Page 55 of Shifter Situations

“We are not testing that theory without solid evidence,” York stated.

“Of course not, sweetheart,” she mocked, nailing his accent but missing the rich baritone of his voice.

Sloane widened her eyes, holding both hands up in surrender as she pinched her lips together to hide her smile. Then she gave Palmer and me an exaggerated wink.

“Sloane,” York snapped. “That’s not funny.”

“Kind of is,” she affirmed, nodding her head as she backed away from him.

“Don’t you walk off,” he warned.

The challenge in her voice was thick and playful as she asked, “You gonna stop me? We both know you can’t catch me if I don’t want to be caught.”

Vines shot up from the ground, wrapping around her ankles while they maintained eye contact with each other. Then York’s vines detached from Sloane, crawling across the grass toward the druid.

She waggled her brows at him as she faded into the shadows. Her whispered voice echoed around us. “Come on, Druid. Try harder.”

“I see why you want to spank her,” York admitted, glancing at the mage before searching the shadows for her.

Briggs threw his hands out. “Right? It’s getting easier to jump to that conclusion. She’s a brat.”

“Ye can’t spank her. She likes it too much,” Palmer explained, rolling his bloodshot, gray eyes.

After a moment, the wolf questioned us. It was a curious afterthought, not a true worry. “Is it just me, or does she keep getting more terrifying the longer we know her?”

“I don’t think terrifying is the word you’re looking for. More powerful, maybe; more relaxed around us, less closed off. I don’t see a problem with it,” I said.

He snorted. “Of course, the demon wouldn’t. I’m not saying I’m scared of her or anything. I’m just saying that I don’t really understand the depth of her power, and that thought is slightly terrifying.”

“I don’t understand it either, but I’ve never felt safer,” the mage commented.

“She’s like...” Vaughn trailed off, staring at the night sky as he searched for the right words.

“Really fucking hot when she’s all blood and murder?” the vampire suggested.

“I was going to say protective, but yeah. That too.” The fae nodded.

Novak shrugged. “Same thing.”

“She’s just killed two of my exes. Aren’t you guys, I don’t know, concerned?” Briggs asked as he rubbed his beard.

“No. I haven’t seen her kill anyone who didn’t deserve it in one way or another.” York thought for a moment before he pointed out, “She didn’t kill your brother, did she?”

The wolf sighed. “Not yet, but if he keeps talking shit to her, then I’m not going to save him.”

“But her powers have changed significantly since I met her years ago.” York scrunched his brows, contemplating before continuing. “I’m not sure why, exactly, though I don’t think it has much to do with us. Experience, possibly, or just time. I’ve been wanting to talk to Dolyn about their experiments, but I didn’t get an opportunity to.”

I started thinking about what I knew of her powers as we strolled to the truck, but I didn’t know enough either. Most of what I did know was more speculation than facts.

York was right. If anyone understood Sloane’s powers, it’d be Jack or Dolyn.

We had assumed Sloane would be waiting for us at the truck after she’d faded away from the druid.

And she was…

So was Anna.

“It’s the night that never fucking ends,” Briggs griped to us.