Page 105 of Oracles Always Win

“Surprisedyou can both still walk,”Davinaadded with a wink, “after the noises coming out of the motorhome.”

Evenif my cheeks had been on fire, they wouldn’t have been as hot as they became when everyone else joined in with the ribbing.Gagejust rolled his eyes and tucked me up against his side.

“Howdid it go out there after we left?”GageaskedVanafter the teasing subsided. “Wereany of your people injured?”

Thehellhound grimaced. “No.Nothingmajor, at any rate.Fromwhat we can tell, it looks like most of the destruction happened before we got there.”

“Yeah.Ithought as much too.”Gagenodded. “Sorrywe had to leave without talking to you first.”

Vanwaved away his concern. “Iheard you had a mate to tend to.Thatwas more important.”

Gage’sgrip tightened on me.

“Iseverything good now?”Haydenasked.Hisgaze traveled over us, as if assessing if we were okay.Itlingered on the matching marks on our bodies, the evidence of our new bond.Theedges of the images were visible at our collars.Theseones weren’t fading, at least not in the same way as the ones from this morning had.We’ddiscovered that our bond markings didn’t change, but every time we made love smaller details or images or colors would emerge, only to fade again.

“We’regood,”Isaid.

“Soyour magic is tethered?”Haydenasked.

“Imean,Ithink so?Ihaven’t had a vision yet, soIcan’t say for sure.”

Haydennodded. “Letme know, okay?Whenyou know.”

“Heworries,”Vansaid. “That’swhy he’s the alpha, whether he says he is or not.”

Haydenjust rolled his eyes, like this was a familiar argument between them.

Asharp pain sliced into my leg.

“Ouch.Whatthe?—?”

Pawswas there, clawing on my shin to get my attention.

“Liftme up,” he demanded.

Istill wasn’t entirely comfortable with my grandfather’s supposedly magical cat, butIdid as he asked.Igathered him in my arms and hoisted him up.Hewas surprisingly heavy for being so small.

“Don’thold me likeI’ma baby, for fuck’s sake,” he grumbled as he wiggled out of my arms to climb onto my shoulders.Hesprawled behind my neck, stretching from one shoulder to the other like the world’s most uncomfortable scarf. “That’sbetter.Nowyou two-footed assholes will quit ignoring me.”

“Howmany people were arrested?”Nelsonasked.

“Notas many as should have been.Alot of people died out there.”Vanrubbed the back of his neck. “BothfromRobbie’swolf pack, and the goblins and trolls who had attacked them.”

Asoft whimper escaped fromHayden.Itwas such a strangely vulnerable sound to come from such a brusque man. “We’llmourn their loss,” he said. “Evenif we haven’t been friendly with most of those wolves for more than a decade, a lot of us had family members up there.Theyweren’t pack, but… they were once.”

“Butyou do have some of the attackers in custody, right?”Nelsonapparently wasn’t one for letting emotions get in the way of finding out answers.

“Yes.Weneed to talk to them,”Gagesaid. “Thereason we came toWillowLakein the first place was because of the trafficking of supernatural beings.Despiteeverything, we still don’t have any answers or new leads.It’sa problem.Giventhe paintingJakecompleted the day of the explosions, we know it is still going on.Itmust be stopped.”

“No,”Vanshook his head. “Wehave some wolves.Noneof the others.”

“Whydid you arrest the wolves?”Iasked. “Aren’tthey the victims?Yes, a few of them tried to hurt me, but you said you had the bombers in custody already.Whydid you arrest more of them?”

Haydenheaved out a deep breath and rubbed his eyes.Vanreached over and squeezed his friend’s shoulder.Thewolf closed his eyes for a moment, as if to collect himself.Whenhe opened them again, they flashed with a decidedly supernatural color.

“Wedidn’t arrest them all,”Vansaid. “Butwhen we searched the pack lands, we found some pretty incriminating things.Speakingof which, there were also a few boxes that smelled likeUlric, so those are probably the last of the stolen items from the inn.”

“I’llaskDavinato check for ghosts around here.Wemight get lucky and be able to compile an inventory list with their help,”Gagesaid. “Isthat all?”