can’t predict the Fate’s actions, especially if you’re only trying to work this out to keep from meeting your mate yourself,” Lasse chuckled. “Believe me, I met him in the last place I expected to be. There’s no way our meeting could’ve been anything but the work of the fates…and Thor. It was like this….”