Page 30 of White Little Lies

“Fascinating.” Crispin watched his monitor, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room.

“Keep going,” Sebastian urged, still holding my hand.

I searched his face for the usual irritation, but it wasn’t there. He was guarded—he was alwaysguarded—but the way he held my hand to his chest… For the first time I could almost see how much this all meant to him.

I closed my eyes again, relaxing my hands, letting the magic flow. I thought of Gabriel with me in my bedroom, his hard body pressed against mine, dwarfing me beneath him. His mouth on my skin…his large hands on my breasts…

Pressure built in my chest. I breathed shallowly, daring to open my eyes.

Gabriel watched me with open hunger, almost as if he could tell exactly what I had been thinking about. I lowered my gaze, and my hand was glowing against his chest with soft light. My other hand against Sebastian radiated with a deep reddish purple aurora.

Crispin been moved close to my hand against Gabriel, studying it. “The readings aren’t giving me much to go on.” His gaze moved from my hand to my face. “May I touch you?” There was nothing suggestive in his tone, just pure curiosity.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nodded.

With both my hands occupied, Crispin gently laid his long fingers across my upper chest, just below my collarbone. A cool, white glow emanated. If Gabriel’s glow was sunlight, then Crispin’s was the moon.

Panicked, I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Sebastian observed Crispin’s hand, not appearing entirely pleased. “When you saved him from the near realm. He connected with you too.”

“Connected?” I choked out.

Crispin and Sebastian looked at each other. “She’s a conduit,” Crispin said.

Sebastian nodded.

Magic and arousal made my thoughts swim. I could barely think enough to form words. I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. “What does that mean?”

Crispin’s fingers stroked my skin and my body reacted. We had never slept together, but it was like my body remembered him. Like he had always been mine.

He studied the glow between us, then lifted his bright blue eyes to mine. “As a night runner, half human, you don’t have enough power to fully jump realms. So instead you found yourself four batteries.”

I gasped. “Not on purpose!”

The magic was still growing between us. I knew rationally I could just drop my hands, but I couldn’t seem to make myself do it. Instead, I wanted more. I wanted to move my hands across their flesh. I wanted to movelower.

“Your first true shift,” Sebastian’s voice was tight, hinting that he was feeling the same mixture of magic and arousal as the rest of us. “The night you saved Braxton. It was after—”

Neither of us had to say it out loud. Sebastian knewwhat had happened. He had picked me up from the Bogs the next morning. But he was implying—

“Mistral’s magic is the reason I was able to jump to save Braxton.” I looked at Gabriel. “And yours the night I brought you to the Bogs.”

Sebastian gripped my hand again as I finally managed to make myself lower it. “Crispin and I have been with you every time you’ve jumped here. I suspected you might be taking from us, and last night confirmed it.”

My jaw fell open. “That’s why you kissed me at Isadora’s shop?”

“I kissed you because that seems to be the key to summoning your magic. But it did also add to my suspicions.”

Crispin nodded along with his words. “We thought you needed to practice your skills, but really we were looking at the wrong thing. We just needed to give you more power.” He moved his hand along my upper chest, increasing the glow while at the same time making me weak in the knees. If we didn’t break contact soon I was going to end up pouncing one of them, consequences be damned.

“So what do we do now?” I rasped.

Crispin observed the glow of his hand against my skin. “We explore things further. You must try using our magic to bring us somewhere else.”

Fear lanced through me, dampening my arousal. “But what if I get us stuck somewhere?”

Crispin smiled softly, that damned charming smile. I had come to care for him in the short time we’d known each other, and I really didn’t want him to get stuck in some dark in between place. “We’ll all be together,” he soothed. “You’ll be able to get us back out.”

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