Page 85 of Oracles Always Win

“Isthat anEmeraldMackobant?”Davinanarrowed her eyes at the creature inJeremy’sbackpack.

Jeremyglanced up and smiled.Hescratched the animal on its chin, and it cooed happily.

“Isn’tshe adorable?Hername isEmma.Wefound her at anRVlot and she decided to come home with us.SheandClawiehad a little squabble this morning, so we didn’t think it would be good to leave them alone without supervision.”

“It’sa wild animal,”Davinasaid. “Youshouldn’t try to domesticate it.”

Jeremygasped and tried to cover the creature’s ears.

“We’vetried to let her free in the woods here, but she refuses to leave us,”Adriansaid quickly.

Davinajust shook her head and continued scowling at everyone.

Van,Hayden,Dillon, andAshwere all here too, but they didn’t react toDavina’sglower, which made sense sinceIdidn’t think they were onGage’steam.He’dtalked about his team but, let’s face it,I’dhad a lot of things on my mind these last few days.NowIwishedI’dpaid more attention.JustsoIunderstood the group dynamic.Ineeded to know everything about them soIcould figure out how to get them to like me.

Ifthey didn’t, would he drop me?Fatedmates or not?

No.Irefused to let that happen.Icouldn’t let him go now.WhenJeremyhad first suggested we might be mates,I’ddismissed it.ButnowIwas ready to fight for my spot atGage’sside.And, withGage’steam being so important to him,Ineeded them to accept me.

AndwhileIwas at it,Iwould also make sure they understoodGagewas not to be murdered until every other possible option had been exhausted.Ididn’t care if he turned evil.Ididn’t care what happened when a demon snapped.Ifthey hurt him,Iwould go after them.Hewas mine andI’dmake sure everyone knew it.

Iblinked.

Whoa.

Mybrain had just leapfrogged into murderous territory.Thatwasn’t normal, was it?Iwas pretty sure that was a relationship red flag.Thenagain, maybe it wasn’t for supes.I’dthoughtI’dbeen going crazy just a few days ago and it ended up just being normal supernatural behaviour, so it stood to reason that crazy possessive murderous thoughts might be too, right?Iswallowed.I’daskGagelater.Inprivate.Faraway from where theChiefofPolicemight hear.

ThenDavinaturned her attention back to us.Wowser, she was intense.

“Andthat?”Sheprodded the fading mark onGage’sskin.

“Ithappened this morning…”Gagesaid.Heglanced at me.

Mycheeks were burning at the memory of what we’d been doing at the time, butIwaved at him to continue.Isuspected his team didn’t have many secrets.It’dbe too dangerous.Andthey probably all knew we’d had sex.Notthat our sex life was a secret…Itwas just private.

“Whenwe made love this morning, our magics merged and…”Hegestured toward his chest. “Isuspect it has to do with his magic as an oracle.”

Jeremymade a delighted squeal and scribbled madly in his notebook.

“Thisis the oracle everyone’s been talking about?”Davinaskewered me with another penetrating look.

Ifshe was always this intense,Ibet the ghosts she encountered ran to the afterworld just to escape her.

“Hi,”Isaid.Myvoice cracked over the single syllable.Iwaved awkwardly.

Thenshe grabbed me and yanked me into an aggressive and uncomfortably tight hug.Wasshe trying to break my ribs?

“ThankMotherMagiche found you,” she whispered quietly in my ear.Andshe sounded almost happy… emotional even… taking me completely by surprise.

Thenshe patted me hard on the back and released me from the hug.Isagged andGagecaught me.Hewrapped his arm around my waist to steady me asIsucked in air to fill my lungs again.

Teaguestepped up next to hug me.Hedidn’t squeeze me as tightly, but it was still awkward.Mymother had never been much of a hugger.Mygrandfather had been, butI’donly been with him for a month before he was gone.Itwasn’t long enough to convert me into being a hugger too.

“Congratulationsand welcome to our strange little family,”Teaguesaid.Hepatted me on the back. “Iguess this meansI’llhave to give you a fair price whenItry to buy all the magical artifactsIkeep hearing about.”

Ilaughed awkwardly.Istill hadn’t come to terms with all the problems that’d arisen from the robbery.Iwasn’t ready to joke about it.And, honestly,Iwould be happy to give the stuff toTeague.He’ddo a better job of protecting it.But, given how littleIknew about everything magical, perhapsIshould ask someone for advice first.Ididn’t want to make another magical misstep.

BeforeIfigured out what to say to him, he broke his hug and went to embraceGage.Thenit seemed like everyone from the team and a few localWillowLakepeople came over to congratulate us.