The Viper's Nest (Kit Davenport #4)(20)

“Cash or card?” he asked, and I felt Wesley kick Cole behind me before sorting out our payment.

Loading all our bags into the back of the SUV, I turned to the boys curiously. “What was that about? The clerk gave you a weird look, Cole, then Wes kicked you.”

Cole shrugged and said nothing, opening his door and hopping inside, so I raised a brow at Wesley instead.

“His eyes started going a bit dragon,” Wesley informed me as we both climbed into our seats and buckled up. “Looks like I’m the safest option for your next bond after all.”

A growl echoed through the car from the backseat, and I grinned. Wes still didn’t know what he was, so I was sure he was joking. But he raised a good point. Who would I bond to next after I got this ink magic under control?





7





Dirt exploded in a little puffball from the toe of my shoe as I kicked another hole in the ground and tried my very hardest not to lose my temper. Nope, I wanted to win that bet with Cole, so I would not be the one storming out of this training session in a rage.

“I don’t get it,” I repeated for the zillionth time. “Shouldn’t I be learning to control ink magic? That’s the only time things seem to go screwy.”

Austin had me out on the grass practicing what he called elementary magic with runes and symbols and magic words. I wasn’t even joking, but I wished I was. Honest to goodness, magic words. Like... in another language.

“You’re not ready.” Was the same stupid answer he’d been giving me all evening.

My temper flared, and I knew he felt it as his jaw clenched tight.

“Maybe you’re just shitty at teaching? You are fully aware there is no way in hell you can cram like... ten years of knowledge into my head in one night? You do know that right? So what the hell are we even doing here?” I was flying off the handle a little, but being around Austin seemed to do that to me all the freaking time. Maybe it was the insane sexual tension, or maybe he really was that much of a dickhead. Whatever the reason, I could not seem to keep my cool.

“You’re right, Princess. What the fuck are we even doing here?” he snapped back at me, giving me a long, weighted stare that said I was totally missing a double meaning, before throwing his hands up and stalking back into the house.

Instead of feeling pleased with myself for having won Cole’s bet, I watched Austin’s broad back and hunched shoulders disappear into the house with a pang of regret and disappointment. Vali was right. We needed to sort our shit out because what I was feeling from Austin wasn’t anger. Not even close. It was despair.

“Shit,” I swore quietly, then felt the warm breath of Tyson on my hand a moment before he nuzzled at my hip. “Hey buddy, can you help me out? I keep fucking things up with your... uh... master?” The tiger curled his lip up in disgust, and I quickly corrected, “I mean, your Mage?”

Tyson huffed a breath that I knew to be approval, and I buried my hand in the scruff of his neck fur.

“It’d be cool if you could talk or something. Still... we understand each other pretty well, don’t we?” Somehow, talking to Austin’s tiger was the only thing holding back the tears that were threatening as Austin’s emotions mixed with mine and made me want to cry.

God damn him.

Tyson head-butted me with his agreement, and I laughed. The overgrown house cat seemed to like getting that reaction out of me, so he head-butted me again, this time knocking me to my ass and then covering my face with tiger slobber as he licked me all over.

“Stop it!” I screamed, rolling on the ground with laughter while the magical cat continued to lick my face and tickle me with his whiskers. Bastard.

“You okay under there, or do you need help?” Caleb chuckled, his head appearing above the fluffy orange-and-black face demanding my attention.

“Help!” I laughed. “Tyson won’t stop licking me!”

The big cat huffed as if offended that I didn’t appreciate his kisses, but sat back and let Caleb help me to my feet with a strong pull on my hand.

“Bit weird, don’t you think?” I asked the friendlier King twin as I dusted off my jeans. “That Austin’s familiar is so affectionate when he’s like a fricking ice cube?”

Caleb snorted, tucking an arm around my waist and tugging me close as we wandered back to the house. “Uh, something like that. You know familiars are still part of their Mage? Like, they’re a physical manifestation of our magic, so they are essentially just an extension of us.”

“Except Tyson and Austin are the opposite sides of a coin?” I raised my eyebrows skeptically, and Caleb just shrugged. “Hey, that reminds me. Will you get a familiar too, when we bond?”

“When?” he repeated, stopping just short of the steps to the balcony. “You still want to bond with me, even though I’m failing with my magic?”

“Cal,” I scolded, turning his chin so I could meet his emerald-green eyes. “Despite the fact that you tell me nothing about your lessons, I can pretty safely say you’re not failing.”

“How can you be so sure?” he whispered, and the sadness underscoring his words almost broke my heart.

Chewing my lip, I held his gaze firm. “Because I know you, and you’re not the type to just give up. Clearly it’s taking a bit of work, but you’ll get there. You haven’t snapped and killed anyone yet, right?”