Page 30 of A Fate of Blood and Magic (Fated #2)

Before I went to the kitchen, I dumped the basin contents in the toilet and flushed. I rinsed it out a few times, each time flushing it down the toilet before returning the empty basin to the floor by Kieren’s bed.

In the kitchen, the small pot of water I left on the burner finally boiled. I poured the boiling water into the mug, having already mashed one of the herbs into it. A fresh, earthy smell wafted from the mug, and I quickly stirred the contents with a spoon before I headed back to the room.

I’d only been gone a few minutes, but with the way he breathed deeply, I knew he’d fallen asleep. I hated waking him and probably wouldn’t have if his cheeks weren’t red from his fever. Another shiver racked his body, and I sighed, sitting beside him to gently shake his shoulder.

“Kieren,” I said with another light shake .

He blinked once before he dozed off again.

“Hey.” I gave him another light shake. “Kieren.”

This time, he roused, his eyes bloodshot and a little disoriented.

“I’m sorry,” I said gently into his mind. “I need you to drink the tea. Then you can go back to sleep.”

As he lifted himself on his elbows, I shifted the pillow under his head as well as the two beside him so he could prop himself on them.

He scooted back so that his back and head rested on the pillows.

He took the offered mug, and with his eyes closed, he started to drink.

He pushed his head back and took another sip every few seconds.

We sat there for a while, and to my relief, his shivering eventually eased. He rested his empty mug on his lap, and his shoulders lifted in a silent sigh.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Did that help?”

“A little. Thank you,” he repeated.

When I grabbed his mug, he laid back down, and I held the back of my hand on his forehead, happy to feel his skin cool.

“Get some sleep,” I whispered as he closed his eyes. “Let me know if you need anything.”

I busied myself in the kitchen, cleaning up the small mess I’d made before getting everything ready to make chicken soup. While chopping the vegetables, I reached out to Alastor through my mind-speak magic.

“Is Javier’s friend okay?” he asked by way of greeting.

“Define okay,” I answered with a sigh. “The people at the orphanage didn’t bother giving him anything for his fever or vomiting. Kieren’s better now, though. But I won’t be able to have y’all over for dinner. ”

“I can stop by to tend to him,” he offered.

“Yes.” I pushed the word out, grateful Alastor’s magic had healing properties. “If you can make it out here, that’d be great.”

I wasn’t used to caring for sick people, and maybe Kieren’s fever was normal, but it felt much worse than any flu I’d ever experienced.

I blamed that on the headmistress and her negligence in administering medication when he first became ill.

I understood she didn’t want the younger kids to get sick, but she was responsible for ensuring each child was cared for.

There was no reason for Kieren to have gone hours without any treatment.

While I hated adding to Elias’s burdens, I planned on bringing it up to him.

“I can also pick the kids up from school.”

“Ry’s going to pick them up.” Thankfully, I’d thought to send Pietro to tell her, knowing I could count on her.

Someone knocked on my door. Not expecting anyone, I stared at my front door. When they knocked again, I put my knife down and wiped my hands on a kitchen towel.

“Someone’s at the door,” I told Alastor. “I’ll see you whenever you’re able to come tend to Kieren.”

On a groan, I stretched my back as I made my way to the door. The second I opened it, I staggered back.

A man I didn’t recognize stood there, gun in hand.

I slammed the door but he jammed his boot against the bottom, stopping it cold. No time to think, I swung my leg low and sharp, kicking his ankles out from under him. He dropped hard, and I threw my weight into the door, slamming it shut and locking it.

My hand pressed to my chest where my heart beat like a wild drum.

“Alastor,” I sent, “there’s a man at my door with a gun. ”

Shouting erupted outside. A heavy thud hit the front door, making me flinch.

It was happening again. Another attack.

But no, Elias and the kids weren’t here this time.

It was just Kieren and me. No matter what, Kieren would survive this. I didn’t know how, but I would make it happen

“I’m on my way. Stay inside and get a weapon.”

Glass shattered in one of the bedrooms.

I sprinted to the kitchen. The knife—I’d just been chopping vegetables. I grabbed it with shaking hands. The pot of boiling water crossed my mind, but it was too heavy to throw.

The knife would have to do.

“Teddy?” Kieren’s sleepy voice brushed against my mind.

“Stay in your room.” Even in my own head, my voice cracked with urgency.

We could hide. Barricade ourselves. But if I was the target, staying near Kieren would only endanger him.

Before I could decide, a man charged down the hallway toward me.

Tall, broad, fast.

I didn’t have time to run.

He slammed into me, lifting me like I weighed nothing. My stomach flipped as he threw me over his shoulder. My fists pounded his back uselessly, and a high-pitched ringing buzzed in my ears.

Then—zap.

The tattoo that sat on the back of my shoulder sparked, racing heat down my arm to my hand.

The knife. I still held on to the knife.

Thank you, Eiran.

I drove the blade into the man’s side. He roared and slammed me against the wall. Pain exploded across my back. A portrait of Elias and me fell and crashed over us.

I gasped, dazed, but Eiran’s magic surged again, sending another pulse to my hand. The man knocked the frame aside, fury radiating from him.

I yanked the knife free and stabbed him again, this time harder. He screamed, and we fell to the floor.

Pain flared through my ribs when I hit the floor. The man tried to crawl away, blood trailing behind him.

No. He could still get to Kieren.

Wincing, I pulled the blade out again and drove it into the back of his neck. Bone crunched beneath the steel.

He stopped moving. Frozen beneath his dead weight, my breath stuttered. My limbs trembled.

Oh God.

I killed him.

A sob caught in my throat, but I bit it down. There wasn’t time.

I shoved at his body until I squirmed free, just as Kieren’s door creaked open.

“No, Kieren, back.” My voice cracked.

I couldn’t form full thoughts though, couldn’t string a sentence together. I grabbed the knife again, slick with blood.

The front door fell. The man from earlier, the one who’d met me with a gun and hatred in his eyes, stepped through. Now, his expression was feral.

“Go back to your room,” I begged Kieren, stepping in front of him with the bloodied knife raised.

Kieren didn’t move. His eyes narrowed. Then he ran at the intruder.

“No!” I lunged in front of him, heart leaping to my throat. “Stay behind me. ”

The man grinned, this wicked and cruel thing, and raised his gun.

I shifted, positioning myself as a shield between the barrel and Kieren.

“He could have iron bullets,” I said. “Kieren, go.”

“I’m not leaving you.” He growled, breath ragged.

“Kieren, please.”

We circled the man as he stalked forward. I tried to recall every knife lesson Everly had drilled into me. I squared my shoulders and planted my feet.

What was a knife against a gun?

My magic. I had magic, dammit.

I fisted my hands, calling it to me. But before I could cast, Kieren reached into his inner pocket of magic and hurled a small dagger. It spun in the air, fast and precise, aimed for the man’s gun hand.

The gun fired.

I threw myself over Kieren, instinct finally snapping into action as my magic formed an invisible shield around us when we hit the floor.

My heart pounded, bile rising. “Kieren, are you?—”

“I’m okay,” Kieren said, moving me aside.

He leapt to his feet. I dropped the shield in time for him to kick the gun away. I scrambled after it, grabbing the pistol with both hands. Kieren pinned the man down with a knee to his throat and ripped his dagger from the man’s hand.

He screamed, but it wasn’t a sound that chilled me. It was his eyes. There was no fear. Only rage.

He wanted us dead. Me, Kieren. All of us.

If Elias had been home . . . If the kids?—

My hands shook.

I gripped the gun tighter, planting my feet. My left hand steadied my right while my finger hovered over the trigger. I aimed for his temple.

“Is anyone else with you?” I asked, and I was stunned by how steady I sounded.

The man sneered, blood staining his teeth. Kieren pressed harder on his throat, making him choke.

“They’re all dead,” Alastor said, striding through the ruined doorway.

Blood streaked his hands and shirt. His breath came shallow, but his eyes blazed with fury as they locked onto the man on the floor. A shadow unraveled at his feet, slick and inky, spreading across the floor like a living thing.

“There were twenty of them,” he said, his voice low and shaking with rage. “In the woods, surrounding your house.” His eyes remained on the man. “Ease off,” he snapped.

Kieren hesitated.

“Now,” Alastor growled, and his shadows surged forward.

Kieren sprang back.

Black tendrils shot out and wrapped around the man’s limbs, pinning him flat against the floor. A razor-thin shard of shadow curled up and slashed across the side of his ribs. Not deep, but precise. The man screamed, back arching as the shadows tightened like a vice.

Alastor didn’t flinch. He advanced slowly, the shadows that clung to him writhing at his heels like they hungered for more.

“Alastor,” I said, my tone sharp. “Don’t kill him. Not yet.”

His stormy eyes flicked to mine. The shadows paused mid-strike, shuddering like they were restraining themselves only for my sake.

“I need answers first,” I said.

The shadows loosened just enough for the man to gasp for air.