Page 116 of Mage Massacres

As he zoomed in and out on the image, moving the focus from one section to another, I started recalling runes. I grabbed his hand as he passed one that I was most certainly familiar with.

It wasn’t on the outer edge with the others. It lay closer to the center, near his left shoulder blade, but it was lighter than the rest of the tattoo.

“What does that one mean?” I asked.

It was on the backside of York’s hip.

Under Novak’s jawline.

Behind Stone’s ear.

On Briggs’ palm.

I hadn’t searched my mage, but I knew he now carried it on his body somewhere, too.

“Warrior.”

“That’s the mate mark the guys got when we sealed our bonds.”

“We haven’t sealed our bond yet,” he reminded me.

I shook my head. “Not by fae traditions, no. But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been slowly building. Sealing the bonds has been different with each of the guys. We’ve gone through some of the usual motions, though we didn’t need to in order to complete the bonds. Those were just traditions too, not the actual completion.”

Vaughn stared at the ceiling, his eyes unfocused before they seemed to zero in on some unknown object. He sat up quickly, dragging me into his lap. With his hands on either side of my face, he swallowed roughly.

“When we enter the fae realm, the winter kingdom is to the east. We’ll pass my grandfather before we cross over the border from neutral territory to winter. We have to stop there and seal our bond. We can’t go to the palace without completing it.”

“Okay.” I nodded, not grasping why the directions were important.

“She’ll know I’m there. The magic in the land will let Vex—Alania—know the rightful heir has arrived. And she’ll send guards to find me. She doesn’t care about the rules in the neutral lands.”

He tilted his chin, eyes widening to make sure I was following him.

“Okay,” I repeated. I was considering stabbing her for every minute my fae wasn’t by my side.

“You can’t use glamor to trick a fae, but our magic is different from that of a mage. If they find us, you and the guys have to hide. We can’t kill the guards; they’re only doing their job. You’ll have to let them take me.”

“I can’t do that,” I responded quietly. “Why can’t we use mage magic to disguise you? If I can turn hellhounds into butterflies, then I—”

“We could fool the people, but we can’t lie to the land. There isn’t a clear way to explain that connection to you. You’ll understand it when we get there. I just need you to be prepared. More than likely, I’ll see the inside of a cell before anything in my kingdom.”

I shook my head again, not happy with the idea of letting them take him or hiding.

“If we seal our bond before they take me, then the land will recognize you too.”

“How?” I questioned. “Why?”

“Mates to the rightful heirs have more power over the magic than self-chosen partners. That’s why Alania has trouble controlling it when Vex never had an issue. Freya and I started noticing the differences when we were preteens.

“We spoke to our father about it, but he was enthralled by whatever nonsense she was feeding him. He thought we wanted his attention, or that’s what we assumed. Now, I think he might have known, though he’d been unable to stop what was happening, similar to Palmer and Raguel.”

Vaughn lifted the side of his mouth in a sad smile, and my heart squeezed painfully in my chest.

I could have saved King Reagan.

That was why I’d been sent to Kelvin’s camp so many years ago.

Rescue the Winter King and the Druid Prince. Kill everyone else.