Chapter 7
Chapter seven
Vidar
Getting back to the mansion takes longer than I expected. As I drive, Kai—wearing his somehow intact leather jacket, the purple paint looking freshly applied—hugs his seatbelt and braces it every time we bounce over a pothole. Remembering what he said about the car accident, I slow down.
“The car accident you were in…” I start, unsure what to even say or how to comfort him.
“I’m fine,” Kai grumbles, still pale from vomiting and the chaos of having to evacuate his home.
I rack my brain to find a way to help, but all I can do is tighten my grip on the steering wheel.
And here I thought once I came back I’d actually be useful, yet it’s been two days since leaving my isolation and I’m messing everything up.
I can’t even do the one thing Kai needs and take the horrid spellbook away.
I want to reach over and touch Kai, soothe the bond that tugs us together; reassure myself that Kai is fine and whole.
“So.” I clear my throat. “You cast fire.”
He scoffs. “I ain’t got a clue what I can do. I wanted to ask Summer about it, but all I learnt is I’m not a mage.”
“Maybe you have some Fae blood in you.”
“Fae blood?” He perks up.
“You're pretty enough.”
“I get it,” he chuckles, eyes rolling. “You don’t think I’m ugly. There’s no need to keep saying it. Tell me about this Fae stuff instead.”
My grip loosens at his laugh. I might not have spoken to anyone in eight years, but I’ve had a thousand years to learn how to be charming. “But you are very pretty, Kai. Far too pretty.”
“Vidar…” he breathes out my name, and oh, how sweet it sounds.
“Fae tempt.” I glance at him from the corner of my eye. “Tease.”
Smiling, he shakes his head, his death grip on the seatbelt relaxing. “I’m not teasing anyone.”
“No? So you always allow strange men into your flat?”
“Oh, piss off, you know this is a very different situation. Now tell me about the Fae.”
“As you wish, little prince,” I tease.
“I ain’t a prince of anything.”
“No? But you're so demanding,” I reply. “‘Vidar, don’t do that’, ‘Vidar, tell me this’, ‘Vidar, press me against the door.’”
He gasps and slaps my bicep; all his fear of our car ride vanished. “I have never said anything like that.” And when he glares at me, all I feel is pure satisfaction.
“Maybe you should. Golden says you’re always taking care of people, who takes care of you, little prince?”
“Vidar, tell me about the Fae,” he orders, a flicker of mischief glinting in his green eyes.
As we drive through the dark streets, the noise outside is drowned out by the rumbling engine, and I can almost pretend the only two people in this world are him and me. Maybe that would make everything less complicated.
“Even a drop of Fae blood from five generations back can manifest in odd ways. Fae are powerful after all, older than trees and winds.”
“Older than the wind?” Kai snorts. “How is that possible?”
I grin. “Sometimes the magic is as boring as a bit of foresight. Sometimes it’s more—your fire, for example.”
He frowns while thinking, twisting one of his braids around an elegant finger.
“But it only happens when I’m drawing these symbols.” He gestures to his jacket. “I don’t know what they mean, but they sorta…call to me?”
I shrug one shoulder, desperately trying to ignore the growing need to reach out and touch him, instead filling my lungs with his calming lavender scent.
It’s just the soulmate connection. Nothing more.
It can’t be, and I will not hurt this lovely man by testing something I already know will only end in a second rejection.
“I have some experience with magic, but I’m no expert.” He begins to sag, and I simply can’t have that. Quickly, I add, “However, I could reach out to some old Fae friends to see if they can help.”
They're more like enemies, but when his radiant smile shines I would make those pesky bastards my best friends for him.
“Really?”
Anything. Always. Ask for a mountain, a lake, the very sky, and I would gladly lay it at your feet. “Of course.”
“Thank you, Vidar,” he replies as we park outside the mansion. Kai far more relaxed than when we got into my Range Rover.
I don’t say anything as we exit, just grab the orange plastic bag from the backseat, Kai having shoved the spellbook in before we were evacuated, and make our way inside, heading towards the voices in the kitchen.
“Kai.” Golden slips out of Lucero’s arms and rushes over. “Are you okay?”
“I’m all good, Golden,” Kai assures.
“Why do you smell like blood mages?” Ramy asks, nose wrinkled.
I drop the bag on the kitchen counter with a rustling thud. “Kai had Jace’s spellbook.”
“What?” Ramy moves around the counter to get to us, but keeps his distance from the bag. “How is that possible?”
Kai takes a deep breath, and he explains the whole story. Once he’s done, Ramy and Golden try to fuss over him, but he brushes them aside even as they drag him away. I’m tempted to follow; however, I can tell they have more to discuss.
Most likely me.
Lucero grabs the bag and throws it out the window. “Disgusting.”
“We need to figure out a way to get that thing away from Kai,” I say as I drop into a chair.
“We could try burning it?”
I shake my head. “A book that ancient won’t burn by normal fire, and there's a chance it’ll pull itself back together. Kai’s fire didn’t even scratch the surface.”
“We’ll think of something.” Lucero leans against the wall beside me. “How did your conversation go?”
My head falls back, and I stare at the ceiling. “He understands.”
We’re quiet for a long time. Bushes rustle outside. The fridge grumbles. If I concentrate enough, I can just about make out Kai’s voice, even if I can’t hear what he's saying, and I soak up his soothing timbre as a balm I never knew I needed.
He’s safe. As long as he’s safe, that’s all that matters.
“And you, Maker?”
“Fuck Fate for this. There are times when I want him, and not the simple desires of a woman, but a deep need that cuts into marrow. But then…”
My chest is heavy, tight. I’m pulled in a direction I don’t want—yet want deeply.
“Maybe I should do what you did—wait for Kai to be reborn and come back in a more pleasing form.” I chuckle at the absurdity of it all.
“What. The. Fuck.”
I shoot up, coming face to face with Kai.
Shit.