Page 49 of Mage Massacres

The two new men at the table looked at each other, their expressions unreadable and minds closed off. I was prepared to be a nosy bitch if it meant understanding why Farris was in too much trouble to enjoy time with his mate. The other male was even more mysterious, but his eyes seemed to worship Millie as she laughed with Hyde.

Stone seemed familiar with him, and I had questions.

“I popped into the guild yesterday, too,” Grim called over his shoulder. “You know you have other means to dispose of bodies, right?”

“Yep,” I answered cheerfully. “But you’re my favorite.”

10

Stone

Wednesday, June 10th

Night

“Here’s a joke for you,” Arwen began, eyeing the girls as Hyde ran a group of people away from the table she wanted. “Lust, Wrath, and Greed walk into a bar.”

I snapped my attention to the necromancer, the man who’d been my friend for decades. “What did you say?”

He pointed to Hyde, Sloane, and then Millie, repeating, “Lust, Wrath, and Greed.”

“What makes you say that?” York questioned, politely thanking the older woman who deposited our drinks in front of us with a smile.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Spell it out for me, Arwen.”

He furrowed his brows as he studied me. “Hyland lusts after the world. Big or small, all the things seem to make her happy. Sloane is constantly at war with the world and herself. Her go-to reaction is anger. And Miller is a collector, never satisfied with what she has. She always wants more.”

Suspicion and humor warred in my mind as I quietly replied, “That’s a lot to notice in a few short hours.”

“It’s not my fault that you’re losing your touch, demon.”

I glanced at York, confirming Arwen’s guess. “Sloane is Wrath. The Fates told her as much when we visited them.”

“That doesn’t actually surprise me,” the druid admitted before pondering aloud, “And if it’s true, then that probably means Jack has a sin too. If you believe Hyde is Lust, then he’s definitely Pride. Nothing else really fits him.”

“Is he, though?” I asked, falling down a rabbit hole of what-ifs.

It made sense, but then again… it didn’t.

“No. I mean, I guess it could be true. Legend says that Lilith gave one sin to a male because she couldn’t find his mate. If you take the legend part with a grain of salt and replace it with, say, twenty-five years ago, then it makes me wonder…”

Arwen trailed off, and the three of us turned to observe the girls.

A new round of drinks was delivered to their table. Sloane took her shot, slamming the glass back down as she rolled her eyes at Hyde. The petite succubus bounced in her seat, sipping a frilly cocktail. And Miller reached over, snagging the orange off the rim of my kitten’s drink. She added the peel to a napkin with a few others that she’d taken throughout the night.

“Nah,” York commented. “That’s a coincidence.”

I repeated my earlier question. “Is it, though?”

The druid shook his head, but I kept going. “Do you think that’s why she was so irrationally drawn to Ripley?”

“Hyland latched onto the panther quickly too,” Arwen confessed, his eyes glued to his mate.

I shrugged at York. “Blaire is rather—”

“Don’t say it.”