19. ~Vorzyr~ #3
“As an Incubus, he can feel others’ pain as his own, so doing it himself, or being a part of it would have hurt him,” I pointed out.
“I dealt with this bullying of theirs,” she said. “It was done. What you were doing here is just escalating the situation.”
“I respectfully disagree,” Kai spoke.
“As do I.”
“Sorin is an agent of Puritas,” Kai explained. “The bullying incident in the Cafeteria was the least of it. The intent is to break Nyx.”
“He won’t be the only target either. There are other hybrid beings at the Academy,” I pointed out.
“So, by the logic you’ve used so far, now the picture is a whole lot larger, the escalated solution would be… what… to kill them?”
“Sorin. He’s the member. The other two are under his Dark Fae thrall.”
“You use your power to commit cold-blooded murder and you betray yourself, Kai, while also risking magical corruption in a very dangerous way.” She looked at me.
“And you. This could trigger your primal side and set the beast within off in a major way. Especially considering you’re already currently struggling with it. ”
“You knew?”
“I suspected. Now after this little display I know for sure.”
“Ariana.”
She held up her hand again. “We’ll talk. Believe me, we will.” She eyed Kai. “And you’re not escaping my wrath either.” She turned her attention to Sorin who was bucking in the chair, his two vampire pets still unconscious either side of him. “But first I need to deal with this.”
“I told you, he’s a member of Puritas. They’re fanatics, sweetheart. There’s no reasoning with them—with him. And there’s certainly no turning them back to the path of tolerance either.”
“I’m well aware. But there is another way.” She glared out at us again. “One that doesn’t include cold-blooded murder.”
“I’m not sure how cold-blooded it would be,” Kai uttered.
That just earned him another pissed glare from Ariana.
“This has to stay between us. What you’re about to see cannot leave the safety of the four of us. Understood?”
“What are you talking about?” Kai asked. “Whatever it is, it will remain solely between us anyway. That’s not even a question.”
“Seconded,” I said.
Instead of answering, she showed us, walking right up to Sorin who narrowed his eyes at her.
He even tried to buck away from her as she reached out grasped the sides of his face.
Her palms radiated with her silver magic, but what she was doing wasn’t causing him any pain that I could determine.
In fact, I heard a soothing sigh escape him.
And then his eyes locked on hers, becoming unfocused and unable to look away as she spoke.
“This entire night never happened. You weren’t brought here by Kai and Vorzyr.
In fact, you’ve only laid eyes on them from a distance during classes.
You’ve grown tired of walking the halls of Maven Academy and you’ve been craving a change.
You’ll pack up and leave tonight for Castlebrook Academy.
Drake and Jace will join you as your friends and your equals, not your servants.
You’ll never infect them with your thrall again, and you’ll respect their agency.
You’ve also become highly disillusioned with Puritas and you’ll cut ties with them immediately, and stay away from them going forward.
Their beliefs disgust you. All supernatural beings should be tolerated and allowed to live their lives.
You understand that now.” Her silver glow strengthened for a moment, then Sorin’s eyes closed and he lapsed into sleep.
She released him and stepped back.
“You have the ability to coerce other supernatural beings?” I breathed.
“Yes. But I don’t like doing it, so once I’m done with the vampires here, too, this is a one-off. Do you understand me?”
Kai dipped into a dramatic bow. “On my honor, Celestial Princess.”
“Understood,” I told her.
She gritted her teeth. “This is a violation of free will. That’s why I hate it,” she told us.
“They can’t be allowed to come at us,” I bit out, both hating that the situation had come about at all, what I’d learned about Puritas, and the fact that I could feel her distress down so fucking deeply.
“That approach leads to messes like this. It can even lead to war if it’s not checked,” she warned me.
“They’re filth,” I said. “Their intentions are despicable.”
“I agree they were misguided, but the response doesn’t need to be brutality, torture, violence, or even murder.”
“There are many instances where a show of force is absolutely necessary.”
“Because that’s how you stay at the top of the food chain, right?”
“Of course. It’s also how we protect ourselves and those we love.”
“Fighting fire with fire just creates more fire,” she insisted.
“Agree to disagree then.”
She scrubbed her hand over her face, obviously not liking my responses. And then she looked at Kai. “Your silence is deafening.”
That was true. Why was he being silent about this? He’d been on board all the way.
“Because you’re all about the big picture, being analytical, being very careful and strategizing every move you make in advance.
Doing this tonight flies in the face of all of that.
Because this was you lashing out after feeling weakness from the sickness.
You wanted to feel strong again. All-fucking-mighty and powerful. ”
“It’s not about power,” he murmured.
Murmured? Kai Hunter? What was going on?
He stepped up to her. “You’re right. I didn’t approach this with the careful calculation I’m known for.
I needed to get some things out of my system, sure.
But it was more than that. They hurt somebody I care about dearly and, as you’re aware, there aren’t many who qualify for me.
I also needed to test my power after that infection, because I want to examine that test for you—to figure it all out with my love for puzzles only actually being a small part of it this time.
The larger part is helping you and V’s peace of mind.
” He shifted his weight and then even admitted, “When Sorin revealed he was connected to that fanatical group whose very existence threatens Nyx… it escalated everything. But, like you said, I didn’t approach this as I normally would have.
If I had been doing that, I would have looked deeply into Sorin and his vampires first, beyond their Academy records, and I would have discovered the connection to Puritas.
And then I wouldn’t have taken this approach.
I would have brought them to Warlow Boyd at the Guardian Compound, with your assistance.
Because this is bigger than threatening and exerting our power over these shitheads. It’s much more far-reaching than that.”
Reaching out, he grasped her jaw. But it wasn’t with the usual sexual ferocity that he employed when doing that. It was shockingly soft. Tender, even.
She softened a little and wrapped her fingers around his wrist. “Those are a lot of excuses. That momentary silence of yours clearly allowed you to come up with a great many.”
He cracked a smile and it cut into the intensity coming off him. “Which one do you prefer, sweetheart?”
I barked out a laugh, unable to stop myself. Yeah, that was the Kai Hunter I’d come to know and enjoy immensely.
She didn’t look amused in the least.
But she also didn’t bite back at him.
Instead, she eased his hand off her jaw and held it between them, telling him in a patient tone, “Just the truth, Kai.”
He started at her words.
“You asked for the same from me, for me to stop running and shutting down, and I’m trying hard to bring that now. I thought we reached an understanding that night, but now there’s this.”
His gaze wavered as he told her, “We did reach an understanding, but I’m scared to trust in it.”
“On my end?”
“Yes,” he admitted openly. “It’s all been a hell of a mind-fuck lately.”
“But you don’t regret punishing them?” I put to him.
“No,” he admitted, looking out at me, before returning his attention back to Ariana.
“I understand,” she said. She looked out at me. “And I understand what you’re doing, too, and why you’re doing it.”
“And? What do you propose we do about it?”
“Well, Nyx is getting us a dinner reservation as we speak.” She gestured at our bloodied clothes. “Go get cleaned up. I’ll finish up with the mess here, then I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”
“Dinner?” Kai asked, also sharing my surprise.
“That is what you both wanted that night outside Polaris , isn’t it? Until I blew you off?”
She was good. “Yes. It really was.”
Kai smiled out at her.
“Go,” she told us, grinning back. “Get dressed. See you in the lot.”
Well, this was certainly going to be interesting.
I just hoped that would turn out to be a good thing with how out of sorts I was feeling.