“There’s nothing in this one," I announce to the room.
The guys are sitting all around me in Lachlan’s office, each of them scouring through their own tomes. Lachlan looks up from his laptop at his desk and takes note of the title of the book.
“I’ll mark it off the list.”
It’s been a couple of days since I magically marked the guys and we had an attack on the barrier that surrounds the paladin’s home. They’ve deduced that it was a group of ten to fifteensomethingsthat attempted to break in, but no one seems to be able to agree on what thosesomethingsmight have been.
My vote is for the lamia, but the tracks found around the barrier don’t help pinpoint the paranormal species that created them. It could very well be lamia, or it could be casters, or shifters, or the stars only know what else. There has been a lot of speculation back and forth about who or what it could have been, but the uncertainty now floating around the house is unsettling.
I fully passed out and completely snoozed through what must have been an awkward conversation with Lachlan and the coven about the new runes I managed to gift to the guys. Pretty much seconds after I woke up in a puddle of drool on Bastien’s shoulder, Lachlan has forced us to scour the caster digital archives and his library in search of answers that would explain just what in the hell I did to them.
I’d much rather be trying to solve the mystery of who the fuck tried to get to us the other night. Especially since this boring book search has yielded a shit ton of nothing as far as answers go, but -–according to Lachlan--my help is not needed.
“I’m done for the day,” I announce, and I heave the heavy-ass book I just finished onto a shelf and dust my thighs off.
I weave my way out of the office, irritated. We haven’t found one matching rune in all of Lachlan’s sources. There are zero mentions of any casters having runes on their bodies, and a whole lot of nada when it comes information about the connection the guys and I now have.
My magic just keeps upping the ante on my freak factor, and I feel like all of the paladin are watching me, waiting for the next crazy thing my magic is going to do. The itch of eyes on me is constant, and it’s making me grouchy.
I touch the runes on my ear to amplify my hearing as I make my way to the kitchen. Aydin has started agame,where he tries to surprise attack me. I don’t know what purpose it serves, but it’s been the most entertainment I’ve had in the past couple of days.
It’s becoming a habit to listen out for him, so I’m not surprised when he’s waiting for me around some corner or various other blind spots in the house. I swipe a drink from the fridge, and Birdie subtly points to the pantry.
I don’t tell her I can already hear his breathing, and the steady staccato of his beating heart, I just give a thankful smile.
“Aydin, I know you’re in the pantry," I announce, before taking a swig of cold soda.
“How do you do that?” he pouts and slinks out of the pantry door.
“Birdie ratted you out.”
I tip my soda bottle to her in cheers. She laughs and tries to look innocent as Aydin prowls toward her.
“Birdie I’ve known you longer, you should be helping me."
“I am helping you, dear, helping you not get your butt kicked," she pats his cheek and laughs.
“You want to spar?” I ask, through my giggles and shoot a wink to Birdie.
“I can’t. It looks like we’ve got a new case coming in. Some unusual lamia activity that needs to be looked into.”
“Is that connected to what happened here the other night?” I ask.
“Doubt it."
He’s already walking away before I can ask him more about it, but a tingle of suspicion crawls up my spine.
Bastien brushes up against my back, and it chases away the eerie feeling. I lean into him automatically, and his arms wrap around me from behind. He steals my soda and loudly slurps down a big gulp before handing it back to me.The dirty rotten thief. The other guys all slowly trickle into the kitchen, apparently also giving up on another torturous day of looking through old dusty, useless books.
Birdy slides a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies across the counter, and we all go into an instant feeding frenzy. Each of us savagely fights for a cookie, like somehow there won’t be enough for all of us and there’s no hope that cookies will ever be baked again. It’s beyond ridiculous and hilarious.
Bastien pulls a cookie filled hand towards his mouth, but I redirect it and manage to steal a huge bite. It’s then I learn, that it’s okay when he and his brother steal my treats, but they can’t take what they dish out. The look on his face as he stares at the missing bite in his cookie screams betrayal.
I see the torturous glint in his eye, and I break out of his grasp and run.
“How could you do this to me, Bruiser?”
“Oh, so you can take but not give?" I accuse.
