The Viper's Nest (Kit Davenport #4)(21)

He hesitated and frowned. “Uh, no...”

“See?” I beamed. “Not failing! But... it’d be nice if maybe you’d talk to me about it a bit more? I know you said there’s a confidentiality thing, but surely you can just keep me updated on how it’s going? Like, blink once for good and twice for bad? That kind of thing?”

Admittedly, I was still stinging from the twins holding onto such a massive secret for so long, but they’d both apologized and there was little to do about it now. Caleb trusting me a bit more with what was going on would kind of go a long way to repairing that though.

He took a long moment before replying, thinking over what I’d said before nodding slowly.

“Yeah, I can do that. Or I can try. As much as the magical NDA lets me.” He looked sheepish, but I already knew he’d been kicking himself for agreeing to the spell in the first place. He must have been in a seriously bad place that night, and I could only put it down to that bloody mess he’d seen at the gala.

“So?” I prompted, and he looked confused. “Familiar? Do you get a viper?”

“Oh.” He scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck and dodged eye contact with me. “I kind of hope not.”

That surprised me. “No? Why not?”

A faint blush rose up in his cheeks, and he scrubbed a hand over his face before replying. “Uh... I’m scared of snakes.” An embarrassed smile pulled at his lips, and my jaw dropped.

“Shut the front door,” I gasped, trying not to laugh. “But... your codename is Viper and you have a viper tattooed on your leg... how can you be scared of snakes?”

He shrugged and started up the steps to the house. “Maybe because they’re scaly and slimy and venomous and have no arms or legs or ears! Kitty Kat... they have no ears!” He gave a dramatic shudder. “Nope, if I didn’t get a familiar I would be just fine. They only go to, like, the most insanely powerful Mages ever created, so the odds of both Austin and I getting a familiar after no one else in the past thousand years has... not likely. Right?”

It actually seemed really likely, given the pattern of everything else right now, but he was looking at me so hopefully that I found myself agreeing.

“Yup, totally not likely,” I reassured him. “Anyway, shouldn’t you be at your magic lesson right now?”

Caleb checked his watch and swore. “You’re right. I’ll... see you when I get back?”

“And tell me how it went? Even if it’s just something boring?” I reiterated, and he nodded. “Cool, then I’ll see you when you get back.”

He grabbed me around the waist and kissed me quickly, before Tyson got jealous and growled, then jogged back down the steps to the grass where he disappeared into a circle of mage runes.

“Such a cool trick,” I breathed, as I watched the glittering symbols twinkle under the early evening moonlight, then fade out of existence.

“Amazing what you could do with a little magic mastery, huh Kitten?” River’s voice made me jump, and I whirled around to face him. Tyson growled a little, so I buried my hand in the scruff of his neck to soothe the temperamental cat.

“I get it, Alpha.” I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m trying, okay? I took the lesson with Austin. He’s the one that stormed off in a huff.”

“You provoked him, and you know it.” River folded him arms, and I took a moment to admire his strong forearms, thanks to his shirt sleeves being rolled up. “Love, do I really need to stress the importance of this to you? You’re a bloody smart woman; you know what’s at stake here.”

Like, the fate of the world, mankind, and our lives? Okay, maybe they all had a point. I hadn’t been taking this anywhere near seriously enough.

“Yeah, I know,” I muttered, inspecting my toes.

River sighed and muttered some very British sounding curse under his breath before sweeping me up against his chest, with his arms around my waist.

“We scold because we care,” he reminded me softly. “Dinner is ready, by the way. Then perhaps I could interest you in a shower...?”

“Why, Alpha. Are you implying I’m a dirty girl or simply trying to sneak alone time in this house full of men?” I acted offended, but the sly smile pulling at my mouth no doubt gave him the resounding yes he was looking for.

A low hum from his throat was all the response I really needed before pressing my lips to his in a long kiss, until we were interrupted again by Tyson growling.

“Damn, Ty,” I sighed as River placed me back down on the ground. “You got to learn how to share! What are you going to be like when Caleb’s snake turns up? Hey.” I turned back to River. “Who would be more scared of whom, tiger or snake?”

My scruffy, sexy Alpha grimaced. “I hadn’t thought about Cal’s viper. Gross. Snakes are gross.”

A grin spread over my face. Am I the only one not scared of snakes? This will be too much fun.

Because despite the reassurance I’d given Caleb, I’d be seriously shocked if he didn’t get a familiar after our bonding. They were given to the most powerful Mages, and the Blood and Ink Mages were supposed to be of equal power. So... it stood to reason that if Austin had one…

“Maybe he can give it a cute name and like a bowtie or something to make him less scary?” I suggested as I followed River back into the house, and he looked at me like I was on acid.