Page 26 of Mage Massacres

The fae narrowed his icy eyes at me. “Why didn’t you tell her that?”

“Because she wouldn’t have cared,” I admitted, exhaling harshly. “She would have jumped straight here and been ready to fight Raguel. But he’s powerful. He fights dirtier than any of us. We’re not prepared for that battle.”

York rubbed his eyes as he muttered, “Every single one of us has withheld the truth from her. Intentionally. Not an in-the-moment kind of thing, but a thought-out fucking evasion of the truth.

“Stone is still lying for me. Novak lied for you. Vaughn is riding that gray area of stretching the truth every time he doesn’t accept the fact that she needs to know what the fae realm is like.”

He turned to the fae, widening his eyes as he said, “She needs to know what happened. She needs to be prepared for that shit show too.”

Vaughn dropped his head into his hands, rubbing at his face. “I know. I’ll tell her while we’re here. We’ll be going to the winter realm next, and I don’t want her to be surprised.”

“You know,” York began, nodding at Briggs. “I don’t think you’ve lied about anything, so fucking don’t.”

The druid grabbed the stack of plates off the table, stomping out of the dining room with heavy footsteps.

Novak shouted after him, “Where are you going?”

His response was irritable and clipped. “To check on Sloane and Stone. They’ve been gone for a while.”

“Holy shit,” Novak breathed as he leaned back in his chair. “Did the druid yell at us?”

“I don’t recall ever seeing him so heated,” Briggs admitted, staring in the direction of York’s footfalls.

“Fuck,” I groaned. “Fuck. I really messed up, didn’t I?”

“Ya think?” Murphy asked, reminding me that he and Miller were here to witness my relationship failures.

Millie gave me a reassuring look that was laced with poison. “Oh, no, Palmer. You’re fine. You only made your mate kill you—without her consent or knowledge—and then let her continue to think that she killed you when she didn’t. But I can see she’s already gettin’ over it.”

Vaughn narrowed his eyes at me again, shaking his head as he spoke. “Have you not seen the same woman that I’ve seen for the last—I don’t know—eighteen hours or so? Did you not see how she reacted, Palmer?”

When I didn’t reply immediately, he scoffed at me. “We haven’t even sealed the bond between us, yet I knew how fucking devastated she was. She’s been taking it out on herself. She thought she was the reason for your death.

“I know you hear what I’m saying, but I don’t think you’re really understanding. I don’t give a fuck about you lying to me. I care about what you’ve done to her, though. Both of you. Novak should have said something when you didn’t, and he definitely should have spoken up when he felt her pain.”

He gave the vampire on my right a disappointed look. “I think I’m angrier with you than I am with Palmer. We all saw how upset she was. Yet you say you love her?”

“I do,” Novak stated with no hesitation.

“Then act like it.”

The fae followed York out, a trail of frost melting behind him. His final words hung thick in the air as Novak watched him leave.

Briggs stretched his hands up, then ran his fingers through his hair before tugging it down from his top-knot. As he pulled it back up, he frowned at me.

“I know this isn’t a surprise to you, but there are multiple relationships that are all connected now. When you hurt her, it hurts the rest of us. I don’t want to have to choose between my mate and my best friend.”

He shrugged. “I will, though, because I want to protect her. We may not be able to protect her from everything, but we shouldn’t have to shield her from each other.”

“I know. I get it, and I’ll do everything—”

“No, you don’t. That’s the issue here.” He slung his arms wide, grinding his teeth together.

“Things are changing. We’re changing, but your actions have put us all in a tough spot, Palmer. She’s learning about us as fast as she can. Do you really want these moments to be what you both remember when you think of the beginning of your relationship?”

“I’ll fix it,” I gritted, flexing my jaw to keep my frustration in check.

The wolf snorted at me. “It won’t be enough. You need to figure your shit out before you make it worse. There is no fixing this, Palmer.”