Page 25 of Mage Massacres

I closed my eyes as I leaned my head on his shoulder. “Almost. Not quite as bad.”

“That’s a lie.”

A sad smile tugged at my lips, and the last tear I’d shed today slid from the corner of my eye down the side of my nose. As I licked it off my lip, I decided to be honest, but not completely.

“There is a difference between a helpful lie and a harmful one, Stone. The line between them is blurry and fragile, but there is a line there. I’m choosing to walk it because knowing—and admitting—the truth won’t help either of us.”

6

Palmer

Tuesday, June 9th

Late Evening

What the fuck had just happened?

I felt like I was in the midst of an out-of-body experience. Having access to Sloane’s emotions was new, but I realized how much she was holding back as soon as she spoke. Her anger was a tsunami that left me gaping wordlessly.

She left us all stunned when she directed that ire at Novak.

Not only had I fucked up, but I’d let him get dragged under because of what I did.

I stared at the empty doorway, then forced my eyes to Stone’s flipped chair. He wasn’t the only one who was pissed at me, though his reaction was out of character. He was usually the quiet kind of mad. Seeing him shove his chair back so hard that it hit the wall behind him was a new response.

Novak glared at his hands as he opened and closed his fists. Her words had hurt him, and he didn’t know how to deal with it. He sighed deeply, coming to some realization as he linked his fingers together under his chin.

Briggs was outright hostile as he pushed away from the table and started stacking plates. He all but slammed them against each other, his shoulders flexing as he fought with himself. Murphy observed him closely, ready to snatch Miller out of the way if the wolf lost his grip.

Vaughn assessed me with nearly white eyes, the only outward display of his frustrations was the frost building up around him. The dusting of ice crept away from him, spreading across the table and what I could see of the floor.

And York’s whole body shook. His eyes were lasers, burning holes straight through me.

“Are you fucking kidding?” the druid shouted, making Miller jump at the volume of his voice. “You didn’t have anything to say to her?”

I closed my eyes, leaning over to press my forehead against the table. “What exactly would you have me say, York?”

“How about the fucking truth?” His hands connected with the tabletop so hard the impact made my head bounce.

His nostrils flared when I glanced up at him. “Give her the truth, Palmer. All of it. Out loud. Not because she overheard your thoughts, and you got caught.”

Novak frowned. “I should—”

“Oh, no. Don’t leave now,” York interrupted. “I’ve tried to explain this in every roundabout way that I could, and you guys just don’t fucking get it.”

The druid stood, pacing the length of the dining room as he scrubbed at his short, ebony hair. “Stop lying to her. About anything. Tell her the godsdamn truth. It’s not like she can’t handle it. She’ll take honesty over sugary bullshit any day of the week. Why can’t you see that?”

“It’s not that I don’t see it,” I tried to explain. “I know I should have told her the truth, but there was no other way to get rid of the tracker.”

“There is no but to that, Palmer,” he raged. “You should have been honest. Period. End of fucking story. She’s already lost her trust in me, and I’ve been fighting tooth and nail to gain it back. I did the same thing that you did.”

Briggs shook his head. “How can you not understand that your actions affect the whole group?”

“I know they do. If we hadn’t done that spell, if I hadn’t died, then everything would be so much worse right now. I lied to her about the outcome of the spell, and I lied to you guys about how determined Raguel has been.”

I waited for them to react, to riot some more. Vaughn tipped his head to Novak, and I felt the vampire brush against my mind. I dropped my walls for him, letting him see all the visits as I broadened my explanation.

“When I’m here to visit my family or the guild, I have to meet him and give in-person reports. Had he felt me pop into his domain unannounced, he would have assumed that I was bringing her in. He would have been here within seconds of us arriving. It had to be done. Saying no just wasn’t an option.”