Page 35 of Seared Fates

Kai is mere metres away from me. So close that if I stretched my arm out, the tips of my fingers would brush against the smooth, elegant curve of his cheek…

In my peripheral vision, I spot Luc smirking at me.

“And why would we concern ourselves with blood mages?” I say, clearing my throat. “As long as they stay away from us, they can tear themselves apart for all I care.”

“I should’ve guessed Emma was part of the Roth family.” For all of Lucero’s relaxed posture, he led in my absence, and he’s shouldering more blame than he deserves.

“You had no idea, offspring,” I tell him. “Blood mages cause trouble everywhere.”

Golden entwines his fingers with Lucero’s. “Vidar is a bellend, but he’s right. Besides, this is my fault.”

“None of us is to blame,” Kai cuts in, “and anyway Emma doesn’t want a war, it’s the only reason she kept me alive.”

My insides twist that Kai was under her revolting spell. I doubt that knot will ever go away until her body lies cold at my feet.

“Something to be thankful for,” Ramy says.

Golden hooks a protective arm around Kai. “Fuck her.”

“Both sisters have said the same,” Rurik muses, “no war with us, and to save their people.”

“You think they're both lying?” Luc asks.

“They might not be,” Rurik replies.

“Lad, c’mon. ‘Course they’re lying,” Apollo says to Luc, seemingly only so he can disagree with Rurik.

“It doesn’t matter. Emma dies, the sooner the better.” My voice is hard, leaving no room for argument.

Kai pats his twisted braids to ensure they’re in place. “We should speak with Summer, she’ll be able to help us. She can sense magic, right?”

“No,” I say firmly, unease pressing into me when Kai’s mouth draws into a stubborn line. But I head on. “This situation is a mess and not even ours to clean up, so we keep this in the family. We find Emma, deal with her, then move on with our lives. Maybe even away from the city, we’ve been here too long.”

Kai freezes, and I nearly take back everything I said. But I don’t. Kai is fast becoming more important than anyone else, but I’m also the head of this family, and I have to protect them, too.

“We can’t move,” Golden protests. “All my friends are here!”

“Do not worry, beautiful, of course, we’ll visit them,” Lucero assures Golden. “But we don’t need to get dragged into a blood mage power struggle.”

“But—” Golden begins.

“He’s right,” Kai interrupts, hurt flashing in Golden’s hazel gaze. “Listen, mate, you know I love you more than anyone, but you're still recovering from one fight with blood mages. I need you safe.”

“What about you?” Golden counters, knee bouncing. “You’re some kind of mage, right? What if you get stuck in the middle of this bullshit, too?”

“Kai will not get hurt.” I’ll burn every blood mage until the lot of them are nothing but cinders and charred bone.

“Is he a mage, though?” Apollo hums. Everyone’s attention zeros in on the little vampire. After a beat, Apollo shrugs. “Well, he’s a tattoo artist, too.” Then throws up the devil horns, snickering as if he’s told a joke.

Kai shakes his head and pushes at Apollo’s leg. Lucero pulls Golden in close, whispering sweet, calming words to his anxious mate, and in the back of my mind, I wonder if it’s really that easy? I imagine doing the same with Kai, and the image is clear. Far too clear.

“None of it matters right now, anyway,” Rurik says. “Emma’s on the hunt, and we need to protect Kai.”

Kai and Rurik lock eyes, something unspoken passing between them. Something that has my muscles flexing. I try to fight myself, yet my fingers reach over to Kai and tangle in his soft braids. I gently tug, demanding his full attention back to where it belongs—me. Annoyed jade eyes find mine, as if I’m some exasperating child he’s tolerating.

I don’t care. I shift closer, closing the ridiculous distance we created, so I take up the whole of his vision.

“I’m not gonna turn away help,” Kai tells me. “But I’ll be alright at work with Apollo and Summer, and knowing our luck, Luuk is secretly the bloody tooth fairy.”