Page 40 of Broken Souls

As he leaves me standing on the front porch, I lift a hand to my lips.

And realize I’m still wearing my stupid fucking grin.

I’m five hours into my journey, having left at nine, when I get a text on my phone. It interrupts the song playing on the radio as it’s connected to the car’s stereo, and a robotic voice reads out my message.

Varius:Head back to the house now. Don’t trust Mother. Watch her while we’re gone.

My eyes dart away from the road to check the screen on my phone, needing a second confirmation that what I just heard was correct. It’s two o’clock. The meeting is in two hours. Given he hasn’t called it off or is thinking of leaving one of his brothers behind, he can’t be that worried. He’s probably just being paranoid.

He has to be.

There’s no way Khalid would be willing to leave his girl there if there was any real chance of it being dangerous.

Speaking aloud, using the microphone-to-text option on my messaging app, I tell him I’m on my way. At the next opportunity, I turn the car around, and my eight-and-a-half hour drive becomes nine due to a bit of speeding.

I’m exhausted by the time I make it back, having not even stopped for a coffee break just in case I arrived too late. I’m also hungry, so I park the car in the empty drive –the meeting with Aleric will most likely run late– and head inside, making my way towards the kitchen.

Which for some reason is smelling like a fucking sewage. Gagging right before I step through the archway, I look towards the stove, expecting some gross-ass but extremely deadly potion boiling away on the stove. I wrinkle my nose.

“Gods, that’s an awful smell,” I say.

A chair squeaks at the table, and I turn to see Khalid’s girl sitting there. She jumps to her feet, looking nervous, and I can’t help but wonder if Sau’s tried to turn her against me already.

A pang pierces my heart at that thought. What the hel did I do so wrong to make her hate me? I really thought she liked me. The only time we ever had any tension was when I asked her about Varius’ lack of magic.

A thought tickles the edge of my consciousness, but the godsawful smell coming from the stove makes it run away before I can probably think it. Lifting both hands, I weave a spell around the pot, curving the air in a bubble around it to trap the sewage smell inside.Gods, that’s so much better.

Turning to Khalid’s girl, I smile and try to make small talk, but I don’t know what to say to a woman I don’t know. She’s been here for three days, but Khalid has kept her in his room all this time. Honestly, I’m surprised she’s able to walk given I’ve seen the bulge in his pants and know he was celibate for the last two years. Plus, I bet the boy’s into some freaky shit.

Knowing I can’t saythatthough,I pick the first thing that comes to mind: blood bonds. It’s the only thing I know we have in common – even if no one knows it.

On second thought, though, which, of course, only occurs well into the conversation, I realize that talking about witch stuff is freaking the hel out of her. She is clearly human and has very limited knowledge of our world.

Great.

I probably just got myself put on Khalid’s short list.

A list I’m sure gets culled all the fucking time because he’s just so damn efficient at killing people.

Fuck.

“Hey, Khalid really cares about you. I know that,” I say, trying to pretend that I didn’t just infer that he didn’t care with my whole ‘then why hasn’t he told you the truth about blood bonds’ speech I just made. “And I don’t doubt for a second that he will do anything for you. But the men in this family can be really callous and selfish sometimes, so just keep that in mind. I know it can be overwhelming when they focus on you.”

She looks at me for a moment longer than is comfortable before softly asking, “Which one’s yours?”

I laugh, my heart skipping a beat. “No one ismine. But I’m engaged to Varius fucking Shadow.” At her blank look, I ask, “You haven’t met him yet, have you?” I nod.Duh.“Of course you haven’t. Otherwise, you’d understand.”

“You like him though, don’t you?” she asks.

I still, wondering if these are her questions or Sau’s. I do not know why she tried to blackmail me, but I don’t like her knowing my personal shit. Before I can straight up ask her, the bitch in question comes in with a black leather grimoire in her hands.

“Here’s a –Micha, you’re back,” she says as she walks towards us with a smile fit for a shark. “I thought you were out until tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I got back early,” I say with a cheerful grin right before telling her that I’m here for security because she’s so damn useless with her curse. Gods, I am being such a bitch, but fuck it. This is karma.

“You’re cursed?” Khalid’s girl asks.

Sau turns to me, her teeth bared. Some would call it a smile, but I sure as hel wouldn’t. Not with that look in her eyes. “Yes. I can’t use magic without it draining my life, but that doesn’t mean Iwon’tuse it.”