Page 66 of Mage Massacres

“Fine,” she grumbled, smiling as if she knew I’d object. “But we can challenge them.”

“And gamble with Miller’s future?” I asked. “Nope.”

Palmer rubbed at his cheek as he stared out the nearby window. “What if we could prove to them that Miller wasn’t weak? I think they might be against the cross-mating because they think it will dampen their bloodline, but there are very few night witches as powerful as Mills.”

“Mmm, I only see one issue with that,” she replied. “To show them how powerful she is, she’d end up making the alpha look like a fool. If she battled him and won, she’d make him look weak. If she battled him and lost, then we’d be right back at square one.”

She poked at her bowl of strawberries and apple slices, her mind spinning so fast that I couldn’t keep up with all the scenarios she was playing out.

“Over-planning is a mistake in this situation. We’d be better off under-planning and winging it when we got there. We have some ideas; that’s enough to get us started.”

Stone snorted. “I never took that lesson to heart. I don’t think you were supposed to either.”

She arched her right brow at the demon. “That was one of the best lessons I was ever taught. Jin understood Lucy in a way that I’m still envious of, so why wouldn’t I take his words to heart? Staying on my toes and adapting to the situation at hand has gotten me this far in life. Who knows what kind of shit would have happened if I’d planned every move and minute.”

“He also told you not to share all your plans…” Stone trailed off, his smile genuine.

“Outside of you guys and Miller, I don’t plan to. It would be best if Korbin didn’t know them, so his reaction is one of authentic surprise. Without that, his parents would think that he was conspiring against them.”

A feral smirk lifted the left side of her lips. “But Stone? How can I share all my plans if I don’t know them either?”

“You sound just like him,” the demon whispered, and I thought it might have been one of the few times I’d heard him casually talk about his dad.

“Who?” Novak questioned, knowing who Jin was, but just as perplexed as me by Stone’s lack of attitude.

“His dad,” York muttered, causing the vampire to roll his eyes.

“I know, but Stone doesn’t really talk about him, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t zone out or something.”

I glared at Novak before rubbing my forehead. “You did zone out. We decided that you were picking up the check. Go pay so we can leave.”

“Fine. Asshole,” he muttered as he walked away from the table.

“I’ll wait for him,” I told the group as York and Vaughn stood up. “You guys can head outside, and we’ll catch up.”

“You sure?” Sloane asked, watching me stack the empty plates.

I nodded, bouncing my eyes to the couple a few tables away from us.

“Do you hear them, Barbie?”

A man and woman had just sat in the booth and ordered drinks. They leaned over the table as they murmured to themselves.

“...But two mages have gone missing in four days.”

“Eight were reported missing last week, so the numbers are getting lower. Some of the mages have returned, but they’re drained and have no recollection of what happened. Their medical exams show dehydration; no drugs or alcohol.”

“Why, though? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Who knows? Maybe the culprits have started being more careful? Word has spread, though. That helps.”

Barbie glanced at me, her eyes calculating and curious. “Is it Raguel or Annette?”

“I have no idea. Even if it is Annette, isn’t Raguel behind her actions too?”

“I assumed so, but we have no solid proof of that, either. It’s just us connecting the only dots that we can see.”

“What are the odds?”