Page 88 of Seared Fates

“Then I would kill that someone.” Vidar’s smile is sharp enough to cut.

“Alright, so…I’m half-demon? And it’s not scary, which is good. Right? It’s…”

Summer nods enthusiastically. “Yeah, if you were a full demon, you’d have horns, too. Do you remember either of your parents having horns?”

“That would’ve been badass…” Apollo whispers in awe.

I tuck my hands between my thighs to stop them from going towards my hair. “I…I don’t remember what they look like.”

“It’s okay,” Summer replies. “I wonder if we’ll be able to find some family that you didn’t know about.”

“F-family?”

I’ve already got a family.

One who I love and took me in when I had nobody, all tears and ash-stained after the fire. And how the hell could I even face this new demon family knowing what I did? What I took from them?

“Yeah!” Summer beams. “You could have a whole other family.”

I stand up so quickly that the chair clatters to the ground. My hand, no longer trapped, grabs hold of my hair.

“Sorry. I just…”

Vidar calls my name, but it sounds like he’s underwater.

Golden reaches for me. But I can’t deal with all these racing thoughts and new feelings with so many eyes on me.

“I-I need a second.” And like a coward, I run out of the kitchen.

Chapter thirty-two

Kai

Idon’t know where I’m going until I find myself in the small living room. The cosy space is framed with a fat burgundy armchair and sofa, a wicker basket overflowing with cream blankets.

The soft overhead lights and lingering scent of woodsmoke from the cold fireplace should calm me. But as I pace the seven steps from the door to the window, over and over, all I can focus on is the anxiety eating at me.

A new family?

Half-demon?

Where is my soul?

And Golden wasn’t drinking blood again.

“And I haven’t updated my to-do list!”

I turn to start a new lap only to find myself in Vidar’s waiting arms. My body instantly melting into his warmth.

“Breathe in and out.” His low voice fills me, his other hand drawing circles between my shoulder blades. “In and out.”

Two beats and then—air flows out of my strained lungs.

Vidar’s voice pushes into my mind, pulling me from the waterfall of thoughts and feelings crashing through me. I shouldn’t be surprised; the pushy bastard always finds a way to insert himself exactly where he wants to be.

“It’s a lot to take in,” Vidar says.

“I’m not fucking human.”