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  She knew it was a bad idea as soon as she said it, but still. They needed to know. It was eating Matt alive, even if he didn't want to admit it.

  "Don't sit there and tell me that he's just as much yours as he is mine, when you're the one constantly walking away from him, Everett. Stay, for once. Make friends with Dice. Hell, be civil to me, since you're going to have to get used to me some time. I'm not going anywhere, and I know you aren't either, so why keep fighting it?"

  He glared at her in stubborn silence, his jaw clenched shut.

  "Oh. Right. You think I'll mysteriously get everyone killed. Which is stupid, since they're adults, and I've already shown that I'm in it for real, or did you miss the entire rescue mission? Matt's going to make it because of me. Dice is going to make it because of me. Because of all of us working together. If anyone's going to get them killed, it's going to be you. Now give me your hand."

  No one said anything and Mallory stalked over to him, standing in front of him in challenge. She put her hand out and waited, her eyebrows up as she dared him to defy her.

  He finally did it. Placing his palm in hers, he sucked his breath in when she slammed the mental wall down around his light and focused on pulling a tiny bit of her own magic free. She sent it along the lines that connected them, pushing it into his hand the same way she'd tried to heal Janae.

  It worked. Better than last time, but not nearly as well as the natural healer. Nico, Damon and Alec all watched in shock as the deep gashes on Everett's arm closed, leaving nothing more than scrapes and drying blood behind.

  "How did you do that?" Everett asked, his voice tight.

  "How do your powers still work at all, and when did you learn to heal like that?" Damon demanded.

  Nico just sat quietly, his brow furrowed.

  Mallory wobbled on her feet as the exhaustion hit her. Using her powers to heal was much more draining than using her web, even at the rate she'd been keeping it on. "Come on. Don't act out and Dice won't eat you. Pull that shit again and I'm not making any promises on stopping him though. He's very attached to Matt and me, so you should get used to him."

  Plus, I already know you like him. The way Everett had petted the young jaguar while he was unconscious demonstrated as much.

  Mallory put their joined hands in front of Dice's nose again, willing herself not to flinch when he opened his eyes and lifted his head. He pulled back his lips with a growl and Mal mentally hit him with all the warmth she could muster.

  "Shush, Dice, I'm here. This is Everett. He's going to be your friend, too, baby," she crooned, dropping to her knees beside the bed. She felt, more than saw, each guy tense behind her and could nearly hear Everett roll his eyes.

  Still, it worked. Dice nuzzled her cheek, allowing her to rub her face against his ruff before she turned her wrist, revealing Everett's fingers loosely entwined with hers. Dice huffed against them, blowing hot air across his knuckles as she kept petting him, whispering soothing nothings against his fur. Eventually he gave Everett a cursory lick, then turned away, dropping his head over her shoulder instead.

  Everett immediately let go and stepped back, his face an unreadable mask. Mallory ignored him and threaded both hands through the jaguar's fur and closed her eyes, resting against his side.

  "You okay, Bunny?" Nico asked softly. He crept up beside her, allowing Dice to smell him before he pulled her into his arms.

  "Yeah, I'm fine. The new power is just really tiring, honestly."

  "How'd you learn to do that?" Alec asked. "And why did it work on Everett?"

  Everett didn't answer for a second as he leaned against the desk again. "She can shut down my magic. She’s immune to it when she wants to be."

  Chapter 3

  "What?" Damon and Alec turned to stare at her at the same time.

  "How?" Alec demanded.

  "That's impossible," Damon protested. "Everett's power always wins. Every time. How can the girl who talks to animals turn off one of the most compelling magics we know of?"

  Mallory took a deep breath, debating what to tell them. "I can trust you guys, right? You're not secretly spying on me for Fitzam or anything?"

  They each gave her derisive looks and Nico squeezed her shoulders.

  "I think my magic has more to do with my web, instead of talking to animals. That's just how it developed, so that's all I thought it was. But since I got here, I've been able to do a lot more. Nurse Cavell said that my magic would grow, and Nico told me that it feeds on being around other magical energy, so it'll get worse. Or better, depending on how you look at it."

  She sat down heavily beside Dice, curling her legs up beneath her as he turned on the bed. Settling in her lap, he allowed her to gently scratch beneath his tufted ears while she spoke.

  "I've learned to track people on my web, and watched how Janae's powers work. I could see her magical energy transfer into other people when she healed them, so I learned how to copy it. I've been able to feel people's emotions almost as well as animals, and figured out how to set up an energy barrier inside my mind to keep Everett from absorbing my magic. All within the last two months. If I can sense how magic is working, I think I might be able to duplicate it."

  She fell silent as they all stared in silence.

  "It's more than that, actually," Nico finally broke in. "She blocked Everett's magic without meaning to on her second day here, and she's subconsciously learning to copy our magic, as well."

  "Copy it?" Damon repeated. "What do you mean?"

  "She blocked and copied Matt's magic a few weeks ago in her room, after that first battle sim. And she copied my speed magic right before you guys got here today."

  Mallory shook her head at him. "No, I didn't. You have to be wrong about that."

  "Yeah, you did." He nodded sagely. "I didn't bring you in here when Matt called for you because you beat me to it. You ran in here on your own. At the same speed I did."

  "There's no way," she protested slowly. "It felt like normal running to me. Nothing seemed super-fast."

  "Because it doesn't look super-fast when you're the one doing it. Everything else looks slow to me, which is why I can avoid things. It's as easy as jogging."

  "That's why..." she broke off, thinking about it. It had seemed weird that Nico hauled her into Matt's side of the suite completely naked, but if she had reacted instinctively, and still been intimately connected to his mind, then maybe. Maybe it had been her, instead of him. It made about as much sense as being able to stop Everett's magic, or copy Janae's.

  "Why didn't I notice?" she whispered. "Why didn't I know?"

  "How much can you usually lift?" Alec asked suddenly. "When you're working out, how much weight can you do on the bench press?"

  Mallory shrugged. "I don't know. I never do it."

  "Never?" he pressed. "We need to try something, then. Go pick up Everett."

  "What?"

  "No." Everett's voice was flat, his denial final.

  Alec threw a balled-up piece of paper at him. "Come on, man. She's the only person that can touch you without your powers freaking out. I'm surprised you're not crawling in her lap along with that jaguar by now."

  Everett sneered at his friend, not even bothering to reply.

  Ouch. Well, okay then. Not that I want Everett thinking of me like that, but damn. I'm literally the only person in the world that he can allow to touch him, and he'd rather be hit by a truck. What's his problem?

  "Why are you asking me about lifting weight right now?" Mallory asked. "Seems a little off topic."

  "I don't think it is," Alec replied. "I think you already copied my magic, too."

  "What? When?" Mallory couldn't believe it. Nico, on the other hand, nodded.

  "In the break room, with Janae. You were holding her up against that wall like it was nothing, Bunny. Her feet weren't even touching the floor, and she's bigger than you. What were you thinking about at the time?"

  Mallory leaned her head back, closing her eyes before she answered. "I
was thinking about Matt, and the rest of you. How you all need him, and would be devastated without him. How I would be, too."

  "So you were thinking about me, and you could suddenly deadlift this girl?"

  She nodded. "Is that crazy?" It's fucking insane. Fitzam would shit a brick if he knew. Pohler, too. Hell, even Professor MacKenna would be fascinated, and Janae specifically said not to catch his interest. How am I going to hide this if I don't even realize when I'm doing it half the time?

  "Normally I'd say yeah, but we're witches. We do magic. Who's to say what's crazy or not anymore?" Alec murmured. "You're safe with us, though. We won't tell anyone."

  "So let me get this right," Damon said. "You get tired when you copy your friend's healing powers, but not when you use ours? So you can already use super speed, see the future, shut down Everett's magical immunity and now you're strong, too? You might actually be able to take Fitzam down, after all."

  "You can't tell him!" she burst out. "He'll pull me from the academy and make me go to the front lines, like Matt said. Why would you even say that?" The betrayal burned a hole in her chest and Dice growled. His fur stood on end as he pinned Damon with an unerring stare, fury burning bright inside him.

  "I'm not going to tell him shit," Damon retorted. "He's out of control, and planning to make you into his new favorite pet. You might be able to get away if your web really is that good though."

  "Or she'll be his new favorite project, and he'll be able to control her just like he's controlling everyone else," Everett said bitterly. "We all know what he's going to make her do."

  "Hunt the amaroq," Mallory breathed. Her chest clenched at the thought of seeing it, feeling the weight of its rage as it stalked them in the gym. She didn't want to face it again, especially on her own.

  "I think I can feel it," she whispered. "On my web."

  "Of fucking course you can!" Everett burst out, throwing his hands into the air. He turned and punched the desk, surprising them all with the force of his anger. "Because nothing is safe from you and your fucking web, is it? You're going to be forced to go after it, either because Fitzam will find out about all of this," he drew one finger in a circle to indicate all of them together, "or because he'll use your family against you, like he always does. You need to get the fuck out of here, Mallory."

  Everyone keeps saying that to me. First Damon and Alec, then Matt, and now Everett. Nico's the only one that wants me to stay, but is it worth it? Am I just putting them in danger? Someone will find out eventually.

  "She's not going anywhere," Nico shot back, anger in his voice. "She's staying here, where she can learn to control her powers, and stick with us. We're her best bet against this bullshit, and you know it."

  "Exactly." Alec's voice had changed slightly, with almost a wistful note to it. Mallory activated her web and reached for his light before she stopped herself.

  I can't keep doing that. It's a total invasion of their privacy, and I have no right to be mad at Matt if I'm going to be doing this shit. I trust them, so I should just ask. "What's wrong, Alec? You sound different."

  "What?" His eyes widened and shot to her face as she opened her eyes. "Nothing's wrong. Just worried about the whole shitshow."

  No, it's something else. He's not worried, more wishful, if that makes sense? Probably not. I'm probably just imagining it.

  "Hey, who's throwing the party?" Matt asked from his bed. Dice perked up and everyone swung around to look at Matt.

  "You're awake!" Alec crowed. "How are you feeling?" He held out a hand. Matt took it and tried to pull himself up.

  It didn't work very well.

  "Here." Damon was there, sliding one arm behind Matt's back to lift his shoulders, helping him to sit up. "Take it easy, man. You've been through a lot."

  "Thirsty." It came out as a raspy request, and Nico was instantly on it, grabbing a bottle of water from Mal's fridge in the other room. He cracked the top and held it to his friend's lips.

  Matt took it with a little smile and drank deeply before lowering his arm. Tremors ran up and down it and Nico took the water back before it spilled.

  "Thanks. What happened? Where's Mal?"

  Disbelief, followed by derision hit her mind. She didn't even have to check to see that it was coming from Everett. "I'm here, Matt. Sitting with Dice."

  "Holy shit, that wasn't a dream?" he asked in surprise. "There's really a jaguar in your dorm room."

  "Yeah, that was real. Dice is pretty much here to stay, I think. How are you feeling?" She eased Dice's head off her lap and went to Matt's side. He leaned in a little when she touched his forehead. "You don't have a fever."

  "So if that part was real, then the rest of it was too?"

  Mallory flicked him. "Shut up."

  "Ha!"

  Alec and Damon gave her a questioning look and she heaved a sigh. "Just don't ask."

  "She was naked," Matt confessed.

  Alec gave a bark of laughter and Damon's lips quirked in what may have actually been a smile. Mallory punched Matt in the shoulder.

  "Hope you enjoyed the show, because that's the last time you'll ever get to see it."

  * * *

  Matt stayed awake longer this time, earning the first solid food he'd had in who knew how long. A week, maybe. Mallory curled up beside him, sitting with Matt on one side and Nico on the other. Damon claimed the last corner on Matt's other side, and Alec's large frame was sprawled out beside Dice on the opposite bed. He had allowed Alec to pet him before falling back asleep.

  “I have questions about this whole thing with Matt,” Alec said after he had finished his lunch. Mallory gave him a wary look. “Why did they pull Matt into the experiment? And who ordered it?"

  "You would think a guy that can see the future would be too valuable to do an experiment with a 100 percent failure rate," Mallory scoffed. "Unless you guys think that Janae was lying?"

  "Or someone lied to her about it," Damon answered. "I'm positive this isn't the only place they've tried it."

  "Absolutely not. They're doing the same things in other labs," Everett muttered, "I promise you that. They're too smart to be putting all of their eggs in one basket. Which means the experiment has succeeded at least one other time for Fitzam to try it on Matt. Like you said, he’s too valuable to just get rid of, and they knew enough to make sure it worked on him."

  "Are you guys talking about the other lab the amaroq destroyed when Pohler was in the field with you? The one that was officially a cult?" Mallory asked.

  Nico nodded. He held one of her hands loosely, and Matt's shoulder was pressed against hers on the other side. It made her think of that first night they'd shown up in her dorm bearing pizza and movies, making sure she hadn't worn herself out too much in MacKenna's battle. How things have changed since then.

  “Even if that’s true, it was only temporary. Matt and Dice would have eventually killed each other, on purpose or not. Their connection was too unstable,” Mallory said. “Even if it looked like it worked, it was still just an experiment.”

  "How did they even get you down there?” Damon asked in confusion. “What were your orders?”

  "That's the thing, the lab had nothing to do with my orders. I was on a mission to investigate more amaroq sightings in Plains Nation, but we never made it that far. Our truck was stopped and the drivers switched out, then I smelled something awful. I went for the gas mask in my bag, but it was gone. I remember seeing everyone passing out, then I must have, too. I remember waking up beneath bright lights, and being uncomfortable, but nothing else until I came to in here. You said it's been a week since I left?" Matt asked. "That's hard to believe. What's been going on during that time?"

  "Never mind that, do you know who set you up to be ambushed?" Mallory demanded.

  "Who were the drivers?" Nico asked at the same time. "The first one and his replacement?"

  "Who else was in the truck with you?" Damon asked too.

  "I don't know the second driver. The first was Adrie
n Penneck. No idea why he stopped the truck, or if he was in on it. I didn't recognize anyone else. It was a small group, only four of us total."

  "Who were you reporting to?" Nico asked.

  "I'll give you three guesses," Matt replied, his lips curling with derision.

  "Pohler," Mallory guessed. "I hate him."

  "Join the club," Matt replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if he set it up, or at least looked the other way. He's been pissed at me for a long time. How's he been acting now that he’s your handler? Driving you insane?"

  "Actually, he decided to take the first vacation of his career this week," Everett said bitterly. "He emailed Mal once to check on her when she tanked the October battle simulation. Other than that, no one heard from him until he broke into her room last night. Fitzam's office has him out for the next two weeks."

  "He did what?!" Matt demanded, his head snapping around to look at Mallory. "You should have said something! Are you okay? What happened?"

  "I'm fine, now. There wasn't much to tell. He got in somehow and was waiting in one of the desk chairs when I came up from dinner. We fought, he dislocated my shoulder and Alec and Nico heard me screaming for help. Alec broke the door down and they saved me, but he got away when I went into the bathroom with Janae to let her fix my arm."

  "It was my fault," Nico said, his voice dripping with self-loathing. "I left him unconscious on the floor to go get her an ice pack and give her a few minutes alone with Janae while Damon and Alec were right across the hall questioning her neighbors. No one saw him leave, but he was gone when I got back up here."

  "So where are we right now?" Matt demanded. "I thought this is your spare room."