by Lan Chan
I huffed out a breath when I counted to a hundred and he still hadn’t moved. Dropping my hand, I let me hair slide back into place. His face was still dangerously close to mine. His breath was strangely warm. He still wasn’t moving. So I picked up the closest book and cracked him across the face with it.
Like Kai, Andrei’s cuss was more about surprise than pain. He pressed the heel of his palm to his nose. I heard the snap of bones as it reset right before my eyes. I got to my feet.
“If you ever come anywhere near my room again,” I said, “you’re going to be sorry.”
He started to laugh for real this time. A strangled laugh like he had forgotten how to do it and his lungs were rusty. “Oooh,” he said. “I’m quaking in my boots.”
I smiled at him in return. “You should be. Because I can’t for the life of me figure out why you haven’t just sacrificed yourself if you’re in such dire need to prove something. But I bet your family would be able to tell me.”
There it was. Something that flared in the back of his eyes. “You don’t know what you’re saying, squirt.”
“It’s funny,” I said, “everyone keeps telling me what I don’t know. But keep pushing me. I’ll bring back your whole family and let them tell me why Andrei Popescu, terrifying vampire badass, is so scared of living.”
I reached over and picked up the hardback that had fallen on the ground when he’d moved. “I’m keeping this,” I said. With that, I turned around and left.
Of course, when I returned to Bloodline soil, there was a pissed-off Nephilim waiting for me just inside the dorm entrance. Like Max, Kai was wearing only his pyjama bottoms. His expression was stony, but the tone was severely undercut by the sight of his bare chest. Unlike the bulky Nephilim of Michael’s line, Kai was built with speed in mind. Strong but nimble. Defined but graceful. Raphael’s line had been born to traverse through the horrific lines of battle, reaching those in greatest need of healing. Through terrible circumstance, Kai had shrugged off those limitations.
I’d seen him spar with the other Nephilim once or twice. Michael’s line used brute force to sickening effect. But when Kai fought with them, he outmanoeuvred them at every turn. Once upon a time, he had been the underdog. An underdog who wants to live never gives in to hubris.
My mouth went dry. I swallowed a couple of times as I tried to piece together two brain cells to convert into speech. Just when I remembered my own name, Kai latched onto my arm and hauled me up the staircase.
23
I would have screamed if it weren’t the middle of the night. The last thing I needed was for the whole dorm to wake up and see him dragging me towards the boy’s rooms. Wait…oh shit.
“Hey!” I whispered. “Hey! I’m not allowed in here. I’ll get in trouble.”
His voice dripped with condescension. “Max is already camped out in your room. I think we’re past the point of trouble.”
He bundled me into his and Max’s room and shut the door behind us. Leaning back, he crossed his arms over his chest, making his muscles bulge. “What were you doing in Nightblood at this time of night?”
I couldn’t concentrate on what he was saying. Their room smelt like pine needles trampled underfoot after a spring rain mixed with musky sweat. Max’s side was a riot of posters and figurines of predator cats in various poses. His bedspread was rumpled and thrown to one side.
Kai’s half of the room was military regulation neat. No posters or personal belongings except for a lone book on his bedside table. There was a bookshelf stacked with books. They too were neatly organised. I bet if I swiped my finger over the spines there wouldn’t be a speck of dust on them. Somebody had a touch of obsessive compulsiveness. His bedspread was a dull beige colour. It was still turned down.
He noticed my wandering gaze and stepped forward to jerk me back into the present. That continued to present an issue. I wore a long sleeve T-shirt, but the heat of his palm seared me all the way to my bones. Goosebumps feathered over my skin. I traced the tattoo on his left shoulder with a hungry gaze that made something snap tightly inside my gut.
“Blue,” he said, shaking me slightly. “Blue, are you okay? Why were you over there? Did he hurt you?” He turned my head up to look at me. His jaw was clamped shut, a savage darkness lurking behind his eyes.
“I…” I swallowed again, shaking my head. My throat felt parched.
“What?” he said. “Did he touch you?” In that instant, his concern morphed into a razorblade-sharp rage. He latched on to my arm again, and this time, his grip was immoveable. “It was a compulsion,” he said, his voice gone deadly flat. “Whatever you felt, whatever he made you feel, it wasn’t real.”
Green light sizzled over his skin. His image flickered in front of me. I realised at the last second, he was about to teleport. There was no way I’d let him kill Andrei. Not now that I knew that was what Andrei actually wanted. Without thinking, I drew a circle around him and anchored him to me. He tried to tug out of my hold, but I refused to let him go.
“Stop!” I said, finally finding my voice. “Nothing happened. I’m fine.”
After a few seconds of continued struggle, I felt him materialise. I flicked my wrist and the circle dissipated. He was all over me in a second. His fingers threaded through the hair at the nape of my neck. “He didn’t try and take advantage of you?”
I sputtered. “Take advantage? Why would you…oh.” It was then I remembered what Andrei had told me about Chanelle. “Trust me, if he tried to do that, I would have nailed him to a cross and set him on fire.”
Kai searched my face, doubt still clearly eating at him. “Why are you all dazed and quiet?”
The absurdity of it had me bursting out laughing. “If you don’t know, Malachi, then I can’t help you.” It amused me to no end that he was actually jealous. I didn’t think it was possible. I leaned back on the balls of my sneakers. “So this is your room, huh?”
He scowled at me. “Don’t change the subject. What were you doing in Nightblood?”
I walked over to where Max had nailed a calendar to the wall between their beds. “Settling a score,” I said absently. “Why is this date circled in red?” It was just under three weeks’ time. Max had drawn stars in red marker around the date.
“It’s nothing,” Kai said. “What do you mean settle a score?”
He reached out and turned me so that I couldn’t get distracted. “If I answer, you tell me what that date is?” I asked.
“You’ll answer me regardless,” he said. I pressed my lips together to stop from laughing. He wasn’t amused.
“Sorry,” I said. “Am I supposed to be quaking in my boots? Was that an official Pendragon mandate?” I gave him a salute.
He grabbed me and deposited me on his bed. I backed up as he sprang onto it, his arm whipping out to lock me in the corner against the wall. My butt was on his pillow. A waft of his scent drifted up between us. As much as I tried not to be affected, my limbs turned to jelly. “What did you do?” he bit out.
“You’re dreaming if you think intimidating me is how you’re going to get your answer.”
“Blue!” he roared.
“Shhh!”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. I knew he was imaging killing something again because his aura flared with green. His muscles corded. When he opened his eyes, they were so saturated with colour I gasped. Holy shit. I was trapped in a corner by a Nephilim. And if he didn’t move soon, I might jump him.
“I’m going to ask you the question again,” he said, his voice calm despite his nostrils flaring. “Please tell me why you were just on Nightblood soil.”
I kicked out at his shin. Mostly for something to do because there was no way it was going to hurt him. “I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
“Because I wasn’t supposed to do it, but I can’t help it.”
The edge of rage was back with a vengeance. “Do you understand how that sounds?” he said. “If something happened, how
am I supposed to protect you if you won’t tell me what the problem is?”
I snagged a corner of his pillow and clutched it to my chest like a shield. The only reason I said something was because I knew how chaotic he felt when he wasn’t in control.
“Might I remind you that I don’t need your protection? Having said that, I’ve been trying really hard to be less confrontational. I thought maybe if I showed them I’m not crazy, your Council might accept me. But Andrei did something to piss me off and I might have threatened him a little.”
Kai crouched there stock still for a beat. My magic began to vibrate inside me in response to the sudden spike in the level of his aggression.
“Is that why you’ve been so placid when all these assholes have been treating you like shit?” he snapped.
I looked up at him. We didn’t have any classes together this semester. He was so busy with his guard shifts and his Council duties that I was surprised he noticed. I swallowed. “I thought…if I don’t win the games, maybe they might choose me anyway.”
I was prepared for the kiss but not for the drunk intensity of it. There weren’t enough stars in the Ley dimension to compare to the bright burst that saturated my skin in warmth. Kai cupped the back of my neck. It was a boldly possessive gesture that had me pressing my palms to his chest. When he pulled away, I wanted to move with him. But I was blindly aware of my surroundings and where this might lead if I didn’t put a leash on it.
He tilted my chin up. He splayed his palm over the hands I still couldn’t detach from his skin. “I don’t give a damn what the Council thinks. I choose you. That’s all that matters to me. If some asshole hurts you and you want to punch them in the face, be my guest.”
I grinned. “You might not like what you’re in for.”
“Probably not,” he said. “But unless you put yourself in danger, you are perfect exactly as you are.”
“Even when I kick you in the nuts?”
“I’m still trying to forget that happened.”
I smiled at him. “So…I answered your question. What’s that date?”
His jaw clamped. “What? I said. “It’s obviously important. Why won’t you tell me? Is it something related to your family? You can’t keep hiding things from me!”
He growled in frustration and sat back. “You’re just going to keep badgering me, aren’t you?”
“Damn straight. And since you have me hostage in here, I’ve got all night to get it out of you.”
He raised a brow at me. “All night?” His lashes lowered and I felt heat creep over me. I threw the pillow at him.
“Kai!”
He scrubbed at his face with the palm of his hand. “It’s my birthday,” he gritted out.
I stared at him. Truthfully, I’d never thought about him aging. He always seemed so ethereal. And then I remembered what it must be like for him to have birthdays without his family. “Can we do something?” I asked.
“Why?”
“Because my last birthday was kind of a disaster.”
“Blue.”
“Please.”
His lips were turned down at the edges. There was a faraway look in his eyes that made me want to take back my words. Finally, he sighed. “Fine. If you promise not to get yourself into trouble, we can do something.”
“I’ll plan it,” I said.
He chuckled. “How’s the bank account situation?”
I gave him a dirty look. Without the Sisterhood threat and with the Human League gone underground, I hadn’t been required to take on any more shifts. “I better not find out you had anything to do with my shift cuts.”
“I wouldn’t dare.” He shoved off the bed and onto the floor. He grabbed a spare pillow and tucked it under his head.
“You can come up here as long as nothing happens.” I bit my bottom lip.
“I can’t make that promise.”
Neither could I. “I can sleep in Max’s bed,” I said.
His face went completely still. “Stay where the hell you are.”
I burrowed under the covers. Then I leaned my head over the side. “I’m not really tired and –”
He reached out and took my hand. A tingle of angelfire ran up my arm. Before I knew it, my eyelids were drooping.
24
I passed Max in the hallway when I snuck back to my room. “He better not have tried anything,” Max said. The bloody nerve of him pulling that protective crap given where he’d been all night.
“Ditto to you, buddy,” I said.
He gave me a feral grin. I increased my stride. Inside the room, I found Sophie sitting up in her bed with a dazed look on her face. We stared at me each for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“You would tell me if something happened, right?” I asked her.
“In a heartbeat,” she said. “As if I could contain it.” A grin split her face. I hadn’t really been worried. Max had too much honour to try anything in the dorms.
“How did it go with Andrei?” Sophie asked.
“I think we’ve come to an understanding,” I said.
I was wrong.
I knew I couldn’t poke a vampire without some blowback. I just never expected it to come in the form of flowers. “Umm...” I said, as I stood by what had become my desk in Exorcism class. The offending bouquet of long-stemmed red roses sat in a clear crystal vase. There wasn’t a note, but everyone knew they were from Andrei. The vampire was unrepentantly grinning at me.
“What the hell is this?” I snapped. I couldn’t see past the flowers. Nor could I sit down because of how wide they were.
“An apology,” he said. “Can you ever forgive me, squirt?”
If the glass vase weren’t so heavy, I would have picked it up and brained him with it. If I could open up a portal, I would be able to just chuck them in there. Professor Suleiman came to my aide. He was completely no-nonsense. This kind of prank must be at the top of his list of irritations.
“What’s all this?” he asked.
“Someone left rubbish on my desk. Can you please do something about it?”
He quickly obliged. With a flick of his hand, he made the flowers disappear through a portal. “Please sit down, Alessia. We have a long way to go.”
Tell me about it. With one last glare at Andrei, I tried to ignore him as the professor began to write unintelligible words on the chalkboard. I didn’t know why I found it so difficult to get these deal languages to sink in. My brain was a sieve.
“Words of light,” Professor Suleiman said. “Often overlooked for their more avant-garde counterparts, words of power. In the realm of exorcism, they are your best tool. These are the words passed down to us from Gabriel the Messenger. The only one of the archangels to remain in the heavenly dimension. These words force a demon to leave its mortal host. We will be concentrating on them until I’m assured every single one of you can recite them in your sleep.” He was looking straight at me without blinking when he said this. No doubt he was cursing that I had decided to take this class given how poorly I did in my other Dead Language classes.
Andrei made low snoring noises. I put my hand up and rested my head on my fingers to block him from view. It was easy enough to copy the words down in my notebook. It was another thing altogether to translate them into speech.
Andrei was irritatingly fluent. I sat there trying to get my mouth to even form the words.
Professor Suleiman tried to lift my spirits. “Truly you are improving, Alessia.” His gaze flicked to his shoes and back again.
“I suck!” I dropped my forehead to the tabletop. This after our Dead Languages class earlier in the week when Alacanthean finally came up on the syllabus. My brain had short-circuited for the whole lesson.
“You can’t be good at everything. Imagine what the Council would do if that were the case. Your pronunciation isn’t too bad. As long as you remain focused with your intent, I think we could be close to the baseline.”
“Does this mean we can start the practical
portion?” I asked, looking up again.
“Perhaps.” It would help if he didn’t keep looking the other way.
I was still trying to get my Alacanthean vowels straight during lunch. At the same time, I was half-heartedly listening to my friends talking, when all of a sudden, they went quiet. Somebody kicked me under the table.
“Ow!” I glared at Diana who sat diagonally across from me to the left. “How many times have I told you those boots are –”
For some reason Sophie and Diana scooted to the left to make space at the end of the table. Down the line, Sean stood up. He and the Evil Three occasionally joined us for lunch. The boys were trying to include him, but the Terran mindset was hard to shake. A shadow passed over his face. Without a word he got up and left the table.
“What’s gotten into him?” I asked.
“I don’t think he likes me very much,” Kai said with a wolfish grin. He plonked himself down in the space Sophie had made for him. Then he spread his elbows out and she got sandwiched between him and Diana.
“You know there are other tables,” she said. “That one over there is a two-seater.” She pointed to a small table along the wall beside a monstera plant. I glared at her.
Kai glanced down the table where my friends were in various uncomfortable stages of eavesdropping. “Good idea.” He grabbed both our trays and stood.
I was too stunned to move. Sophie laughed. “I think you should follow him.”
“What the hell is happening here?” I wailed.
“I believe he’s marking his territory,” Trey said. “It’s about bloody time. I’m surprised you managed to keep him away for so long.”
