14
Kade’s gaze swept over me, but it no longer made me want to jump him. “Sorry,” he said. “I can come back in a minute.”
I sighed as calmness swept over me. Kade always had my back—even if his intentions weren’t very clear. “It’s fine. Come in.”
He scratched the back of his neck. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” I held the door wide open for him.
Nervously, Kade made his way inside, and I shut the door behind him.
“What is it?” I asked.
He turned around to face me. “Uh, do you want to go get dressed first?”
I rolled my eyes again. “Give me a sec.” I disappeared into the walk-in closet and quickly pulled on a pair of shorts just long enough to cover my wound, then slipped on a tank before returning into the room. “Better?”
Kade sat on the couch and did a little bounce up and down. The guy really liked my couch. “Finn asked me to let you know that he’s gone to the hospital with them all and he’ll call you as soon as he has any information.”
I let out an exaggerated gasp. “Finn’s violating the code again? What will the Society think?”
Kade chuckled. “You really don’t agree with them, do you?”
I sat on the seat beside him and put my feet up on the coffee table in front of me. “Not when it concerns the safety of those I care about. I get that they’re all about the bigger picture, but would it really hurt to save a few extra innocent lives in the process? I didn’t even need to be the one to retrieve them.”
“Yeah, it probably would’ve turned out a little better if someone else had gone to collect your dad.”
He meant well, but it still pissed me off. Mostly because I was the one who’d endangered them with my stupid hallucinations of my dead mother. “My father wasn’t at home, so you guys wouldn’t have known where to find him. And lucky he wasn’t because there were a bunch of vamps who had torn our home apart. Which reminds me.” I twisted around to face him. “There was a vampire that wasn’t like the rest of them…” I trailed off as Kade’s gaze landed on my thigh. “I’m fine.” I tried to pull down my shorts to cover what was left of my wound, but they were riding up while I was sitting down.
“You should probably get that seen to.”
I raised a brow. “Thirty minutes ago, there was a hole almost right through my leg. Now there’s a pea-size gash, and you think I need someone else to fix me?”
He chuckled again then slouched back in the seat. “I keep forgetting you’re like one of them now.”
“I think you’re the only one.”
He rolled his head to the side. “They’re all still treating you like you’re their queen? It was pretty ridiculous having you sit up on stage at a table by yourself.”
“If I was queen, things would run a little differently around here. All I am to them is a vessel they have to keep safe until my eighteenth birthday when the huntress will take over my body and mind, and I will cease to exist.” I gave him a tight-lipped smile. “What’s not to look forward to?”
Kade drew his brows together. “What do you mean you will cease to exist?”
I frowned. “Haven’t you heard? It’s apparently all part of the prophecy.”
Worry lines creased his forehead. “That can’t be right. Why would they have you training so hard if it was all pointless?”
I shrugged then leaned my head back, resting it against the couch as I looked up at the ceiling. “Probably to keep my body in peak form for the huntress.”
A knock sounded at the door, and Kade jumped to his feet. “I’ll get it.” He opened the door.
“What are you doing here?” Max asked, frustration brimming in his tone.
Great. The guy was in one of his moods again. Just what I needed.
“Talking to Kali,” Kade said, sounding a little puzzled.
Max strode into the room, and Kade closed the door behind him.
Still resting my head against the couch, I looked up at Max, who stood in front of me. “Medical wants to see you.”
“For this?” I pointed toward the pea-size crater in my thigh that had since reduced again.
He shook his head. “No. They want to assess you after the accident and you know… your little feast.”
I lifted my head. “They can wait.” I scanned him for any sign of trauma. The gash on his face was barely visible, and his movements were no longer stiff. “You’re looking better.”
Kade returned to his spot beside me, completely ignorant to the stares Max was throwing his way. “Those guys in medical can heal pretty much anything. We have Orphelia to thank for that.”
Max folded his arms across his chest, looking more than a little agitated. “Where’s the… you know?”
I scrunched up my face. “No, I don’t know.”
Max groaned. “Mason’s stuff.” He raised his brow.
Oh. The vamp blood. I wasn’t sure why he didn’t want Kade knowing about it, but I appreciated that he was being careful. The fewer people who knew about my blood stash, the better.
“You should probably put it away.”
“I can take it to him if you want,” Kade offered, completely oblivious to what we were really talking about.
I bit down on my smile as I stood, imagining what Mason’s reaction would be to having his favorite bottle filled with vampire blood. “Thanks. But it can wait ’til he gets back.” I grabbed the hiking pouch off the bed, shielding it with my body, then disappeared into the closet. I closed the door behind me and searched for a good place to hide it.
There was none. The shelves were pretty much bare, so all I could do was shove it on the top shelf and throw a few items of clothing on it.
Hoping no one would have any reason to search through my belongings, I headed back into the room, where I found Lana waiting with Kade and Max.
I sighed. “I guess you also want to give me a lecture about my latest screwup.”
Lana smiled as she walked toward me. “Nope. I think I’ll leave that to my parents and Orphelia. But first, I thought we could go down to the mess hall and grab something to eat because we all know how much you enjoyed the banquet meal.”
“Something tells me I’m not going to enjoy yours any more.” I quickly added, “No offense.” The truth was, I wasn’t the slightest bit hungry after all the blood I’d consumed, but if agreeing to eat Lana’s food would prolong the inevitable wrap across my knuckles, I was all for it.
Lana rolled her eyes. “You’ll learn to love my food as much as the others in the group have.”
I bit down on my smile, knowing what the others ate was far from what Lana thought they were having.
Kade stood behind her and mouthed, “I’ll get you the good stuff.” Then said out loud, “Lana’s food does grow on you.”
The corner of Max’s lips tipped up the slightest, and I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t been so attentive to every single little thing he did. Max clearly switched out Lana’s food as Kade did, and I obviously spent way too much time watching him when I should’ve been getting everyone out of my room and away from my blood stash.
With my phone tightly in my hand, the four of us made our way down to the cafeteria, and I was relieved to find we were the only ones there. It was after two in the morning, and most of the compound residents were probably in bed sleeping off the night’s festivities—or plotting a way to punish me for going against orders.
Still, I had gotten what I wanted and would take any punishment they would throw my way. Now, all I had to worry about was if my father, Mason, and Ash were going to be okay.
Walking into the kitchen, I glanced at my phone as if by sheer will Finn would call with an update. But just like the last few times I’d looked, there were no messages.
“Watching it isn’t going to make it ring.” Lana grabbed a bottle of Kombucha out of her special fridge. “He’ll call when he has news to tell.”
“Or he’ll be an ass and make me sweat as payback.”
Lana smiled then set the bottle on the bench and grabbed four glasses out of the cupboard. “Finn’s not like that. He wouldn’t do that to you.”
“You know we’re talking about the same guy who made me think he was a monster since he disappeared.”
“That’s protocol,” she said because breaking the code was never an option.
I glanced over at Max, wondering why he had so easily broken the rules for me tonight. Kade had already proven that rules were made to be broken, but Max? I couldn’t figure the guy out.
One second, he acted as if the very sight of me drove him to want to murder me. Then the next he was sneaking out, saving my ass, and keeping my juice bag a secret.
Noticing my stares, Max gave me one of his glares then turned his attention to Kade, who was coming out of the back supply room with his arms filled with plates of various meats and pastas.
“Don’t just look at me,” Kade said. “Grab a plate, you lazy shit.”
“What are you doing?” Lana asked as Kade offloaded a couple of plates to Max. “That’s not on the approved list.”
“Come on,” Kade said. “Give us a pass for just one night. Kali deserves it. We deserve it.” He slipped his arm around my shoulders, positioning the plate of roast lamb directly in front of me. “Hasn’t the girl been through enough tonight?”
Scrunching up my face, I looked up at him and almost barked out a laugh when I saw his puppy dog eyes begging Lana for leniency, but I remembered he was doing this for me. And if I was going to have to shove something down my throat to throw Lana off the fact that I’d just drunk enough blood to fill me up for the next twenty-four hours, then I’d rather it was normal food instead of the crap she tried to force me to eat.
“Actually,” Lana started. “This is the exact time that Kali shouldn’t be filling herself with all those unnecessary carbohydrates and fifty other things that are wrong with everything on those plates.”
Not being able to bear the thought of whatever Lana had planned for me, I grabbed a chunk of lamb and shoved it in my mouth, almost gagging as I ripped into the cooked flesh.
Lana’s eyes widened then formed into a glare before quickly softening into the girl I was growing to love. “Just this once.” She spun around and grabbed the bottle and a glass. “But only if you drink a glass of Kombucha.” Lana smirked. “Your gut will thank you for it.”
The thought of having to down a glass of that disgusting placenta-looking drink made me want to gag again.
Max snatched the bottle from Lana’s hand, tipped it up to his mouth, and downed it.
“Hey.” Lana made a grab for the bottle, but she was too short.
Max turned away from her as he continued to down the contents until every last drop was gone and slammed the bottle onto the bench.
“You idiot.” Lana punched him in the arm. “That was my last bottle. The new batch won’t be ready for another day.”
Max shrugged. “Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have drunk it all.”
Lana scrunched up her nose and hit him again before snatching the bottle off the bench and taking it over to the sink.
Max winked at me, making my insides turn to mush. I almost forgot Kade’s arm was still around me and I had a chunk of meat in my mouth that I really didn’t want to swallow.
Slipping out from under Kade’s arm, I spat the chewed-up meat into my hand then quickly disposed of it in the bin before Lana turned around.
Lana wiped her hands on the tea towel. “If I knew you liked Kombucha that much, I would’ve started making more for you years ago.”
Max stared at her, trying to hide his shock. “More?”
A grin crept across her face. “Yep. I’ll get started on another batch just for you.”
Lana wasn’t kidding. She strode over to a cupboard, pulled out a massive pot, and filled it up with boiling water. She then pulled out sugar, measured it, before pouring it into the pot. “Max, grab me a silicone spoon.”
His face slumped as he grabbed the spoon from the drawer and handed it to Lana.
I took the opportunity to quickly wash my hands, ridding them of the smell of meat.
“Thanks.” She stirred the sugary water. “Now you can get the tea.”
Doing as asked, or more so ordered, Max retrieved a box of tea bags from the shelf and placed it on the bench next to her. “Which flavors?”
I glanced at Kade, who bit down on his laugh. He was obviously enjoying Max’s discomfort way too much.
Lana put down the spoon and rummaged through the teabags until she found the ones she wanted. “Can you put the box away?”
We all knew it was another order, not a request, and Max obliged. Everyone seemed to be so afraid of falling out of line or going against the grain. What Lana said, people did. She had an authority about her that was inspiring. And even though I was supposed to be the top dog, I doubted I’d ever get to her level.
Plus, she had the whole legacy thing going on and parents who were currently staying with us, which seemed to make everyone a little bit more obedient.
Lana plopped the teabags into the pot and hung the tags over the edge. “That should do it. Now let’s go have something to eat.”
Of course, Lana brought a spread of approved foods to the table, but she was the only one who touched it. The others were taking full opportunity of the free pass she’d given us. I, on the other hand, picked at the pasta, my body still high from the effects of the vampire blood and the adrenaline from the crash. I was itching to get up and do something, but I kept my ass planted on the seat, wondering when Finn would call with an update. Because even though I had heard the steady beat of their hearts, I didn’t know if there was any bone damage or internal bleeding. My father hadn’t been buckled in, and I hoped it was true that drunks rarely had major damage since their bodies were usually limp during a crash. But that didn’t mean to say he didn’t have any spinal damage or internal bleeding that couldn’t be seen from the outside.
The thought of that coupled with my aversion to food made me want to gag every time I put something in my mouth. But I needed to keep up the appearance in front of Lana. Since her parents were staying with us, I needed to be careful what I said to her.
“You’re not hungry, Kali?” Lana asked, drawing me out of my thoughts.
I dropped the piece of pasta onto my plate. “I’m just a little worried. Finn hasn’t called.”
She picked up a kale chip, void of any salt or oil. “Which makes you afraid something has happened to them.”
“No news is good news,” Kade said.
“Except when everyone is unconscious and taken to the hospital after a bad accident.” Max said what I was thinking.
Kade shook his head. “You shouldn’t worry. They’re probably all fine, and Finn’s just teaching you a lesson about what it feels like to not know what’s going on with someone you care about.”
I raised a brow.
He grinned. “It’s something Finn would do.”
Max ripped a chicken leg away from the thigh. “He can be a little melodramatic when it comes to you.”
Kade snorted. “This coming from the guy who wanted to kill you even though you hadn’t displayed a single bit of blood lust.”
Max glared at Kade, and if looks could kill, Kade would be dead. “I didn’t know.”
“Now, now boys,” Lana said. “Max has learned his lesson and is making amends.”
Was that all Max was doing? Making amends?
The thought of him spending so much time with me just to make himself feel better made me sick to my stomach. Then again, what else could I expect? Being the one didn’t change what I’d done—what I was prepared to do.
That would take a whole load of time to get over—if at all.
I believe in you. His declaration replayed in my mind.
I shook my head. The effects of having all this energy from the vamp blood and having no outlet was making my thoughts do crazy shit. I needed an outlet.
Pushing my chair out, I stood. “I can’t sit still anymore. I’m going for a run.”
“Best not to with an injured leg.” Lana popped another Kale chip into her mouth.
I waived her off. “It was barely a scratch. I’ll be fine.”
“Consuming the vampire blood will accelerate the healing process, but it would be best if you get it checked out before you exert yourself.”
My jaw dropped. “How…?”
She grinned. “How did I know you’d drank vampire blood?”
I nodded.
Lana pointed to my mouth. “The slightly longer fangs kind of give it away. Plus, you’ve got the whole blue-eye thing going on.”
I jerked my head back, wondering how the hell she could see those tiny specks from across the table.
“Your eyes are changing.”
I looked between Kade and Max, who both nodded in agreement.
Letting out a frustrated breath, I grabbed my phone, opened the camera, and switched it to selfie mode.
My breath caught in my throat as I stared at my image on the screen. Sure enough, I had the whole fang thing going on, but the blue swirling through the brown of my eyes was what took my breath away. It wasn’t like it had been earlier that night when Mason had brought it to my attention and there were just specks of blue.
“And no one thought to mention this to me before?” I looked pointedly at Max then briefly at Kade and Lana.
Max shrugged. “I thought you knew.”
I rolled my eyes.
“This is a first,” Lana said. “The last time they remained brown. You’re changing.”
“You think she’s going through the transition early?” Kade asked, locking me with fear.
Lana furrowed her brow then slowly shook her head. “I don’t think that’s possible, but you can check with Orphelia before you go for your run.”
“I’m not going to see her,” I said a little too quickly. “She freaks me out.”
“Well, you better get over it, because she’s requested your presence.”
15
Climbing the stairs as slowly as I could, I tried to shake the ice crawling up my spine with every step I took toward the conjurer. Orphelia had a presence about her that made my skin crawl at the best of times, let alone after I risked the fate of the world to save my father.
Circle of Embers (Shadow Realms Series Book 2): A vampire hunter novel Page 9