Page 34 of Overwhelmed By Magic

“That’s not supposed to happen, is it?” Skye asks.

“No, it’s not, little human. Fucking hell, I don’t hate it.” I run my finger over it, Skye eliciting a groan that goes straight to my cock. It’s a calling card of sorts, a way to bring the claimed closer or to signal for help. The problem is that Skye isn’t exhibiting the need to come closer. His face is flushed as he crowds against the desk and it takes me a moment to realize what he’s hiding beneath it.

Shame.

I would have loved to see it.

Our hour has just begun but I need a moment to think.

Neither one of us has spoken for several minutes and I think I might have to break the ice. Just as I open my mouth, a knock sounds on the door and Tamara peeks her head in. My usual instinct is to throw her some nasty retort but now? My lip kicks up in a snarl as I step in front of Skye, barring her from seeing the human.

She frowns at my reaction, trying to look around my form when my aura widens to create a shield. I’m not even sure why I’m protecting Skye from his own coworker, one that has only offered me slight annoyances but I couldn’t stop my essence if I tried. The amulet around my neck burns bright until Tamara slips back out and closes the door.

Turning around shows me a very confused Skye. “Why would you do that?”

“Our essence protects us, the ones who claim us, and the ones we’ve claimed. She’s never been a threat to me and as far as I know, not to you, but my essence thinks differently. Skye, I don’t know how you found the library or Mother Nature but keep that book with you and don’t let it out of your sight. I searched for the answers much longer than anyone can imagine and I only skimmed the surface of what she had to say.”

He nods slowly, his gaze unfocused. “I still don’t know how my mark is on your wrist.”

“Mother Nature must have a plan and I’m not mad that you’ve claimed me. Granted, I would love to see my mark on your arm too, right beside Harlow’s. Goddess, I’d love to see my mark on him too.”

That earns me a blush.

“Tuck that book away but don’t hold onto it for too long. Mother Nature offers us gifts but she doesn’t let us keep them forever.”

He doesn’t seem to understand a word I’m saying but he will. Eventually.

His essence coursing through my body right now is making it hard to concentrate. I need to study it before I do anything rash. Hell, no one has tried to claim me before. I haven’t given them a reason to. “Skye, you already know that everyone sent here—all of the ‘rejects’—aren’t failed Magila. We haven’t failed anything but the rules that someone else created for us. That book and others like it might have the answers we need.”

“Then how the fuck am I the only one who’s been able to grab it?”

Skye isn’t ready for that answer. He’s only just healed from those teeth in his neck, although they’ve left a pretty little scar. He’s only just figured out that surviving here means holing up in his room. And he’s just somehow met Mother Nature.

I want to know how.

But he’s not ready for that discussion yet.

And I’m not ready to deal with the fact that the essence from the accident that caused those marks on his wrists might be enhancing the aura but not owning it.

Skye might not be as human as he thinks.

“I don’t know,” I finally say, lying through clenched teeth. Rumi would be able to tell from my aura that I wasn’t giving Skye the entire story but the human can’t. His eyes dart to the side of me and then back to my face. It’s something I’ve picked up more than once and only now have I realized why. He does it with everyone here, trying to hide his unconscious reactions.

He can see our essence.

How the fuck is that even possible?

Before I decide to question him further, I leave. No good will come of me demanding more answers. Not yet, anyway. I’m just surprised he didn’t touch Harlow’s mark to call him into the room.

22

SKYE

I let out a breath the moment Ambrose disappears from my room before shutting the door behind him and roughly yanking my sleeve up over my forearm. Ambrose didn’t notice but I did. Whatever words were uttered in this room somehow linked us together. The only reason no one saw it was because my sleeve was covering it.

However, I felt the rush of essence as it settled in my skin.

Expecting to see a mark, I stare at Harlow’s for several seconds before the slightest change reveals what happened. The intricate wording shows wisps of blue and green essence, following each other along the design, almost playing and zipping along. They’ve morphed together, somehow. I know enough about essence and claiming marks that Magila are so proud to have separate, individual marks. The few humans that it’s happened to have only ever been claimed by one but this is different.

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