Page 22 of Mage Massacres

I watched everyone for a minute, but I kept most of my attention on Palmer and Novak.

“The more modern term is a Manifestation Token,” Miller explained, reaching her fingers out. “May I?”

“Of course,” I told her, motioning to them with my hand.

“I’ve seen them in books, but never in person. The individual that obtains them is normally quick to absorb them. But that doesn’t always work. These tokens don’t call to me, and if I tried to absorb any of them, they would kill me.”

“I just realized what they do once you absorb them,” I admitted to her.

Briggs furrowed his brows, his gaze bouncing between Miller and me. “Care to fill us in?”

“Pith has many meanings, but when you know they also call it a Manifestation Token, that helps narrow the meaning down. This affects the core, the essence, of someone,” she stated simply.

“Or in this case, the core of the mated someones,” I finished.

“Okay…” Briggs drawled.

“It opens our bonds," I confessed, turning to my left to look at Stone. “Do you not feel it?”

He nodded slowly, his eyes locked on mine. “I feel it. All of it.”

One side of my lips lifted in a playful smirk. “I’m sure you do.”

“But what does it do to a bond?” Vaughn asked curiously.

“In short, the token amplifies it.” Murphy shrugged, not sensing the mounting tension.

My cheek twitched with the need to scream at Palmer and Novak again.

But I wouldn’t.

Holding my hands together, flat in front of my chest so that they faced away from me, I said, “This is having no bond.”

I separated my hands, pulling them about three inches apart. “This is having a sealed bond.”

Then I stretched my hands out, putting a foot of distance between them. “This. This is a mate bond with a Pith Token. It’s like a channel, opening up our cores—our souls—to each other.”

Stone shifted in his chair, angling his body toward mine. Eight sets of eyes landed on me, sensing the live bomb in the room ticking down. Vaughn’s hand tightened, his grip on my thigh bruising, but I let the minimal pain ground me.

My eyes volleyed between Novak and Palmer. One of them knew; the other did not.

“And you thought you’d just absorb them and not say anything?” Palmer questioned.

I felt a crack run through my facade. I gritted my teeth before grinning at him.

“I picked up Vaughn’s first, feeling the urge to press each of them to my chest, but we haven’t sealed our bond. Then I picked another. It’s a bit like being in a trance. Time slips away; you don’t realize you’re obsessing over a magical item until…” I popped my lips together loudly. “Your body absorbs it.

“I chose another after that. I wasn’t sure if I was losing my mind or imagining things. Then that one disappeared as well. I stopped when I realized that it was happening. It’s been a long day, you know? Grueling and emotional…”

“Kitten,” Stone warned softly, having front row tickets to my increasing anger.

I zeroed in on my mage and my vampire. Novak closed his eyes, hanging his head. The hushed calm in my tone made Palmer pause with his mouth open, unable to speak.

“And you’re hiding something from me.”

“I’m—”

I cut him off. “That wasn’t a question.”