Page 132 of Mage Massacres

“And I can’t wait.” Briggs chuckled. “Bishop crying will be a memory I’ll never forget.”

His words had me lost in thought, letting him lead me to the kitchen. Forgetting important things wasn’t something that I often did either, yet there I was, being reminded once again that I was slipping.

Forgetting.

Being reckless in a way that would bring me no pleasure or exhilaration.

Hyde stopped me at the kitchen entrance, her frown worrying as I whispered, “What is it?”

“Having mates is exhausting, Lo,” she complained. “I don’t know how you do it. I wanted to go to Stars and start packing to move into my new apartment, but Arwen is insisting I stay with him. At the rate I’m pulling hair out—not anyone else—I’ll be bald.”

“You’re not having sex with Arwen?”

She glowered at me. “No.”

“When was the last time you fed?” I’d seen her snacking on food, but I knew that wasn’t the only kind of nutrition she needed.

“After your night with the fae? Yeah, bitch. I’m stuffed.”

I stared at her, my mouth gaping as I thought back to last night. I’d put a soundproof barrier around us… But nothing else. It hadn’t even crossed my mind.

Briggs chuckled. “You may have been quiet, Barbie, but you didn’t go undetected.”

Gods. My fucking parents were here.

“I... Uhm... We—Fuck. Never mind.”

I stomped into the kitchen, both of them laughing at my back. Hyde wrapped her arms around my waist, resting her head between my shoulder blades, before her hushed voice floated through our connection.

“I need you to mark them, Lo. Leave your tracker on Joyner and Bishop. If anything ever happens again, I want them to be able to find you.”

“Have you told them about the trackers?”

“No.”

“Hey, Murphy,” I called into the hall. “Can you bring Bishop and Joyner to the kitchen?”

The wyvern ambled in, wiping his glasses with the edge of his shirt. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” I drawled. “I just need to burn a magic tracker on your foot so that I can sense your whereabouts and summon you to the depths of Hell with nothing but a thought.”

He flashed me a slight grin. “That’s a lot to unpack. Why my foot?”

“He asks good questions,” I mumbled to Hyde before answering him. “The bottom of the foot is the only place I’ve found to hide the marks successfully.”

“You get captured often?” Bishop teased. “Strung up and tortured.”

Hyde tensed against me, but I tipped my head at the shapeshifter, a smirk playing across my lips. “Only when I’m in the mood. The trackers aren’t for my safety; they’re for yours.”

His brow furrowed, and Joyner slapped his shoulder. “That’s what Arwen was telling us, dipshit. You weren’t paying enough attention. We can track Sloane, but she can also track us. Summoning works the same way. If something happened to Hyde, we could call in reinforcements.”

“That’s one way to explain it,” I agreed. “Nothing would stop me from reaching Hyde if she needed me, but I would also show up for you guys. The supernatural world isn’t safe; ours is even less. You may need protection, and I’m extending that offer to you.”

Murphy dropped his shoe to the floor, yanking his sock off. “Feet are gross, but as long as I don’t have to touch them, then I’ll keep the contents of my stomach. I’m not touching your feet.”

“Noted.” I grinned at him. “I’ll mark you first, so they can see what it is. It might pinch a little.”

My thumb was already glowing red, inches from his skin, when Novak flew around the corner.