Page 59 of Messenger of Death
Morgana could portal, so of course, she’d taught Petros and Elliot. Sage was fuming, but she was stuck between coaxing Khalid out of his jackal and checking on Liam. I didn’t think Mazen was going to let anyone near him, but Mazen shifted back and hopped off the bed.
“Does anyone have any clothes?”
“There are some sweats in my dresser that should fit you,” Elliot said.
“Thanks. I’m done. I ignored that her story kept changing and how she was treating me because I thought it was trauma. This isn’t trauma, it’s assault. It’s still assault if she’s a woman and he’s a man.”
Did we trust him with everything? Because if Lola had been Hemlock this whole time, then she staged the beating, and I gave her my blood. Theonlyreason I’d given it to her was because of how badly she’d been hurt and I didn’t particularly want to. I didn’t like the idea of anyone having fake feelings for me. It was different with Sage because it went both ways.
Sage kept saying Mazen was on a precipice. It was just going to take one thing to turn him to the dark side. Would finding out how deeply Lola had fooled him be that thing?
Morgana was making the antidote for Liam, so Sage was trying to help Khalid shift back. Mazen decided to help.
“I had to figure it out myself. Lola ruined my first shift, too, so I get it. Let me help.”
Mazen tried to help, and I was taking notes. I hadn’t shifted yet and my bat seemed pretty aloof, but I really didn’t want to get stuck. It was fifty-fifty if you actually thought Iman was stuck as a cat or she was exactly where she wanted to be.
Khalid was probably the most reasonable out of all of us except for when his jackal took over or when it came to Mazen. It was bizarre. Mazen was trying to calmly walk him through shifting back and Khalid was just hollering at him in jackal. I knew Mazen was supposed to be a big bad, but I already would have given up and let him figure it out himself.
Oh, look, Liam was conscious again.
“Whythe fuckdo I feel like I mixed edibles and whiskey?” Liam demanded.
Sage took off and flung herself at Liam.
“Lola gave you a magical roofie. I had this feeling you were in danger and we got here just in time to stop her. Morgana gave you the antidote. Lucian sent her away before I could beat the shit out of her and drag her to Headmaster Mykene.”
Everyone turned to stare at me because yeah, that looked bad and there were two people in this room who admitted they liked killing rapists.
“She lied twice. Once when she said she was bad at potions and again when she said she didn’t know who she was.”
Mazen perked up, but Sage and I both announced at the same time we thought she was Hemlock.
“It’s just a feeling. I didn’t feel comfortable saying anything until I had proof. If I’d said something sooner, this might not have happened.”
“This isn’t your fault,” Liam said.
“It’s not,” Morgana said. “You weren’t raised supernatural, and it’s alotto trust your gut given how youwereraised.”
“Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?”
Khalid started yelling in jackal again. I really wished someone could figure out how to unjackal him because that noise was spooky and irritating at the same time. I didn’t speak jackal but even I knew he didn’t want us to tell Mazen about Hemlock and Harami.
I was conflicted about telling him. On the one hand, we could use him on our side. On the other, we didn’t need this pushing him over to the dark side. On my foot, if we lied to him, it would be worse when he found out.
“No, he deserves to know. I canfeelit. Mazen, I’m trusting you with this. You can’t go spreading this around as I learned this from an elder and it’s their secret. If you accidentally shift, no one will judge you, but please stay so we can talk it out when you’re ready to shift back.”
I really hoped he didn’t accidentally shift. Khalid’s jackal might attack him and I was the only one who could break it up. I didn’t know if shifters got rabies shots. I didn’t want germy dog or jackal mouth on me, anyway.
If I was going to be bonded to Sage and she was bonded to Khalid and we were bringing Mazen into this, maybe I should ask the healer for a tetanus shot. And ask about the rabies thing. And set boundaries about slobbering on me.
Khalid was sulking. It was weird watching a jackal sulk. Liam could talk to him like this, but he wouldn’t say a damned thing if it went against Sage.
I guess it was time to bring Mazen in and hope it didn’t turn him evil.
Well, it wasn’t concrete proof, but why would Lola lie about not knowing who she was and being bad at potions? I really wanted to hit her again. If I hadn’t got there in time…Mazen deserved the truth. He wasn’t ready before, but he was now. I knew Khalid didn’t want me to tell him, but Mazen might be able to help us figure out to Harami was. And I could just feel it was right.
So, I unloaded and told Mazen everything. His jaw tightened, and he clenched his fists, but he didn’t shift. Then, I unloaded all the theories I’d come up with, but hadn’t shared. That Haramiwas the one who beat Lola to discredit Alexios and that Hemlock wouldn’t have known about vampires, but Lola would have. It wasn’t an accident Lola found us. She wanted his blood.
