Fuck. Caleb, you idiot!
The second that intoxicating scent filled my nostrils, rolling over my tongue like rich, dark chocolate, I knew I was in trouble. My control was still weak; I wasn't ready to be exposed to her blood. Not yet.
“Crap,” Kit swore, holding her hand up to squint at it and wrinkling her nose. “Cut myself. It'll heal in a sec, but I should go wash the blood off.” She stood and stepped closer to me on her way to leave the room, and my whole body froze, wound as tight as a violin string. “You okay, Cal? You seem... tense.”
“Mm-hmm,” I murmured, not trusting myself to open my mouth. The ache in my gums already told me the smell of magic in the air was getting the better of me.
Kit gave me a confused frown but opened the bedroom door anyway. On the other side was my brother with his fist poised to knock. He raised an eyebrow at Kit with her bloody hand and then at me and gave a sharp nod.
“Christina, need help cleaning up?” he suggested, placing a hand on her back and ushering her out of the room. To me, he gave another nod, and I sighed, nicking my thumb on a tooth and flicking out the droplet of blood necessary to create a teleportation rune circle. There was only one person who could help me regain control, and I could only hope she was home.
I stepped into the rune circle as Wesley passed the open door, frowning at me in confusion, but I was gone before he could speak. When the light cleared, I was back in the impeccably maintained yard I had only left a few hours earlier.
“Bridget?” I called out, jogging up the steps and banging on the kitchen door frantically. The lights were still on, so she must be home.
“Bridget, it's Caleb!” It occurred to me she wasn't expecting me and might think I was some sort of crazy. But if I were honest, she could handle herself even if I was.
Through the glass, I tracked the path of the petite redhead walking toward me with her phone to her ear. She was frowning deeply, and her body language said she was pissed as hell at whomever she was speaking with. When she opened the door, she greeted me with a genuine smile.
“Caleb, what's going on?” Her smile faded into worry, and her blue eyes widened. “Are you okay? Is Christina...?”
“She's fine,” I muttered, showing a flash of my sharpened teeth. Gratitude filled me at the understanding washing over Bridget's face.
Putting her phone back to her ear, she snapped tersely. “I need to put you on hold for a second... No, I will not call back; you will hold.” Scowling at her phone, she pressed the hold button, then placed it down on the kitchen counter and ushered me into a seat at her dining table. “I take it she's not badly hurt?” she asked, sitting opposite me and taking my hand in hers, the same way she did in training when she exposed me to varying levels and species of blood. For the most part, it was a safety precaution. Bridget could force the blood lust from me, but she preferred to let me work it out myself.
I shook my head. “Just a cut. But... her blood...”
“I know,” Bridget sighed. “Can you get this under control yourself, or do you need me to step in?”
Lips clamped tight shut, I considered her question before slowly shaking my head. “I think I need you to step in.” It fucking killed me to say. After all the lessons we'd had so far, I’d truly thought I was getting better, but here I was driven to the edge of madness by a small cut on Kit's hand.
“I think you can do it yourself,” my mentor disagreed, giving me an encouraging smile. “You're better at this than you give yourself credit for. Now, deep breath, find your light...”
Shaking with tension, I did as instructed. As I always did.
“Now, take ahold of that wild magic within you and show it who is in control. Magic does not control you, you control it.” Her words were firm but soothing, and I found myself following her directions effortlessly.
When I was sure I'd gotten a handle on things and the sharpness of my teeth had receded, I let out a long sigh of relief. Thank fuck for that.
“See?” Bridget smiled at me. “I knew you could do it.”
“Thanks,” I muttered sheepishly, feeling a bit stupid for having panicked and teleported here in the middle of the night. “I just...”
“Panicked. I get it. Maybe we need to start exposing you to more powerful bloods to build your tolerance up faster.” She hummed while she thought, tapping her chin.
“Sorry, I should have tried to control it before coming here,” I apologized, and my cheeks flushed hot with embarrassment.
Bridget waved a hand at me dismissively. “Don't be silly. I'd much rather you come here than potentially be a risk to Christina. Oh!” She snapped her fingers. “I almost forgot. Excuse me a moment?”
Without waiting for my response, she hopped up and grabbed her phone from the counter and took the caller off hold. “I'm back. Okay, here's what I need you to do. Create a diversion, a convincing diversion. Hire an actress with red hair if you need to, but set it up somewhere well away from Toronto. Los Angeles or something. Then keep an eye on those agents to be sure they take the bait. Report back when it's done.” She listened for a few moments, then hung up and turned back to face me.
“What was that about?” I asked her, alarmed. “It sounded a whole lot like Omega agents are onto us?”
“Sort of,” she shrugged. “I'm taking care of it, though. You have nothing to worry about; I'll do anything I can to keep my daughter safe.”
Nodding, I was a little floored. Bridget had never really struck me as the overly caring type, but I couldn't argue with how helpful she'd been. Especially in this, diverting Omega from tracking us down.
“Thank you,” I said with sincerity. “It means a lot.”
“Forget it,” she laughed, holding the kitchen door open for me to leave, then cocked her head to the side. “Or, don't so much forget it, but keep it to yourself. Please.”
I shrugged. “I can't do that, sorry. Team rules, and I'm already on probation.”
Bridget hummed a noise, then snapped her fingers in front of my face, startling me into backing up a step. “There. Now the decision is taken away. Off you go, back to my daughter, and be safe in the knowledge that the agents won’t find you in Canada. At least, not anytime soon.”
I scowled at her use of magic without asking my permission, but deep down appreciated the choice being taken from me. As I was already on thin ice for secret-keeping, I'd been careful to be upfront about everything I possibly could be. Not that this was a huge thing, and it would only lead to more questions that I couldn't answer... so yeah, I was sort of okay with her spell to stop me talking.
“See you tomorrow night!” she called after me as I made my way back to the yard to rune-circle my way back to Toronto. Hopefully no one had really noticed my weirdness earlier... I wasn't keeping secrets per se, but I also wasn't ready to tell the guys about my struggles. Austin knew, and I'd tell Kitty Kat soon. That was all that truly mattered at the moment.
3
Kit
The trip to Toronto had been uneventful. Totally and utterly uneventful, and the small—totally insane—part of my brain was actually a tiny bit disappointed when we reached the high-rise apartment building that was our destination.
Not even so much as a light tail that needed to be lost along the way. Maybe Jonathan was losing his touch? Or maybe Alpha Team, my team, really were the best he had.
Either way, I found the lack of violence, death, and kidnapping somewhat... unsettling. If not for the violent nightmare I’d had the night we arrived, I’d have thought we were in some sort of alternate universe or something.
A light tap on my bedroom door jolted me from my thoughts, and I whirled around, gripping the two outfits I had been agonizing over.