She didn't understand him. Or this world. Or why she couldn't just go back to her life and be normal again. Her throat tightened. Willing herself not to cry, she pointed to her neck and said instead, "Do you know what this means?"
The woman hesitated and took a slice of bread, toying with it.
"You're his mate," she said at last, as if this should mean more than it did.
"I know. So?"
"You're his mate."
"Assume I never knew this underworld existed before a little over a week ago."
The woman studied her for a long moment. The second woman with the flushed face returned with a plate heaped with half a cooked chicken smelling of garlic and spices, rice, and fried plantains. Katie dug in, unconcerned with the woman's silence while there was food in front of her.
"If it helps, I'm allegedly special somehow," she prodded.
"Of course. You were born an immortal's mate. Still, you'd have to be something more to attract an Ancient."
"Why?"
"It's just the way things are," the woman said. She paused then shook her head. "I'm Daniela."
"Katie."
"Welcome, Katie. Your mate dumped you on me in the middle of the night. I knew he was an Ancient --a powerful one --but he wasn't much for talking."
"Yeah, he's like that. Drags me around the world without telling me where or why we go anywhere," Katie said.
"You said you've known him a week?"
"I've known him a few days. I was introduced to this world a few days before that. I don't know anything about either."
"Very, very unusual. No Ancient would…"
Katie held her breath, awaiting the awful news. Daniela shook her head again and smiled.
"What's so significant about being his mate?" Katie asked.
"It's hard to explain to an Outsider. There are only so many immortal mates born into the human race, far fewer than there are immortals. It was believed that no Ancient would ever take a mate, because none ever have. For all other immortals, they get only one shot at a mate in its life cycle. One mate. That's it. Many immortals go extinct without taking a mate at all. They wait so long, they forget they can have one, or they choose not to have one, or they simply just don't."
"Why would any Ancient creature choose me?"
"I don't know. I'm sure he knows."