Page 57 of Mage Massacres

My eyes faded to red as I contained my shift. The demon I shared myself with mentally shivered as she felt my excitement and the slight rush of fear from Bishop.

Between one blink and the next, he was himself again. I rolled my eyes as I pouted. I’d just missed a great opportunity.

Vaughn tucked me under his arm as the shapeshifter gaped, his eyes roaming from me to Palmer and back again.

“I knew her teeth were weird,” he started slowly, digesting the fading of my eyes. “But dude, is your mate a demon?”

His friend, Joyner, snorted. “Why are you surprised?”

“She’s the Devil,” Palmer muttered, acting as if he was revealing some massive conspiracy.

“That’s not nice.” Joyner slapped my mage’s chest with the back of his hand. “Don’t talk shit about your mate.”

“He’s not. She’s the fucking Devil,” Murphy professed, his gray eyes wide as he glared at the wyvern.

“That’s so rude,” Joyner commented, shaking his head. “Aiofe would beat your asses if she heard you talking to—”

I leaned into Vaughn, covering my mouth as I tried not to giggle at how sweet this guy was. “He’s not lying. I’m a lot of things; the Devil included. You guys have got to stop joking about that, though. It’s a title and a job. What if I said, ‘Oh, he’s a professor. Oh, he’s a dentist’ all the fucking time?”

“I went to med school for that particular title, so by all means.” Stone motioned for me to continue.

“Wait. You're the Devil?” Bishop questioned, bouncing his finger to point at all of me. “You?”

Holding my arms out, I appraised what I could see of myself. “I am.”

Joyner and Bishop turned to look at each other, and the shapeshifter spluttered with laughter until tears ran down his cheeks. The wyvern smiled, nodding his head like he was agreeing to disagree.

I wasn’t sure what was so humorous about me being the Devil. Did they expect me to have red skin and a flaming tail? Was I supposed to be scary all the time? I had no idea.

“So,” Bishop began, trying to speak through his hysterics. “You're telling me… That I just turned myself into the Devil?”

“You mocked the Devil,” Vaughn acknowledged with a sardonic grin.

“I kind of want to watch her stab you with her horns,” Murphy muttered to his friend.

“She doesn’t really look like a demon,” the shapeshifter informed us.

Palmer sighed. “Ya never did know when to shut yer mouth.”

“What would you prefer me to look like? I am only part demon.” I shrugged, pointing at Stone. “He's a full demon, though.”

“I don’t think I believe you. The teeth bit was pretty cool. The red eyes were closer. But demons aren’t the only creatures that can partially shift like that. Saying you’re the Devil was a step too far.”

My narrowed gaze moved from Bishop to assessing the size of the room. If I stretched my wings out, it would be a tight fit. But the yard was spacious.

And friendly torture was a thing.

Right?

I bit my bottom lip as I cut my eyes to Stone. He didn’t say a word, just ambled to the door, pulling his shirt over his head. I felt my cheeks round as I tried not to smile too big.

“Come outside, Bishop. I’ll show you my shift.”

“Okay,” Bishop responded hesitantly. “It makes me feel a little self-conscious that we have to go outside for you to pull your horn—What?” he asked when Palmer shoved lightly at his back.

“I know where you were going with that. She’s our mate.”

“And? All I was going to say was if her horns were that big, then walking with them out has got to feel weird.”