Page 153 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“Nope. Absolutely not. You’re staying inside the pack house while we hunt this thing.” Luna Bells shook her head vigorously as she spoke, making me internally sigh with relief.

“What? Why? You’re helping!”

“I have been training for years, Violet. Adrien is immortal, Chris is pretty much an elite warrior and Elim is immortal and an assassin. You are a graphic designer at the beginning of training to be a warrior. One of these things is not like the others, and I’m not letting that thing get hurt. And by thing, I mean you.” Luna Bells laid down the law.

“How am I supposed to stop being afraid of things if you don’t let me face any of them!”

My heart sank as tears threatened to leave her eyes. I’d seen her cry way too much lately. This wasn’t supposed to be happening anymore.

“Oh, come on, now. There are more ways you can help, than getting all sweaty outside, Vi.” Adrien came out of the kitchen with a bag of popcorn.

“How?”

“Evie set up cameras all over the forest. You can track it on the monitors, and let us know where it’s heading,” my cousin explained.

“How am I supposed to do that from inside the pack house?”

“I brought potions to mind-link between packs. Didn’t I mention yesterday?” Adrien asked.

“No. You didn’t. What kind of potions?” she asked.

“They let you mind-link anyone who’s taken the potion for twenty-four hours. Guardian Moon uses them all the time when we’re looking for one of Alpha’s siblings.”

“It won’t hurt?” Violet asked a little apprehensively, and I bit the inside of my cheek so I wouldn’t laugh.

Chris caught the look on my face and smirked, telling me we were both thinking the same thing. Violet was going to jump head-first against a demon dog but she was scared to drink a potion.

“I mean, it tastes foul, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“Okay,” Violet finally relented.

Adrien winked over at Chris, who was looking relieved Violet agreed to stay behind. We set her up in the room and then drank the vile potion.

‘Testing, testing, one, two, three.’I was startled as Adrien’s voice filled my head, but the other three smiled at his silliness.

‘H-hello?’I answered back, unsure of how this worked.

‘Hi,’Violet answered back.

‘Everyone can hear this?’I asked.

‘Yep,’Luna Bells answered this time.

‘Can you hear my thoughts, too?’I asked with a little bit of panic.

‘Nope. It works like a conversation. We can only hear what you want to tell us. Why? What are you thinking about, cousin?’Adrien teased, and I felt my face heat.

‘Nothing. Just curious. Will everyone always hear what I say?’I asked.

‘You can choose to mind-link one person specifically. First, you have to close this one, then open it with only that person,’Luna Bells explained.

‘How do I get back into this one after?’

‘I can bring you back in if you want to try it?’Adrien suggested.

‘Umm... maybe later. This is weird.’

“Alright, let’s head out.” Luna Bells shook her head with a smile, clearly amused by my reaction to something that was second nature to her.

---