My gut twists. Did it not work? Did I mess up the wording or not concentrate hard enough? Of everyone, I wouldn’t haveexpected him to immediately point the finger when something went wrong.
My eyes struggle to focus and the world has taken on a fuzzy edge as I use the wall to help me to stand up.
It’s only when I’ve blinked a few times and the fuzziness retreats to the corners of my vision that I notice Kit isn’t talking to me. He isn’t even looking in my direction.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jack replies.
When did Jack get here? He wasn’t supposed to be in the room. He wasn’t part of this.
Kit continues to hiss something at Jack that I can’t make out, and Jack responds in an equally low tone.
But then Reva’s just getting to her feet a few steps away from me, drawing my attention her way. Even though I’m unsteady on my legs, I reach out to support her, bending down to pick up her skin and hoping against hope that I feel the telltale buzz of magic that tells me its magic has returned.
Instead, a zing of lightning flits up my hand, striking me dead in the heart. Sucking in a sharp breath, my hand goes immediately to the spot in my chest.
... and I’m not the only one.
Jack frowns, rubbing at his chest while Kit’s hand hovers just over the same spot. Even Finch has frozen, his tentacles both taking turns to prod the spot.
Well, hello there.
That same female voice speaks again, even though I can’t see anyone else beyond the six of us.
Reva’s also rubbing at her chest, and her eyes go from me to her sealskin and back again. As she reaches out to take hold of the skin, I get another shock of sensation and her eyes widen.
“It worked,” she whispers. “I really think it worked.”
Nice work, sweet witch.
Reva rubs her ear, scrunching up her face. “One side effect seems to be that I can hear Noush all the time, though, not just while I’m in her body.”
I don’t know what she’s complaining about. I’m fabulous.
I lick my lips, swallowing past an impossibly dry and tight throat. “I think... I think I hear her too.”
Reva blinks at me. “You do?”
A shot of sheer glee goes through me, it’s unfamiliar and makes no sense given the current situation.
“Is this you again?” Reva asks me, tapping her chest. “It feels kind of like last time, but different.”
You are five lucky, lucky males having us for a mate.
The final word rings in my head.
Mate.
Her mate.
“It wasn’t my magic this time,” I stutter. “I swear it, Reva. It’s... the real deal.”
A mate bond.
With all five of us.
“Five?” Reva repeats, her expression morphing into one of horror as she stares around the bedroom, putting up her hand to protect against the blinding column of light that’s still shooting from floor to ceiling in the middle of the room.
“All of them?” she hisses, glaring down at the sealskin in her hands. “You mean you forced a mate bond with every male here, including the captain and Jack? What are you doing, Noush?”
