Page 76 of Psycho Gods

No.

Two weeks wasn’t enough.

To my right, Sadie rubbed circles on my back as she chatted with her mates about something.

To my left, John held my hand while Luka had his arm slung across his shoulder, his fingers playing with my curls.

Three points of contact.

Three people tethered me to reality, and without them I’d have floated away.

Across the table, Malum and Orion stared at me while Scorpius clenched his jaw with annoyance. Malum had his arms draped over both his mates protectively.

To test a theory, I held my breath.

Scorpius’s upper lip pulled back into a snarl as I watched three minutes pass on the clock.

I gasped for air, and the blind king slumped with relief.

He was listening.

Always.

I held my breath and started again because I had nothing better to do than torment men.

Time folded in on itself.

I blinked, and everyone was putting their trays away. The twins took my uneaten meal, and I looked up to find Jinx focused on me.

Black sunglasses blocked her eyes, but I still winced.

She sat with her shoulders back, ramrod straight, and there was something startlingly different about her, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Was she getting taller?

“We need to talk,” Jinx said coldly.

I looked down at the tabletop. “Talk.”

“As we’ve discussed, I’m your guardian. I was trying to speak to you during the battle, but our mental connection is—” She paused like she was searching for the right word. “—unreliable.”

Jinx’s voice in my head.

A monster.

The screams of the dying.

I stopped fighting.

An enchanted blade thrust into my stomach.

I shoved my chair back with a loud scrape. “We’ll talk later,” I lied and walked away.

A deserter’s retreat.

Cowardice was my favorite character trait. At least, that was what Mother had said after she’d kidnapped me from the shifter realm.

I shivered harder as John and Luka slung their arms over my shoulders and led me from the cafeteria, out into the chilly air.

Without their support, I never would have made it back to our barracks.

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