Page 44 of Mage Massacres

Miller wasn’t weak by any means, but she was intimidated by Felix LeBlanc.

A mysterious blonde man sat with his back against the wall at the very end of the bar. Poor light in the corner kept most of his features hidden from me, but Miller was having trouble pulling her eyes off of his.

“Is that Felix?” Hyde whispered, barely audible over the chatter.

“No.” Millie shook her head. “That’s Farris. He’s watching us too.”

I quirked a brow at her, channeling Jack. “In an oh shit, we might have to kill him too sort of way or in a he’s got your back sort of way?”

She sighed quietly, wringing her hands together before she downed her drink in two gulps. I could physically feel the pain in her chest as her stormy eyes glanced from me to Hyde.

“How are you with girl talk?”

“She’s shit at it, but I’m a natural,” Hyde replied.

I narrowed my eyes at the succubus. “I’m not that bad. You can talk about whatever you want; I’ll let you know if I’m in over my head.”

Miller rolled her empty glass on its edge, balancing it between her hands.

“He’s one of my mates,” she admitted after a few seconds of quiet contemplation. “He thinks I’ll be safer if I stay away from him. He’s made enemies. Blah, blah, bullshit. I’ve never been given the option to state my opinion on the matter.”

I wondered if she’d get mad if I punched him in the throat. Softly, of course. He’d still need his voice box intact to apologize to her. “Do you want me to talk to him?”

“Say no,” Hyde urgently whispered.

“Wait.” I held my hand up, trying to recall where I’d heard his name. “Is... Uhm, is he Farris Reynolds?”

“Do you know everyone’s mates?” Hyde inquired, applying pressure to her temples. “You can’t know everyone’s mates. That’d be ridiculous.”

“No. I don’t know him, but Novak and Grim do. Palmer mentioned something about Murphy knowing him too. They said he was in North Fork last week. I don’t know. I didn’t meet him or see him.”

Miller chuckled lightly. “You’re not missing much. Both of my mates are dicks.”

“I’ve got some of those too,” I muttered, then winced when she side-eyed me. “Sorry.”

“Oh, no.” She smiled. “I agree with you. Palmer’s a dick too. I want to watch him get on his knees and apologize, but we both know he’s above stooping that low.”

I snorted at her. “I don’t need some elaborate apology. I just need to feel like he means it. It’s still going to take some time to move past his actions fully, but I’ll get there.”

“What the fuck did he do?” Hyde widened her eyes, waiting for me to fill her in.

It was my turn to sigh, dejected and unsure of how to explain. “I killed him two nights ago.”

Miller scoffed at me. “He tampered with a spell that was supposed to knock him out. Then he sweet-talked his mate into helping him perform said spell, even though he knew it was going to kill him. He didn’t tell her what was going to happen.”

“What a dick!” the succubus exclaimed, slapping a hand over her mouth. She lowered her voice when Stone arched a brow at her from across the bar. “What a dick.”

“You need to stop making that out to be your fault, Sloane.” The night witch’s expression was severe. “You’re not to blame for his actions.”

“I know, but if he would have told me the truth before we did the spell…” I trailed off, taking a swing of my tequila.

“Lo,” Hyde started cautiously. “I see the point you’re trying to skirt around. But if he would have told you, would you have helped him still?”

I glared out the window before replying, “Yes.”

“But?” Hyde prompted.

“But I would have looked for a different way too.”