Page 93 of Moody as a Minotaur

Nelson cleared his throat and tightened his hands into fists. “I’ll keep an eye out for them. They didn’t see me there, so if I cross paths with them again, they won’t recognize me.”

“How would you cross paths with them?” Parker asked.

Nelson’s eyes snapped to Parker, but he didn’t answer.

“I’ll explain later,” I said. I doubted Nelson would want everyone to talk about how he hadn’t found the missing unicorn or the shady places he had to visit in his quest.

Parker didn’t look satisfied, probably irritated at having more secrets to unravel, but he nodded. Besides, it was probably best not to push the shadow jumper right now. From the dark crescents under his eyes to the jittery way he’d downed his coffee—and, seriously, who went to a pub to drink coffee at this time of night—it was easy to see the guy had shit on his mind. I couldn’t imagine the stress he was under, trying to find a missing unicorn.

At what point did someone admit defeat and give up the search when they knew another person was in danger? Could anyone ever walk away from that?

“Anything else?” Hayden asked.

Van shook his head. “Nope. I’m going to get myself a drink now.”

Everyone except Teague dispersed. Most of them returned to their seats or went to the bar for another drink. Nelson left the pub completely.

Once we were alone, Teague’s gaze flitted back and forth between Parker and me. I’d seen him look at us like that a few days ago, but I didn’t know why. He was a death mage, and although I’d met a few of his kind over my long life, I didn’t know much about them. They were a secretive bunch. So, his interest in us was unsettling. Did he see our deaths? Were we doomed already?

“Something on your mind?” I asked him. Istraightened my shoulders and pretended my voice hadn’t just quavered.

Teague startled and blinked. “Oh. Sorry about that.”

“What were you doing?”

Parker tilted his head at me. “Why are you angry?”

“Shit,” Teague muttered. “I didn’t mean to worry you.” He glanced around quickly. When he saw that no one was close—Carter had gone to the bar to order another drink—he leaned toward us and whispered, “I can see your bond. New bonds are always beautiful.”

“What do you mean?” I raised my eyebrows.

“It isn’t the same as a fated mate bond between supes, but it’s still there. Tying you together.”

Parker’s hand tightened on my waist, the only sign he was surprised.

“We’ve chosen one another,” I said firmly.

“Yes. And the bond is strong, as strong as a chosen bond can be.” Teague nodded. “It’s probably why you, Parker, were becoming increasingly tolerant of the high concentrations of magic around town. Even if this whole thing with the hunters hadn’t happened, I think it would have only been a matter of time before the Eternal Magic let you see the magic under the normal glamour.”

Parker narrowed his eyes at the death mage. “I sense there’s a reason you’re mentioning this.”

“Well…” Teague’s voice dropped, so it was even quieter. “Can we talk about this somewhere else?”

“Talk about what?” I asked, as I fought the urge to push Parker behind me and protect him. I didn’t care if the death mage was a seasoned operative who’d workedfor the Supernatural Council. I wouldn’t let him threaten my mate.

Parker slid his hand over my back in a soothing motion as he studied the other man. Then he looked at me. “I think we should. I think this could be important.”

Against my better judgment, we followed Teague away from the pool table—calling over to Carter as we left, promising we’d be right back—to the corridor that joined the pub to the inn. The death mage motioned for us to sit on one of the large sofas in front of the fireplace in what was once the entrance hall to the inn. He sat opposite us. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, and clasped his hands.

“What do you know about death mages?”

“Nothing,” Parker said immediately.

Teague looked at me. I shrugged. “Not much.”

“So, the thing is that I can see the bonds between people, like I said.”

I nodded. “Okay.”