Page 143 of Shifter Situations

Novak gagged before answering both York and me. “Math, and the answer is twelve. You need to participate in at least a dozen—”

“No. We’re not comparing criminal records today.” Vaughn closed his eyes as he shook his head.

I hummed aloud, mentally probing at my fae. “So, how do you feel about breaking into your old neighbor’s apartment?”

“I thought you just said that we shouldn’t draw attention to ourselves?” Briggs questioned.

Palmer grinned mischievously. “Who’s gonna see us?”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“Through the Void?”

“Nope. We’re going to knock a big-ass hole in the wall and walk through it,” I smarted, straightening my mouth to portray seriousness.

“Sure,” Briggs popped back. “You have fun with that. I’ll just wait here.”

My mage snorted at him, disappearing as he stepped into the Void, but he bounced out and stumbled across the living room.

“What the fuck?” he muttered, stepping into the icy winds again.

He dropped back out, landing on his ass on the floor while he rubbed at his nose. “I think I just hit a wall.”

“A wall inside the Void?” York clarified.

“Aye. Like runnin’ into bricks. I couldn’t leave the perimeter of our apartment. It was as if something was holdin’ me in.”

“I’ll check.” Stone looked curious as he popped in the Void and then immediately out. He did it twice more before he grew agitated and stopped.

“Try to mist, Vaughn,” Novak suggested.

I stepped into the Void as my fae misted away, but I had no problem getting to the large, empty space across the hall. When I got back into their apartment, I was met with expectant stares.

“I didn’t have an issue. Though, I may have landed in the wrong place. It wasn’t an apartment. It was just one big room.”

“Why can’t we get through?”

“That’s not the right question,” Stone commented, drawing a flame into his hand. A very tiny flame…

“Is something blocking your powers too, or is it only mine? I’d never thought about it before, but since we’ve been gone, I’ve had better control. It wasn’t a control issue, though. I feel weaker being here. Physically, I’m fine, but I know this isn’t all the fire I can call at once.”

“You know what? Fuck this,” Novak growled, stomping into the hall and straight to the neighbor’s door.

“Don't—” Briggs began a second too late.

My vampire already had his leg lifted, boot sailing through the air to collide with the edge of the door closest to the lock.

“Kick the door in,” Briggs finished, rubbing his forehead with his middle finger. “Did you not just hear us talking about not drawing attention to ourselves? You had to have heard us. I saw you standing there.”

“I was really worried about Ms. Annette,” Novak stated too loudly in the silent hallway. “It’s unlike her to be so quiet.”

His playful golden eyes shot in the direction of the elevator before bouncing back to us. “What if something happened?”

I tipped my head down, letting my hair curtain around my face to hide my expression. The way he spoke sounded like a bad audition for a play, and I wanted so badly to giggle... But cameras.

I sighed, glancing up to see York raise both his brows at my nosy vampire. Vaughn was pinching the bridge of his nose, rolling his lips in as his cheeks twitched with suppressed laughter.

Briggs threw his head back to glare at the ceiling, and Palmer rolled his stormy gray eyes before covering his expression with his hand.