48. Rae
RAE
The mischief written across Kian’s face had a memory flashing in my mind. Young Kian charging toward me on the bank of a pond before tossing me in as I squealed in glee. Just remembering the moment made him look younger to me now.
“If you have food, you’re definitely welcome.” If I didn’t eat soon, I’d likely puke, thanks to this migraine.
Kian slid the tray onto the coffee table. “Kyrie cleaning up?”
I nodded and sat back on the couch, studying his offerings.
There were foods I recognized, like mac and cheese and fried chicken.
But there were also things I didn’t: fruits and veggies that weren’t like anything I’d seen in my world, different dipping sauces, crackers, and something that looked like chocolate cake.
My head thrummed as I tried to decide what to go for first.
“You’re hurting.” Kian lowered himself to the couch beside me, frowning.
I straightened as I eyed him. “How do you know that? Can you read my mind or something?”
He quickly shook his head. “When you overloaded earlier, all three of us could feel it. But that’s not typical. I think it was because the sensations were so extreme. But right now…” He lifted a hand to rub tiny circles between my brows. “I can see it.”
“Migraine,” I mumbled. “Today was a lot.”
“A lot is an understatement,” Kian said, lowering his voice. “Can I try to help?”
I stared at him. We were so close, just a breath away from each other. “Okay.”
Not asking what he planned to do was a gift of trust. But Kian had proven himself at every turn. He deserved that trust.
“Close your eyes,” he whispered.
I held out for a beat of one, two, then shut my eyes. Kian began massaging my temples ever so lightly as he again whispered words in that language I couldn’t understand. At first, there was nothing. Just the same thrum, over and over, waves of pain crashing through my skull.
But then they slowed, ebbing as if they were listening to the tide of Kian’s voice. Then the waves eased in strength, flattening into nothing more than tiny ripples of discomfort, something I wouldn’t have even noticed had I not been so focused on my head.
My eyes opened, and I stared into the violet ones in front of me. “How?”
Kian’s hands didn’t drop. Instead, they moved to cup my cheeks. “I’ve always been able to whisper to your blood, calm you when you were anxious. So I wondered if I could ease you here, too, calm the pressure in your head.”
“Always? Like when we were little?”
He nodded, his thumbs grazing back and forth across my cheeks. “Always. I guess it was the fated bond even then.”
For the first time, the bond felt less like my free will being stolen and more like something natural, something that was a part of me. Of us.
There was a single knock on the door, pulling both of our gazes to the entrance. “The beast wants in,” Pax called.
A second later, Odin charged through the opening and ran straight for us. He didn’t wait; he leapt into the air and landed on top of me. I let out a startled oomph.
“Well, I’d say the familiar likes you,” Kian said with a grin.
I burrowed my hands in the dog’s white fur. “One of the few.”
Kian’s hand slipped beneath my fall of hair, kneading the muscles there. “Give it time. We’ll find our way.”
I watched him for a moment, trying to read if his words were true. Finally, I decided to simply ask. “Are you sure about that? It seems like this has ripped a whole lot of people apart. Even you…” My words trailed off for a moment. “It can’t be easy when Calloway is your best friend.”
A muscle flickered along Kian’s sharp jaw. “I’m not sure if that bond is as deep as I once thought.”
My stomach twisted. I recognized the emotion in him. It was the same one I felt as the layers were peeled back with my birth mother. “I’m sorry.”
Kian’s ministrations continued, and that buzz hummed beneath my skin. “He never truly accepted who I was. What I am.”
“A Nocturnae.”
He nodded, the action somewhat wooden. “To him, at the heart of it, the Nocturnae are a bastard species. He sees our friendship as him looking past that.”
I lifted one of my hands from Odin’s fur and laced my fingers through Kian’s. “You’ve been the kindest person I’ve encountered in Lumaria. If Calloway can’t see that kindness is who you are, then he’s missing out.”
Kian’s violet eyes sparked at my words, and his gaze dropped to my mouth. “Butterfly.”
I wanted to lean in. I wanted to taste him. To know what it felt like to have Kian’s mouth on mine. To—
“Are you guys going to kiss now?”
At the sound of Kyrie’s question, we bolted apart like we’d been caught making out on an overlook by a cop or a parent. Kian cursed, and I covered my mouth to try to hide my strangled laugh.
Kian shook his head as he eyed my sister. “You have some kind of timing, Troublemaker.”
She grinned at him. “I’m not the one trying to put the moves on when you know you’re not alone.”
“Brutal,” Kian muttered, but he spoke the word with laughter lacing it. “Get over here and feed yourself, or maybe I’ll side with Nyx and decide that you need to sleep in the stables.”
Kyrie stuck out her tongue at him. “You’d never. I’m your favorite.”
“That could always change,” Kian threatened.
I watched as they bantered, teasingly giving each other a hard time. Like siblings. Like family. And for the first time, I wondered if Kyrie was right—I wondered if I could build my own family here, piece by piece.
“Kyrie.” Her name was out of my mouth before I could stop it.
She looked over at me from the spot where she’d settled on the floor, a piece of what looked like chicken halfway to her mouth and Odin looking on as he clearly hoped she might share.
Silence reigned, almost an echo of the chatter just a moment ago.
I shifted in my seat, finally pulling a pillow to my chest. “Do you think you could teach me to use my magic?”
A huge smile split her face. “I’d love to.”