Page 75 of Shifter Situations

They began to walk with her, striking up some bullshit conversation. The rest of us turned in the opposite direction like we were leaving them. We took a left at the end of the block, walking down the alley between two buildings.

I continued to chip at her mental walls, not touching any of her security. Someone had trained her to build her defenses. But like my mage’s original walls, there were tiny gaps.

It took me longer than I liked, but when I finally broke through, I sent her thoughts straight to my guys. She didn’t need Palmer’s help for anything, though we knew that. She was trying to trap him.

She wanted to trap Briggs too.

Big fucking surprise.

I asked them to go along with her plan while the guys and I followed them, hidden in the veil beyond the Void.

The apartment she took them to was in town, and it didn’t take them long to get there on foot. I used the tracking marks to lead us through the Void, popping into an empty room with one wall between Briggs, Palmer, and the rest of us.

I realized two things.

It wasn’t Katie’s apartment; it was Anna’s. Her scent was all over the place, mixing with Katie’s and one other.

And there was some kind of intricate series of runes drawn on the hardwood floor.

Stone stepped back into the Void, moving to the living room so that he could watch her reactions while we listened from behind the closed door.

“She’s texting someone.” Stone acknowledged. “I can’t see who without getting too close to her.”

Katie rambled on about nothing as the minutes passed. Just when I was ready to say fuck it and kill her to get her to shut her fucking mouth, there was a knock on the front door. A man’s voice filled the room.

“You must be Briggs and Palmer.”

As I listened to him chant in his mind, it didn’t take me long to figure out he was starting some kind of spell. I glared down to the runes on the floor, but I wasn’t sure what they were. I'd never used any of the symbols before.

I hissed at York and Vaughn, “We need to disrupt the lines on the floor. Just don’t pass over the circle. I don’t know what will happen if any of us do.”

I was momentarily stunned to see Vaughn use his fae magic to wash away the writing. I’d seen him use it several times before, but I was constantly caught off guard by how effortless he made his control seem.

We heard the new man in the other room curse.

“What’s wrong?” Katie asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he answered. “I’m gonna grab some things from my room, and I’ll be out of your hair.”

His mind was going wild, wondering what happened to his runes. We heard him walking down the hall, so York and I moved to either side of the door. Vaughn grabbed Novak, tugging my vampire into the Void with him.

When the door cracked open, the man popped his head in, and York snatched him into the room by the shirt collar. I closed the door quietly behind him.

York shoved him against my fae as he and Novak appeared once more. I gripped the man’s chin, compelling him as I made eye contact. I spoke in his mind.

“Don’t fight. I won’t hurt you. I just want to know what this was,” I purred, tapping my foot on the floor.

He smiled at me. “That was a mating spell. It took me days to create.”

“What was it supposed to do exactly?”

“I was told that it would break current bonds and force a new one between the two people standing in the circle.”

York's eyes glazed over, and I knew it was about time for him to snap. He was so sweet… Until he wasn’t. And just like my fae, those bright eyes hid violence that made my dark soul preen in their presence.

I’d been surprised that York hadn’t killed the demon in that bar fight in Hell, but I thought Briggs might have had something to do with that.

I didn’t bother asking the man—the mage—what his name was. I didn’t care enough to know.