Page 12 of Mage Massacres

“She’s mad at herself, and she needs some time to figure it out. You won’t like what she says if you follow her.”

It didn’t matter how much time passed between us; I knew when Sloane needed space to control her emotions. I knew better than to go after her so soon too, but I would check on her. Our shared past gave me more insight into her reactions than the others had. I was happy that a few of the guys seemed to be catching on pretty quickly.

Briggs grunted, and I shrugged.

“If I thought it would help her, I wouldn’t try to stop you.”

“I know. I’m just concerned about how emotional she is all of a sudden. It’s like she flipped a switch.” He shook his head, a severe expression shadowing his face as he pulled me away from the living room.

“I know Palmer better than I know her right now. I hate to say that, but it’s true. Something isn’t adding up, York. Or maybe it’s adding up too much, and I’m trying to avoid it.”

I leaned a little closer to him, lowering my voice. “Explain to me what you mean.”

He sighed, scrubbing at his beard as he glanced toward the group’s chatter.

“I can’t explain it. I barely understand half the shit that’s happening. It’s just a bunch of little things that I’ve overheard and ignored.”

“Like?” I prompted, ready to shake the answers from him.

“Like last week, I heard Palmer ask her how she gets in his head so easily. Novak had some choice words in a shitty joke earlier, too. I feel like I’m looking too far into it, but I know Palmer. He’s being fucking weird.”

“You think he—”

Briggs closed his eyes, tilting his head down before looking back at me. “I think he’s lying about something, and I think Novak knows. Maybe not everything, but enough that he should have spoken up. And I also think that whatever he’s done will blow up in all of our faces, not just his. I love him like my own brother, but I won’t hesitate to—”

“Yeah. I get it.” I rolled my head from right to left, trying to ease some of the tension that was building. “Let’s watch them. That’s all we can do at the moment. I’ll talk to Sloane after she’s had a few more minutes alone. I need to apologize anyway.”

“Why?”

I grimaced. “I hurt her. I didn’t realize that losing a bond caused so much physical pain. I thought it was just my guilt eating at me, but she thought I was dead, Briggs. She wasn’t always this detached from her emotions, you know? That was my fault.”

He slapped my shoulder, nodding toward the living room. “Everyone makes mistakes, York. The important takeaway is that you continue to try to fix yours; you don’t continue to make them.”

As we went back to the living room, I stewed over Briggs’ words. I was lost in my thoughts until auburn hair filled my vision. Miller slung her arms around my neck as she squealed my name.

“York! I haven’t seen you in forever. You stopped visiting, and then so did these other assholes.”

I chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Mills, I can’t breathe.”

“So? Where is she then?” Murphy asked, peeking behind me as if I was blocking her from his view. “I’m starting to think she’s imaginary.”

“I want to meet her,” Miller assured us.

“She needed a second, Millie. She hasn’t been in this house in a long time, and it has her a little out of sorts,” Palmer replied too quickly, and the twins zeroed in on him.

Miller narrowed her eyes as she pulled apart his response. “What aren’t you saying?”

“Nothin’. Novak is enough of a therapist for me. Thanks, but I don’t need another.”

I tugged my lips to the side, wanting to disagree with him. Miller might be precisely what he needed; a female to tell him that he was fucking up.

Sloane’s emotions were blanketed, like she was trying to cover them but couldn’t entirely hide them all. She was in overload, and I didn’t know how to help her balance back out. We had a few options to call in as reinforcements… If we needed them.

I wondered how her feelings were affecting the guys. I could only sense trickles of their thoughts and emotions through the sealed bonds, though.

Stone was worried about her. But then, most of us were. I could see the concern written all over Vaughn’s face as he glanced at the doorway. Briggs was fighting to keep himself calm. His suspicions were growing with every odd expression that passed over Palmer's face.

When I focused on the mage, it was easy to notice the guilt he was filled with. But was it guilt from lying or because he was happy to be in the company of his siblings while his mate was in pain? I couldn’t tell.