Page 76 of Shifter Situations

Thorny vines wrapped around his neck. His face turned purple as York tightened them. He started to thrash around, so Vaughn and my druid took him into the Void. Novak and I followed them through.

It always took longer than I expected for someone to be strangled to death. It was sort of an anticlimactic way to die.

York's vines continued to constrict, and I squeezed his shoulder, telling him that he could stop. The mage was dead, but my druid didn’t let up.

Vaughn and Novak glanced at me, but all I could do was shrug. Murder was cathartic to me. Maybe York was waiting for his head to pop off or something.

“How strong is that vine?” my vampire inquired, listening in on my thoughts.

“Strong enough to—”

Novak reached up, swiftly jerking the vine until it was wrapped around was the mage’s spine, embedded in his skin. He slapped York on the back, tilting his head.

“That was impressive. Remind me not to piss you off when you’ve got those things out. I like my neck just the way it is.”

York chuckled, some of the tension leaving his shoulders as he muttered, “They weren’t always that strong.”

“Palmer is heading your way,” Stone told me before I could ask York what he meant.

My mage opened the door, closing it behind him as I popped out in front of him. He studied the floor for a moment and then looked up at me with wide eyes.

“That’s not good.”

Novak huffed. “Really? Because I was thinking it was gonna turn us into unicorns.”

“I know an alicorn,” Vaughn commented absently. “He’s a real asshole.”

I rolled my eyes at them. “We need to get you and Briggs out of here.”

“That spell was for Briggs,” York informed Palmer. “They were going to break the bond between him and Sloane”

“Then why did they want me?” my mage questioned.

Novak scrunched his face up, playing with his nose ring as he answered, “I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say that they wanted to kill you.”

Palmer rubbed his fingers over his jawline, raising his brows as he grimaced. “That’s grand.”

“So…” I cut in, reiterating, “We need to get you and Briggs out.”

“Right.” He nodded. “I’ll go back out there and tell her I got a phone call.”

Novak snorted. “Do you really think that’s gonna work with her?”

My mage shrugged. “I’ll give it a go.”

He opened the door, walking out as Vaughn and Novak both shook their heads.

We heard Palmer talking to Briggs, and Katie kept interrupting them. I gave it a minute, hoping they would be able to leave on their own, and then I got impatient.

I stepped into the Void, pushing myself through the wall to stand beside Stone. “Want to stretch your wings?”

He bit his lip, nodding as he replied, “I’ll find you.”

One more step had me landing in the living room between my guys. Katie’s face betrayed her shock, her mouth falling open as she stared at me. I gave her what I thought was a saccharine smile.

“It’s time to go.”

She scoffed, her gaze bouncing from Briggs to Palmer. “Does she always dictate what you do?”