Page 26 of Second Shooter

“How long were you in my head?”

“An hour and a half. I had to go slow. Are you hungry?”

Iris smiled. “I baked cookies.”

Cori came back to her senses. “Right. Yes. Cookies would be good. Where is Win?”

“Still comforting May. There is nothing like shared trauma to form a bond. Keres joined them an hour ago.”

Cori let Oren help her to her feet and went in search of chocolate chip cookies.

Chapter Six

Win held May’s hand as she sat with a stunned expression. Keres was pouring tea and sharing her own experiences.

Win muttered, “It is a bitch of a club to be in.”

May was startled into laughing.

Keres smiled. “Yeah, it is. Win, you kept the details vague.”

“Oh, that is because I cast a spell on myself to fade the memory. They are still there, but they are behind frosted glass, if that makes sense.” Win shrugged. “I know that we are here because one of Iris’s males is a telepath. He is going to be in for a rough ride. So am I.”

Keres cleared her throat. “You remember this morning how Wren said that today was going to bring the blood witch, the mirror mage, and triumph? Do you know who is who?”

Win smiled. “I do.”

“And?”

“That is me. They are me. I am them. I am the blood witch and the mirror mage, and I didn’t lose, so I am also triumph.”

Keres blinked. “Oh.”

“Just as there is the Scourge and the memory of death. The Elite are very spooky in their naming of us.”

“How long were you kept there?”

May looked at her.

“A close estimate is two months at the Stronghold and five years in the realm of shadow mages.”

May muttered, “What’s that?”

“A place you don’t want to be. You know how we have alphas, betas, and omegas? Well, and occasionally deltas?”

“Yes.” May was interested.

“Well, the mages were all betas with power. Lots of it. They got banished for feeding off others to power themselves. So, they create fissures in the world at moments of high emotional strain,and they try and pull in the energy or the actual stressed-out being through the crack in reality. I was under a lot of stress.”

Keres said, “But they can’t eat Elite omegas. Our energy patterns don’t digest, for lack of a better term.”

Win smiled. “It is like wanting to eat marshmallows and putting building bricks in your mouth. But the shadow mages know how to control their energy. They have books upon books upon books to teach folks, but their books dissolve when you get them over here, so studying has to be done on the other side. I was the blood witch by nature, but I became the mirror mage by studying when I stole the grimoires and hid in the forests.”

Keres said, “You are remarkably cheerful about that.”

“I was the blood witch first, and I used it against any mage who tried to capture me. I got quite a bit of practice.” Win smiled.

“Uh, I don’t know how to say this, but do you ever wonder about your parents? I mean, the Elite killed my family when they captured me, but you know you were adopted.”

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