“Done,” I murmured when the design was complete. “Sit up and try this one.”
She did as I said, swinging her legs around to dangle off the table on either side of where I sat, grinning and tempting me even more.
Does she have any idea what she’s doing to me?
“What do I try?” she blinked at me with total faith in my abilities, and I badly hoped I hadn’t fucked it up. Only one way to know though.
“Simple fireball,” I told her. “It was just a small fire rune.”
She nodded, holding out her palm and conjuring a fireball exactly the way I’d taught her to. It flared to light in her palm, and I let the breath gust out of me in relief.
“Sweet,” Caleb murmured, coming to stand closer as she extinguished the fire. “Once more? Make it bigger.”
Holding her palm out again, she followed the correct steps... but nothing happened. Nothing. Not even a little puff of smoke.
“Did I fuck it up?” she asked me, scrunching her nose adorably.
“Probably,” I retorted in the way she would expect, but I was pretty sure she hadn’t. “Do it again.”
She repeated the action, but still nothing happened, and I heaved a sigh.
“Single-use spells?” Caleb murmured, and I nodded.
“Seems so. Okay, Princess, here’s the deal. I can magic in as many single-use spells as we have time for, but you’ll need to use them sparingly.” I gave her a stern look to make sure she was paying attention, and she nodded back to me with confidence.
“Let’s get started then,” she agreed, lying back down on the table.
I chewed at the edge of my lip for a moment, thinking about which spells would be most useful if she ended up in the shit with Bridget. I’d have to start with the more complex ones and then, if time allowed, I could go back and add extra small ones in between to link the chain down her spine.
Placing my tattoo gun down for a second, I unclipped her bra strap and couldn’t help running my hand down her bare back.
“Cal,” I said under my breath, “I’ll need more blood. Let’s make this as strong as possible.”
He nodded back to me and flicked out his blade again.
It wasn’t ideal, but I felt a hell of a lot better about Christina having some back up of her own, rather than none at all.
After Christina left with Caleb and Wesley, I packed up all my equipment and stored it back in my bedroom. When I came back down, the dragons were sitting at the kitchen island drinking beer and speaking in low tones that cut off as I entered the room.
“Why do I get the feeling you were talking about me?” I muttered, heading to the fridge to pull out my own beer. “Why do I care?”
The second part was rhetorical, but Vali gave me a mocking smile. Scaly fuck.
“Tell him.” The older Romanian nudged his brother, and Cole scowled back at him.
I narrowed my eyes at our team’s second-in-command. “Tell me what, Cole?”
“Well,” he started, then took another sip of his drink before continuing, “your skanky ex, Peyton. She’s dead.”
The bottle I was holding almost slipped from my fingers as I stared back at him in shock. Did he seriously just say…?
“She’s dead?” I repeated, and both dragons nodded. “How do you know this? How did it happen?”
At these questions, Vali rolled his eyes and Cole ducked his head to avoid my gaze. That told me exactly how they knew, and I groaned.
“You killed her?” I exclaimed. “How? Why? She has Bella. Please tell me you didn’t just leave that kid to grow up with only a shitty dad and no mom.”
“We didn’t,” Vali responded, and I heaved a sigh of relief. Far too soon. “I mean, we didn’t leave Bella with no mom. Peyton had given her up for adoption years ago because your ex was a lousy excuse for a human. Cole did kill her though.”
“Cole,” I growled, and he gave me a sheepish look. Or as sheepish as an asshole as intimidating as he was could manage.
He shrugged uncomfortably. “It was a spur of the moment thing. We’d been looking into her for her involvement with the gala shit and then found out she was neck deep in these shifter videos hitting the internet. One thing led to another, you know?”
“I’m sure it did,” I murmured, twisting the top off my beer and taking a sip. I wasn’t particularly upset about Peyton being dead; she definitely deserved it if she’d been involved with Gray after all. It was just concern for Bella that’d had me in shock initially.
“So, these people that adopted Bella…” I started, and Vali gave me an understanding nod.
“They seem to be good people. Nice neighborhood, she goes to a good school. I had one of my guys do some recon to double-check, if you want the folder?” His diligence on the matter was appreciated, and I nodded.
“How are things going with your criminal empire anyway?” I asked him, and he shrugged.
“With Lucy and Elena running things from behind a smokescreen, I’m pretty confident we are one hundred percent legitimate now. Those two work well together,” he commented, then grimaced. “The only thing I feel unsure about is Finn.”
Cole grunted a noise of disapproval. “The boyfriend? He has always felt off to me.”
I frowned. “How? He’s never around when we are.”
“Exactly,” Cole responded with an eyebrow raise. “Something about him seems off. Why was he at Blood Moon in the first place when we broke in? And didn’t he rip a man’s heart out with his bare hand? That’s some scary shit right there.”
“Says the dragon shifter.” I snorted, remembering uncomfortably that I’d just de-hearted several men myself recently. “Does Lucy or Elena know what variety of supernatural he is?”
Vali scowled. “They say they do, but they’re not letting on. I might put my guys on him and see if they can’t find out more.”
“Just tell them to be subtle about it,” I advised him, realizing I was asking two dragons to be subtle. “If the girls find out you’re investigating their boyfriend…”
Vali nodded. “I got it handled.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t argue with him. He was only marginally better than Cole, who had the tact of a sledge hammer.
Whatever, it’s their funeral.
I, for one, had no interest in getting on Lucy’s bad side. There had to be a reason her name was Lucifer, after all.
23
KIT
The location Bridget had arranged for us to meet was apparently the house that Caleb had been meeting her at for their magic lessons. His theory was that she already had it so heavily warded with magic it made for the perfect safe meeting place... for her.
Wesley shifted into his crow form before we left and took off into a tree the second our portal dropped us onto the grass. He did it quick enough that to anyone not watching for it, he’d have just seemed like a startled bird.
“Remember,” Caleb said in my ear as I surveyed the back of the house. “We want her to come outside so Wes can keep an eye on things. Also, I think it’s better to steer clear of her wards if possible.”
“Understood,” I reassured him. “I’m human-ish, not stupid.”
We walked together across her immaculate lawn and up the few steps to the glass door where I knocked politely.
It was Nicholai who answered, which didn’t surprise me. Bridget didn’t seem like the answer her own door type of woman. The smile he gave me seemed genuine, but I wasn’t fooled. He was sticking by Bridget for some reason... I just didn’t know what it was. There was his dianoch bond, sure. But Vic had all but outright said that the bond did nothing to coerce feelings or loyalties. Maybe Nicholai really still loved her?
“Kit,” he greeted me. “It’s good to see you. And you Caleb. Will you come inside?”