Page 26 of Hybrid Heroics

It was the last thread of shitty humor I could muster. After I checked the inside of her cheek, I backed away to let Vaughn heal her.

And as I opened the door to confront the chaos, fury flooded my system in such a spectacular display, I could have rivaled Sloane’s wrath.

Tuesday, June 23rd

Early Evening

Palmer and I had been having a mental conversation for the last few minutes, spit-balling ideas and theories.

“I don’t trust anyone here,” the mage finally confessed. “Something is off with this entire realm. It isn’t just that the magic is being smothered.”

“I would weigh in on that part of the discussion, but I don’t know enough about magic. I agree to not trusting anyone outside of our group, though. Just us, Murphy, and Thatcher. I like Sterling. That isn’t enough to trust her yet.”

Palmer hummed as he pushed the food around his plate. “We need to stay on our guard. Sterling may be someone we can trust, but her parents are acting weird. I can’t decide if it’s because there are so many new people in their personal space or if they’re bad at hiding suspicious behavior.”

I wanted to agree with him, but York’s uncle was definitely lying. He was putting no effort into hiding it. I couldn’t figure out why or exactly what he was covering up, though I could hear the deception rattling around his mind.

The moment he said Talia was in the kitchen, Sterling called him out about his lies, and Stone bolted from the room with heavy, panicked footsteps.

Briggs and Palmer went with him, so I stuck my arm out to keep Vaughn with me and York. We didn’t all need to go. It was better to stay in groups if we were splitting up. It didn’t matter that we were all under the same roof.

York was pissed. He knew something was going on, but he could only clench his fork as he glared at his uncle.

“What did you do?” Sterling whispered, horror in her voice.

“Nothing,” Latharian replied, taking a bite of the mystery meat on his plate.

“He’s lying,” I murmured to York.

The druid nodded. “I know he is. What else do you hear?”

“Just the general feel of deception. He’s not thinking about who put him up to it, what they’ve done, or what the consequences are.”

“What was Talia doing?” York asked his uncle, voice as icy as the fae’s.

“She’s in the kitchen,” Latharian replied without missing a beat.

“No. She isn’t,” Briggs rumbled, pushing Talia forward. “Vaughn? Palmer needs you to heal Sloane.”

What the fuck?

York stood so quickly his chair crashed to the floor behind him. “What did she do?”

I felt sorry for the druid—York, not his aunt—because he had assumed his family would be a safe place to lie low. But gods, we had all been wrong. Even Sterling, who stared at her mom in shock and lingering horror.

“What did you do?” Sterling shouted at her parents before lowering her voice. “What did you do to her?”

Briggs shook his head. “Pretty sure Palmer has her muted. When we got to the bedroom, the door was open. She was standing over Sloane with a vial of blue shit, attempting to pour it into her mouth. I’m glad Stone went in there when he did, because that’s what stopped her.

“The only drop that left the vial landed on Sloane’s cheek, but Palmer was able to stop it from spreading. He asked Stone to burn the liquid. They needed Vaughn to help heal her after they got rid of the poison.”

“Oh my gods,” Sterling whispered. “You were trying to poison her?”

Talia crumbled to the floor, vigorously shaking her head as tears streaked her face.

“No,” I replied for the muted woman. “That last thing she remembers is standing in the kitchen.”

York furrowed his brows. “What does that mean?”