Page 10

10

KAIDEN

I can feel that she’s unnerved when I mention doing the spell to read her history. I’m unsure why, though. While our bond allows me to sense what she’s feeling, my lack of ability to read emotions complicates me figuring out the why.

Soon after I bring it up, she excuses herself to go to bed. She leaves with a halfhearted wave before hurrying out of the room.

“She’s worried about something,” Wylder states the obvious as he pushes up off the floor and flops down on the sofa.

“She doesn’t want her history read.” Nico rises and collects his plate. He also grabs Emberlynn’s, her half-eaten burger still on it.

“When Kaiden and I were with her in the diner, she acted uncomfortable when we asked her about her past.” Wylder bounces his knee up and down, his bare foot tapping against the floor. “Something bad happened to her.”

“That’s obvious,” Phoenix says around a mouthful of pizza. “The fact that she’s been living with humans most of her life is evidence of that.”

“It’s more than that.” Wylder slips his finger underneath the leather band on his wrist and skims his finger along the scar concealed underneath it. “I don’t want to push her to talk about it.”

“Me neither, but we do need to find out the basics about her.” I cross my arms on the table. “It’s necessary.”

Nico rolls his eyes as he walks by me, carrying the plates. “Everything with you is necessary, even when it shouldn’t be.”

“Let’s not fight,” Wylder pleads. “We have too much stuff to worry about.”

“I’m not fighting.” Nico strolls into the kitchen and places the plates in the sink. “I can just see where Kaiden is heading with this. He’s going to turn her into a project, like he does with everything else.”

“I do not.” It’s a lie. I like projects. Order. Stuff to preoccupy the darkness that plagues my mind. It’s part of my powers—darkness. It’s a family trait, and it made the household that I grew up in a living hell. I don’t want to be like my father—empty, cold, cruel. But sometimes it’s difficult to fight my natural instincts.

Nico elevates his brows but doesn’t comment as he winds around the kitchen island. Then he returns to the living room but doesn’t sit down, his gaze traveling to the skylights above. “A storm is rolling in,” he mutters, the glow of lightning illuminating across his face, his eyes glowing against it. “Which is strange since there were no signs of a storm.”

“Maybe human weather works like that,” Wylder offers an explanation but doubt weighs on all of us.

“Do you think she’s doing it?” Nico yanks his focus off the skylights right as raindrops begin to splatter against the glass.

I roll up the sleeves of my shirt, ignoring the mark on my wrist, the one that brands me for what I am.

Darkness.

Death.

Fear.

“She could be.” I thrum my fingers against the table. “She did put a large hole in the ground, so maybe her powers center around nature.”

“Yeah, but she also has healing power in her.” The bouncing of Wylder’s foot increases. “What if she’s?—”

“No, there’s no way,” Nico cuts him off with a sharp look.

“If she has multiples, she could be.” Wylder looks at me for conformation, his body flowing with tension.

His nervousness is valid, because Emberlynn could be one of them.

A witch who possesses every power in the wiccan world.

We refer to them as the insania , which means madness. Because there’s only been a few witches and warlocks who’ve had that power. And they’ve all gone mad—every single one .

“She’s not,” I say the words aloud and with meaning.

But the sound of the rain cascading down on the skylights is a reminder that we really don’t know anything about our heart .

We all settle into silence, lost in our own thoughts.

“I don’t like that she knows hardly anything about our world,” Nico breaks the silence, kicking his feet up onto the table. “It makes her vulnerable.”

“We’ll catch her up—I’ll make sure of that.” I pause. “Although, I think with some stuff, we might have to tell her more gently and with time.”

“You mean, about the bond?” Wylder reads my mind.

With reluctance, I nod, knowing Nico and Phoenix will get upset.

“You want us to lie to her?” Phoenix glares at me. “No way.”

“Agreed,” Nico says. “Which might be a first for Phoenix and me.”

Phoenix rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I just don’t like the idea of lying to her when her life already seems so … messed up.”

“Because she’s spent most of her life with humans.” I straighten in the chair and keep my voice low to avoid Emberlynn hearing me. “Think about it. Human relationships, mates, bonding, this doesn’t exist in her world. And she’s barely learned what she is. Do you really want to pile on the responsibility of her learning she’s destined to be with all of us? ”

“It’s not a bad thing,” Nico says, squirming, probably from the guilt he feels oversleeping around.

It’s not his fault, though. We thought Emberlynn was dead.

“I know that,” I stress. “But it’ll be a lot for her. And I worry if we overwhelm her with everything, she might not be able to transition into this new life easily. And, as her coven, we’re supposed to make that happen.”

“He’s right.” Phoenix sighs, scratching his brow. “I hate it, but what he’s saying makes sense. She barely wants to accept food from us, let alone bond with us.”

“And how are we supposed to stop her from finding out?” Nico scoffs. “Someone will mention it to her.”

“The only real risk is Wylder’s sister or mother saying something,” I reply. “Other than that … It's not like everyone we go to school with walks around talking about bonds and mating. It’s just part of our world. Everyone will assume she knows.”

“I’ll talk to my mom and sister.” Wylder retrieves his phone.

Nico shakes his head. “Whatever. But I have a feeling this will eventually come back to bite us in the ass.”