Page 61 of A Touch Of Death

I acceptthe clean clothes from Spencer, hugging them to my chest before moving behind Nix, who's now leaning on the tree. "Can you be the lookout?"

"Sure thing." He sweeps his lips over mine before standing to his full height and blocking me from view, facing me instead of outwards. I snort and shake my head, catching his cheeky grin before I position myself close to my large shifter. I hand him the fresh set of clothes and drop the sheet, holding onto Nix's waist when my foot gets tangled in the material.

There's a swift inhale followed by Nix's laughter, and when my head snaps up, it's to find Spencer's eyes roaming over my very bare body. Heat fills his wide gaze as his eyes take in every inch of me. I'd expect to feel awkward or uncomfortable, but given that he's already seen me stark naked, it's really no bother to me.

Spencer clears his throat, and his eyes meet my amused stare. "Sorry. Wasn't expecting you to strip in front of me."

"You've seen it all before, though I was covered in mud and water then." I shrug with a huffed laugh before untangling underwear and a pair of my long leggings from the pile in Nix's hand.

Spencer nods, amusement mingling with the heat in his eyes. "Very true. Proceed."

Laughing, I pull the underwear on, swiftly followed by the leggings. I turn towards Nix, reaching out to take the white shirt from his hand, but he doesn't release it. Instead, he uses my hold on the shirt to pull me closer, his eyes just above my chest. His empty hand lifts towards me, brushing along my skin where his claws marked me.

"You've healed." I look down and sure enough, the deep cuts I'd received have healed. Instead, there are pink raised scars running from the top of my shoulder and down over the curve of my breast, ending at the valley between my breasts. Surprisingly, I find I don't mind the scars at all. I kind of like having marks on my body that show Nix took me as his.

I glide my hand over the marks, feeling them warm under my touch. I shiver, enjoying the heat, but Nix must take my reaction differently. Looking horrified, he says, "I'm so sorry, Novia."

Frowning, I ask, "Why are you apologising? I told you when they were bleeding and raw I didn't mind. I sure don't mind a few scars, especially knowing what they mean. Don't stress about it."

"You sure?" he asks, still sounding worried.

I give him my best smile and tell him, "Never been so sure. I promise, they don't bother me. I kinda like 'em."

That earns me a grin, and he bends to drop a kiss on my lips before moving back. I hold my hand out for the shirt, and I'm about to slip it over my head when I remember that wretched tracker. I shove the shirt back to Nix, my eyes wide as dinner plates when I turn my arm over to look for the light I know belongs to the device under my skin.

"Novia?" Spencer asks, walking closer to where I stand.

I turn towards him, holding my arm out far enough that it brushes Nix's shirt. "There's a tracker in my arm. I need it removed. Now."

"Shit." Spencer grasps my arm gently in his hands, turning it over and brushing his thumb along the skin. I feel it when his thumb pushes on the device, and when he moves his hand away and stretches out my skin a fraction, there's a faint orange light just beneath it. I release a sigh, thankful the light isn't green yet. That's not to say it won't change soon. "Nix, I need to borrow a claw."

Nix complies, his hand partially shifting to that of an eagle’s claw. A very sharp looking claw, at that. Spencer turns my arm over as much as he can without making me uncomfortable before saying, "Okay, lean into me, sweetheart. Nix is going to make a small cut in your arm, and then we'll get that tracker out."

I nod and bring my body closer to his, feeling his arm wrap around my waist and holding my securely. I close my eyes and lean my forehead against Spencer's shoulder, keeping my breathing even.

A sharp sting in my arm has me crying out in shock, and I bury my face into the crook of Spencer's neck. There's a burning in my arm where Nix cuts through the skin enough to get to the small device, and I'm forced to clench my teeth to stop the pained groan from escaping.

"Her skin is healing too fast. Fucking hell," Nix growls. Great. This is the only time I need my healing to run at the same pace as a human for once. "I'm going to have to keep the wound open while you get the tracker out."

Well, that makes me nauseous to think about. Why? Fate knows I've suffered a lot worse. Perhaps it's having my skin held open while someone digs through my arm for a device that shouldn't be there that's making my stomach churn.

"Let's do this fast. Novia's looking a little green." Spencer's observant eyes scan my face before I shove it back into the crook of his neck. Nix cuts into my arm again, deeper this time, and the pain is so sharp that I find myself biting into Spencer. My teeth clamp around the skin my lips had been pressed against, sinking in enough to make him groan. My teeth sink in deeper when Spencer digs into my arm, the pain increasing when Nix is forced to open my rapidly healing skin again.

Quickly, Spencer latches onto the tracker and pulls it out carefully. As soon as the device is out of my arm, I release my teeth's hold on the mage and move my head back. His shirt has slipped, and I can see several deep indents where my teeth dug into him, and I cringe. "Sorry."

"It's fine, sweetheart," he replies, dropping a sweet kiss to my forehead.

Nix examines my arm, and I look over to see the hole closing and healing until there's not a single mark left on my skin. He drops a kiss to where the cut had been before running his hand over it, trying to remove the lingering pain that I'm left with. How did he know it still hurt?

As though he's the one with the ability to read minds, he fights a smile and says, "The bond. I know when you're hurting."

I make a content noise that sounds like a girly humming and blush when I hear both of them snicker. I roll my eyes and push away from the two, taking the shirt from Nix and slipping it over my head. The shirt is too big for me, like a lot of my shirts, but this one smells like Spencer. There's a subtle hint of his cologne with something that's undeniably him. I hide my smile when I look down, tucking a small part of the shirt into my leggings.

A pair of chucks are suddenly under my nose, so I slip them on quickly, holding onto Nix for balance while I do so. I stand up straight once I'm done and nod towards the small, grey rectangle in Spencer's hand. "What are we doing with that?"

Spencer twists the device in his hand, examining it closely. He holds it out to Nix and says, "Crush it. Then run in different parts of the forest with it for a little while before you bury it."

Nix nods, taking the tracker from Spence and crushing it easily between his fingers. There's a crunch of plastic snapping, and we all watch the orange glow fade to nothing. Nix clamps his hand around it, pulling it out of view. "Alright. I'll run this around just in case. I'll see you both at home."

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