Page 127 of Shifter Situations

“Now... I’ve marked you as my property,” she teased. “Give me your foot. You’re not leaving with Hyde if you have no way to find me.”

I gazed at my mate as I watched her leave a skull imprint on Arwen’s foot.

She moved to Blaire and Baylor, laughing as they tried to drag her into their debate. She left the Third Devil’s seal and her personal tracker on Jack and Grim’s mate and co-mate before rounding the fire.

Ripley watched as Sloane traded trackers with Dolyn and then offered her own foot. Once they were done, she added both magical marks to Ozlo and Tiago, explaining to them how to summon her.

I pondered over everything that had been said and done in the past couple of hours. Two things stuck out starkly in my mind.

If her only tie to angels was through one hybrid parent, then why was the darkness so prominent in Sloane’s mind? It made more sense for it to come from her demon trait, but when I stepped back and thought of Sam... He was no more demon than he was angel.

And at the rate Sloane was going... Her feet were going to be covered in tracking marks. She could say that she didn’t care about many people, but I knew that to be a lie. She kept the proof hidden under her feet where no one would think to look.

Her best-kept secret.

Even from herself.

24

Sloane

Sunday, June 7th

Mid Morning

By the time everyone had left, I was mentally exhausted.

I’d loved having everyone together, officially meeting their mates, but gods... My mind was goo. It oozed from my ears as I dragged my feet all the way back to my guys.

They were all so relaxed, stretched out like lounging house cats basking in the midmorning sun. And they were gossiping.

Briggs snorted at York as I collapsed onto the blanket. I pillowed my head on Palmer’s thigh, grinning as he gazed down at me.

“I’m telling you,” my druid said, seriousness dripping from his voice. “Being in love with her is the equivalent of being in a brawl. Multiple fistfights at once.”

I rolled my head over to glance at him, fake-shock on my face. “Whyever would you say that?”

He playfully scoffed, ticking his fingers down as he answered me.

“There’s nerves, adrenaline, fury, and then acceptance that you’ve been bested, beaten. You make me feel like I’m floating, as if I’m so light on my feet that I could dodge anything that’s thrown at me.

“And then you flip a switch. You go from being so simple that I think I’ve missed something to so complex that I don’t know what the fuck is happening. That is infuriating and unnerving.”

I scratched at my scalp as I tried to digest his feelings. “Thank you, I think. It’s a bit of a backhanded compliment, but I can see the good in it... Kind of.”

“That reminds me... Did you mention to them what we were talking about the other night?” Briggs asked, turning to me expectantly.

“Be more specific.”

“Right after you fought the tree, Barbie.”

“Ahh, yes. Briggs said if we ran into anyone while we were naked that he was going to tell them that he was performing a demonic ritual and I was his sacrifice.”

He rolled his eyes at me. “Not that part. The part about the bonds and the apartment and all that.”

“Oh. No,” I murmured. “I forgot. How does fighting remind you of that?”

“Not the fighting, the part before you got here.”