Page 10 of Mage Massacres

Palmer materialized behind me, stepping out of the Void with his lips already twitching as he repressed a smile.

“How cold is it outside if it’s this fucking cold inside?” I grumbled immediately.

“It’s been nine or ten for the last few days, but it’s supposed to warm up later this week.”

I tilted my chin down and glared at him. “Nine? Nine what? Are you joking with me, Mage?”

He arched a brow at me as the rest of my mates trickled in through the Void. “Celsius. That’s like... The high forties, maybe fifty degrees Fahrenheit.”

“Why are you staring at me like you’re surprised?”

“Yer good at math.” His smile broke free. “I didn’t expect you not to know the conversion rate or that it’s chilly here.”

Briggs snorted. “Quick, Barbie. Pull your calculator out.”

I patted the back pockets of my shorts. “It’s gone. Must be in my snow pants. I wasn’t prepared for scientific exploration through the Arctic.”

“It’s not that cold.” Palmer rolled his stormy gray eyes.

“I am not dressed for fifty-degree weather.”

“I can tell,” he responded. “That’s what I was trying to get at earlier.”

“You didn’t think to mention that we’d need jackets? Or, I don’t know... Pants.”

I flung my arms in the air, then massaged my temples.

“It’s like ninety degrees in Nashville. This is a huge temperature jump. Between this and the time change, I’m not sure which way is what. Is that north?” I asked, pointing behind us.

“Yer facin’ north,” Palmer replied softly, but his grin only grew wider.

“Haven’t you been here before?” Stone inquired.

I pressed harder against my temples, trying to fight all the assaulting memories. A few short months spent here replayed quickly in my mind. Then they led me down a temporary path of sadness. And that awful feeling dropped me into the abyss of my newest memories.

“Yes.” I sighed. “I mean, I haven’t been here in years, but I’ve been to the guild. I didn’t make it outside, though. I was under the impression that the entire northern hemisphere had summer in June. That was my mistake.”

“It is summer,” Palmer informed me.

I glared at the cloudy sky outside the window in the door. “Look at those. Those are what snow clouds look like.”

Palmer chuckled. “They’re just regular clouds, Love. Welcome to Northern Ireland.”

I closed my eyes, then tossed my head back to stare at the ceiling.

Was it too late to grab the Lynch siblings, stash them somewhere safe, and then run away to a secluded island in the middle of nowhere?

Granted, Amelia’s estate was on a tiny island in the middle of Upper Lough Erne with no way to access it except for magic. But it was not a five-star resort.

And all I wanted was a fucking vacation.

I was getting on my own nerves.

Chill out, bitch.

Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes and turned to my guys. “I’m going to explore a little. I haven’t roamed the halls since I was—Yeah. It’s been a while. If I remember correctly, the kitchen and living room should be this way.”

I motioned for them to follow me and heard two lightly accented voices hissing at each other in the room ahead of us. I slowed my steps, grimacing when the single wooden stair creaked under my feet.