Page 83 of Psycho Shifters

I flipped through the old yellow pages and marveled at the sheer number of maps. The book was heavy and thick, and every page had a different schematic.

There were lots of languages I didn’t understand. However, there was a chapter I did.

“The Quad” was the title, and beneath it, the page was divided into four sections.

The sections read, “Human Realm,” “Relicta Realm,” “Fae Realm,” and “Beast Realm.”

My stomach flip-flopped, and my head buzzed with confusion.

There were times in life, even if you couldn’t completely comprehend why you had come to that conclusion, you just knew—you were fucked.

I had experienced the exact feeling a few times in my life: when Dick had first told me I was his possession, when Lucinda had told me Dick was looking at her weird, when the numb had first told me to stab someone, and when the sacred lake had turned black.

The “relicta realm” was covered in snowcapped mountains, and there were three black circles to the fae realm and one to the human realm. The key at the top of the page labeled the black circles “realm portals.”

There was no shifter realm labeled. It was called the relicta realm.

Also, there was a beast realm on the opposite side of the fae realm, and I had never heard of such a place. If the map was correct, why was the beast realm a secret, and what did “relicta” mean?

I hadn’t had free time to do my homework after school, since Dick had me working at the tavern constantly, but languages had always come easy to me.

Relicta was the Latin word for “abandoned.”

I stared at the ink-etched snowcapped mountains that dotted the realm labeled relicta. It seemed to be the shifter realm, but it wasn’t labeled as such.

My eyes watered as I stared at the page, hoping the answers would jump off and reveal themselves.

The longer I stared, the more I was convinced the ink was slowly moving on the page. Little ink snowflakes drifted down around the mountains.

“Fuck, I want you so bad,” one of the twins moaned nearby.

I was no longer alone in the room.

“Fuck, we want you now,” the other twin begged with a high-pitched whine.

My heart jack hammered, and I quietly shut the book of maps, discreetly tucking it under my pillow.

Stomach twisting with nausea, I was afraid I would be caught with the book.

Every bone in my body was screaming at me that I shouldn’t have seen the different realms on the map. Was there a reason the realm was mislabeled?

No one called me out for hiding in the bed. The mountain of fur blankets atop me kept me concealed.

This morning, Ascher had thrown one of his blankets onto my bed and told me he didn’t want it. Now I was grateful for the added cover.

I lay completely still and held my breath as my heartbeat slowed in my chest.

“On your knees, ladies,” Ascher drawled lazily, and sloppy kissing noises filtered through my blanket hut.

I cursed the sun god and wished I had gone to lunch instead of hidden in my room. Now I was about to be a reluctant voyeur. Again.

There were loud slurping noises, and Ascher moaned softly.

In contrast, the twins squealed and chattered endlessly. “Oh, Ascher, it’s so big,” a twin said exaggeratedly.

“Sun god, your tattoos are so hot,” the other twin moaned even louder. She wasn’t going to be shown up by her sister.

Ascher grunted in response and didn’t say anything as the twins continued to wail. Eyes closed with horror, I couldn’t help but envision what was happening so close to me.