I shook my head. “None. It looked sort of familiar though. But I don’t know why.”
“It looked familiar to me too,” Austin agreed, and Caleb murmured his own agreement. “So that leads me to think we do know where it came from, but it’s been tampering with our memory.” He seemed lost in thought for a long time while he stared down at the band of metal encircling my wrist. Then, he simply picked up his tattoo gun and continued with my new ink.
“Aus,” I gasped in shock, but was not stupid enough to yank my arm away. “What are you doing? This is sort of a really big thing right now.”
“I agree,” he muttered, not stopping for a second. “Which is why it’s even more important that you get an anchor point for our familiars. I don’t want you left unprotected, baby girl. Not ever.” He said this last part so quietly I knew it was intended for my ears only.
“Austin’s right,” River agreed, standing back up with his face set in his customary blank expression. I could see tension in his golden eyes though, which made me panic even more. “You need to have Tyson and Sam as back up. Meanwhile, we all have our task. We’ll find out what the bleeding hell is going on with this bracelet.”
“Would you try magic to remove it?” Wesley asked the twins quietly, and Caleb was the one to respond.
“No.” He shook his head. “You saw what just happened when Aus tried to break it using his bare hands. I wouldn’t want to risk hitting it with magic until we know more about what it is... and where it came from.”
“Must be something bad,” Vali commented. “Else, why bother with the illusions? None of you could see it, so we don’t even know how long Regina has worn it.”
“How come you could, though?” I asked the big Romanian. “Is that a dragon-sight thing?”
Vali gave me a small smile. “I doubt it. Probably my Romani blood. My mother’s people always claimed they could see through any illusion.”
“Huh,” I nodded. “That’s handy.”
My casual attitude was fooling no one. I was freaking the hell out about this magical, nefarious bracelet that seemed impossible to remove. Cole’s hands rubbed soothing circles on my scalp while Austin worked, and I was able to calm down a fraction by the time he was done.
“Shall we test it out?” my broody Ink Mage suggested, packing up his equipment while I inspected the design. He’d woven the tiger and viper together so it looked like they were playing... or fighting. Most incredible, he’d managed to still make it look elegant and watercolor to match my fox and lily tattoos.
“May as well,” I murmured, all too aware of the ticking clock. Wes and I needed to be getting our asses to the airport any moment now.
The twins both summoned their familiars out in a sparkle of magic, and the second they were corporeal, I could feel them connected to me. Not in the same way the guys all were; this was something different.
Tyson, the big lug, clambered over Austin to lick my face, and I could sense his affection and greeting as clearly as any words. It was so cool. This must be the way he and Austin communicated with each other.
“Hey buddy.” I returned his greeting with a scratch behind his big, soft ears. “You feel like coming on vacation with me?”
The big cat rumbled a purr that was a resounding yes through our new link, and I smiled at him. I was actually really relieved to have him and Sam coming with me, especially with the added concern of this mystery bracelet.
“Try and convey to him that you want him to rest,” Austin coached me.
Meeting Tyson’s feline eyes, I pushed the suggestion to him, and his fur rippled down his back. He stretched his jaws at me and disappeared with a cloud of sparkles. The feeling he left me with was that I’d pushed that suggestion way too hard and I really only needed to ask nicely.
I knew he’d settled in my new ink and not back in Austin’s when he sent a vibration of purrs tingling through my body, starting at my arm and fanning out from there.
“It worked!” I beamed at Austin, running a finger lightly over the inked tiger and feeling my skin shiver in response.
“It sure did,” he murmured, looking thoughtful. “Caleb, Sam’s turn!”
Hushed whispers drew our attention to where Caleb was involved in what looked like a heated argument with his giant viper. Only this time, I could hear both sides.
“Everything okay?” River asked politely, interrupting them, and Sam flashed his fangs in River’s direction.
“Yes,” Caleb replied at the same time as Sam said, “Fuck no.”
My jaw dropped, hearing the snake actually speak for the first time. Not that I hadn’t believed Caleb that his familiar could, it was just a whole different thing to hear it with my own ears.
“Sam,” Caleb snapped, turning back to the viper, who flickered his tongue at his Mage. “We discussed this earlier, and you were totally fine with the plan. You said it was the best solution for Kitty Kat’s safety.”
“Yessss, but that wasss before I knew she wass sssuch a fucking moron. I refussse to be bonded to sssomeone that sssssssstupid.” Sam cast a glance over at me that was nothing less than derisive before slithering to a vacant arm chair and curling up in a ball. “Sssso jussst, fuck off.”
“Um, Sam, I can hear you,” I pointed out, feeling a bit taken aback. We all knew he was a bit of an ass but it was somewhat different hearing the insults for myself.
“Good, at leassst your earsss work, even if your brain doesssn’t.” He flicked his tongue at me, which was seriously starting to feel like his version of flipping me off. Little fucker.
“Um, okay... Do you want to explain why I’m suddenly such a moron?” I challenged the reptile, while feeling just a fraction embarrassed.
“Because,” he huffed. I could still hear the extension of his Ss but was growing used to it the more he spoke and noticing it less. “You put on that stupid bracelet from your creepy biological mother and then had the audacity to look shocked when you couldn’t get it off. Moron.”
“Wait what?” Caleb and I exclaimed this at almost the same time.
“How do you know the bracelet was from Bridget?” Caleb demanded of the snake.
“You mean I put it on myself?” I gasped, feeling like the fucking snake had just dropped a bomb on me. Around us, the other guys, who weren’t privy to Sam’s chatter firsthand, were all on the edges of their seats, ready to demand answers.
“Christ,” Sam groaned, shifting his coils as though getting comfortable. “And you have the nerve to be offended when I call you a moron. Which you are. A moron, that is. Bridget gave the bracelet to Caleb, Caleb and Austin gave it to you when your magic went all screwy after the bonding, and then you all seemed to just forget it ever happened.”
“Wait, how the hell do you know all of this?” I demanded. Rubbing at my forehead, I noticed the offensive bracelet and growled.
“Because I am clearly superior to you all, so the confusion and illusion didn’t affect me.” He paused. “Heh, that rhymed. Confusion and illusion.”
“Sam,” Caleb snapped. “Stay on topic, please.”
“What else do you want to know? I told you the important factors. The bracelet came from Bridget, you put it on her willingly, and now she’s fucked. ’Cause she’s a moron.” Sam flicked his tongue at me again, so this time I flipped him off. Shithead.
“Okay, is Sam giving any useful information?” River interjected. “Because if not, Kit and Wesley need to be going. I highly doubt this bloke in Ireland will let us reschedule again.”
“Sam?” I prompted. “Do you have anything more to tell us on the subject?”
“No,” he replied without hesitation. “Except that you need a shower; I can smell you from here.”
My face flushed with embarrassment, and I automatically sniffed at my pit. I smelled just fine. Infuriating little reptile.