emerald -- and create a kind of looking glass. You see, they can enchant a large stone, magically break off a portion of it, and then use the large stone to see through the smaller stone. It’s kind of like...”
“Oh my god! You mean my grandmother saw everything that happened?” Zander buried his face in his hands.
Tau moaned softly.
Zander kissed Tau’s cradled forehead. “Are you all right?”
“Damn, baby!” Tau smiled. “That was fantastic.”
Giovanni smirked. “I bet it was.”
“What’s Juju Bee doing in here?” Tau asked, glaring at Giovanni.
“Magic has already fucked you up once tonight,” Giovanni warned.
Hung came rushing back into the bedroom. “This shit is serious! Last night wasn’t just some random act of supernatural gang violence. Not only did Club Arcane get hit, but some people are saying that humans might even have been responsible!”
“Shit!” Zander, Giovanni, and Tau responded in unison.
“How do you know?” Giovanni asked Hung.
“My house sister called. She has been trying to reach me since last night, but I guess I was... a little bit preoccupied.”
“How could it be humans?” Giovanni wondered aloud. “Most of them don’t even believe that we exist.”
“This is too much. I probably need to head home,” Zander started.
“It’s no big deal. Just take your boy home with you and tell them you are mated now. They’ll understand.” Hung shrugged.
“What?” Zander asked.
“Giovanni told me that you two exchanged family gifts last night,” Hung said. “And it’s obvious that you consummated the relationship. Isn’t that how shifters marry and mate?”
“ What? ” Zander asked again.
Hung rolled his eyes. “You say ‘what’ an awful lot.”
“Mated?” Zander stood up, letting Tau’s head drop to the floor.
Hung continued, “Shifters mate for life and typically have little to no courtship. I guess they just know when they find the right one. Isn’t that right, Tau?”
Zander gaped at Tau. “You tried to trick me into a mating ceremony without telling me?”
“I...I...I...,” Tau stuttered.
Zander turned on Giovanni. “And did you know he was mating with me?”
“I thought you knew.” Giovanni shrugged. “You used to tell me that all you ever wanted was a love of your own.”
“Baby, let me explain,” Tau said, standing and wrapping himself in the sheet.
“This shit is crazy!” Zander yelled. “I had sex for the first time last night and knocked my lover unconscious. Then I find out that he was trying to marry me on the low, and my grandmother probably watched the whole thing on some supernatural video stone!”
Hung continued, “I think you had better sit down. There is more. My house sister says that there were more victims. They also attacked a coven of vampires in Lithonia, a pack of shifters in College Park... the Litha, and a caravan of witches driving into Atlanta.”
Zander dropped to his knees. “My family.”
Chapter 8
Zander couldn’t reach any of his family members by phone, and he was inconsolable and hysterical.
“Just relax.” Giovanni patted his shoulder. “We can figure this out. I’m sure that your family is all right.”
“Yes, baby,” Tau added as he wrapped the bed sheet around his body like a toga. “Just take a deep breath. We’ll figure this out.”
“Motherfucker, you don’t get to call me baby . You lied to me!” Zander yelled.
“Uh oh.” Hung raised his eyebrows.
“Zander, what are you talking about?” Tau asked, sounding hurt. “I know you feel the chemistry between us. We are right together. Maybe, I should--”
Before he could finish, Zander waved his arms through the air and sent Tau flying into the wall. The result was a stunned Tau and a large hole in Giovanni’s guest bedroom wall.
“I bet that hurt,” Hung commented.
“I trusted you!” Zander screamed. “I gave you my whole name, my grandmother’s necklace, and my body, and then you lied to
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