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“Everything was weird. Right from the start.”

“Weird? What does that mean? That’s my brain you’re talking about so casually,” Grayson grumbles.

“Exactly that. Normal brain patterns have a certain light pattern to them in predictable ways. It allows us to track non-typical brain abnormalities, but your brain was lit up like a fireworks show. There were flashes of activity in every lobe, and some simultaneously. But especially in your temporal and parietal lobes.”

“What does that mean? Is Grayson alright?” Nix asks.

Finn wishes he could say definitively: “Yes.”

“It means he has elevated activity in the areas that govern cognitive function, spatial awareness, and time. Sensory awareness, too. It was stunning and frankly, it looked magical.”

“Why are we using the word magic? Magic users are human. Humans who use their souls. Not born Weres like Grayson,” Gideon scoffs.

Finn can’t ignore the evidence, even if he’ll need more of it to draw any conclusions.

But what if itis? What ifheis?”

And Finn still won’t know how to help him or know if it’s hurting him.

“I need to go to the university library. Maybe I can do a bit of research there.”

“Let’s go, then,” Gideon says, voice tight but steady. His fingers clench at his sides, the only sign of the tension visible besides the muscle ticking in his jaw. “We’re sitting ducks out here.”

Once they’re all belted in and Gideon has agreed to stop for coffee (because Finn’s brain needs caffeine), he aims the car toward the university.

Grayson and Nix fall asleep like two kids on the way home after a long day playing in the sun, so Finn sets his mind to the events in the MRI suite.

What the fuck is going on?

At any rate, he’ll need a computer to inspect the jump drive Emmy slipped them. Plus a host of other tools to really dig deep into what’s going on with Grayson’s brain.

It’s exciting, and he’ll focus on that rather than the bone-deep terror that something is seriously wrong with his mate.

For now, he can start with the app. It’s always been helpful, and Lauren had assured him the microchip would stand up to the MRI without issue.

Except, when he checks on Grayson’s biometrics in the app, it shows the chip is implanted into someone else.

The physiology no longer matches the DNA structure of the original sample.

Does the user wish to recalibrate for the new subject?

Yes, yes, he most certainly does.

Where Shadows Rest (Leo)

One of the things (there are many) that set Leo’s early life apart from that of his mates is his life of luxury. Part of that life had been learning to love the game of golf.

He and his father had spent many quiet mornings on the golf course together, watching the mist fade from the fairway or the occasional spot of wildlife that had mistaken the pristine course for actual nature’s habitat. It was time for just the two of them, and Leo will treasure those memories for a lifetime.

This, however…this is not that.

They’d woken in various states of debauchery after Nix had jump-started a literal orgy rivaling those of Caligula in the nest on a regular Tuesday, and there had been groans brought on by the aches and pains of a satisfying night.

Leo felt surprising discomfort in the insides of his thighs and triceps.

Worth it, though; no question.

They’d wanted to get to the club so they could catch Mrs. Rhodes coming out of her yoga class and before her tennis lesson, and, if Jay was right, she had never changed the timing of those things—not in ten years.