Page 36 of Marked By Night

“Lost who? What the hell happened back there? Why do you have a limo? I thought you drove a Jeep. Why did Kaos and I freeze?” The rapid-fire questions burst from my mouth like a too curious toddler learning about something new for the first time.

Dante shrugs absentmindedly, his knee bouncing a mile a minute as he stares at me in wonder. “To answer your first question, we drive this to events. As for why you froze, well, you and Kaos bonded to each other.”

Questions. So many fucking questions.

“Bonded to each other? Say what now?” I pause, rethinking my line of questioning. “You know what, never mind. The first thing I want to know is why the hell those guys were attacking us. I almost took a dagger to the side of my skull, you know!”

Kaos’s jaw clenches. “Those were the Elders’ Elites, a seasoned group of hunters banded together to act as enforcers. They were watching us. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.”

“Elite? Elders? What are you talking about?” I ask, running my fingers through my thick blonde hair as I try to smooth out the knots to no avail. I’m sure I look like a drowned rat. “Tell me everything. Starting with who the hell you guys are. Moreover,whatyou are.”

They share a loaded look and my overworking brain threatens to send me spiraling. At the moment, I can only think of the worst possibilities. Are they in a gang? Is this like… mafia-related? But with magic? Ash and I read a vampire mafia book once, and it was hot as fuck. I don’t think I’d be upset if that’s the direction this is going.

Dante smirks at Kaos and places his index finger on his nose. Kaos opens his mouth to protest but it’s too late. Dante, I-shit-you-not, shouts, “Nose goes!”

Oh, he did not just ‘nose goes’ this because he doesn’t want to be the one to explain to me what the hell is happening. My nostrils flare. “You two assholes have three seconds to start talking before I—”

Kaos interrupts me with a wave of his hand, expending a long, suffering sigh, as he places his fingers at the bridge of his nose. Guess this means he’s going to be the one to tell me.

“We are a race of magic users called Weavers,” he starts, pausing to take another breath. “The Elders are our leaders and the Elite are their enforcers. We broke the rules tonight by using our magic out in the open. Although, how they found out so soon, I still don’t understand. I’m also assuming they didn’t realize you’re a Link. You’re too precious to kill.”

His words shake me to the core, and I startle, almost flying out of my seat. If Dante’s strong arms hadn’t bounded around my middle and tugged me onto his lap, I probably would’ve sailed straight out of the limo.

Magic actually exists? I almost scoff, but a little voice in the back of my mind whispers that I have a few unexplained attributes myself. Like advanced healing, strength, and my strange ability to sense danger nearby. Plus Dante’s ability to control fire. I saw that with my own eyes. Wait, he said we.

“We? As in you and Kaos are Weavers?” I ask.

“Elian as well,” he pauses, seemingly searching for the right words. “You are too, Sadie,” he tells me softly like he’s ripping a band-aid off the proverbial wound. His expression is guarded, but hopeful.

My heart stutters and I laugh to mask the feeling. “You’re saying I’m a magic user too? What, like a witch?”

Dante’s lips twitch. “No, Angel. We’re Night Weavers. There’s no such thing as a witch or wizard. The silly humans are the ones who named us that. And they were wrong about our powers too. Everyone has different skills,” he explains. “Our powers are derived from the night and as such, we worship the Night Goddess, the God of Dawn, and the God of Dusk.” Ha! I was right about there being more than one God. “Then there are the Light Weavers. They’re our total opposites,” he continues. “Their powers derive from daylight and they worship the Sun God.”

“Weavers,” I say it slowly, testing the word on my tongue. Nope, still seems insane. “All right. I’m going to need a second to process that. You still haven’t explained why we were paralyzed.”

“That’s easy,” Kaos responds. “Our powers transfer through our palms, so when you held my hand our powers transferred. That’s how the bond forms. Sometimes the transfer of magic can render you unable to move. This only happens in the case of true mates.”

True mates? I snort. Did I suddenly fall into a shifter book or something?

“Shouldn’t this require… I dunno, like sex or something? I mean, in all the books I’ve ever read, it requires sex!” My voice rises a few octaves. Can you blame me though? This is a lot to throw at a girl.

Dante can’t smother the grin that overtakes his face. “Not in this case, I’m afraid.” I glare at him. “Although, I wouldn’t be opposed.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine. I’ll entertain the idea for a moment. You said, ‘true mates,’” I air quote him. “But that means nothing to me. Are you trying to say you are shifters, too? Like wolves or something?”

Kaos interrupts, cutting off what I’m sure would’ve been a snarky retort from Dante. “No, Little Flame. Only magic users, but we have mates similarly to the shifters.” Mates similarly to the shifters…

“Wait, you mean there really are shifters? I was joking!”

Kaos inclines his head, trying to hold back a smile, but he fails miserably. Asshole.

I let loose a breath. “Well, this night keeps getting better with every revelation.” I’m typically rather good at rolling with the punches because life has thrown me a lot over the years, but damn. This is wild. The real question is do I believe them?

A part of me says yes, because I’ve always felt different. But another part of me rebels against the idea. I narrow my eyes in suspicion and start searching around the limo, expecting Ashton Kutcher to pop out any second and tell me I’m on a new season ofPunk’d!but nothing happens.

Dante—whose lap I’m currently in—turns my head with his thumb on my chin, forcing me to look at him. He caresses my cheek with his finger, and I lean into his touch. I turn slightly so I can catch Kaos’s face too. His eyes—the color of a roaring ocean—lock onto mine as he eyes me and Dante affectionately.

A small part of my brain recognizes that I’m supposed to be Kaos’s mate and I’m sitting in his friends’ lap with a rapidly hardening outline poking my ass. And it’s definitely not one of his crotch knives poking me either.

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