The Viper's Nest (Kit Davenport #4)(26)

“Because it’s not my place to tell you. It’s his. Just because we’re twins doesn’t mean we’re not entitled to our own secrets.” His words were soft but chastising, and he was absolutely right. That was rude of me to expect he’d spill his brother’s secrets, but it had been a gut reaction. “Does it change how you feel for him?”

I huffed a small snort. “You already know it doesn’t. I’m just getting really tired of everyone keeping secrets from me when you all demand I keep none from you. It’s a double standard, and it’s beginning to wear thin.”

Austin paused, removing his needle from my skin as he met my gaze steadily. “I get it. We can’t change the past, but at least you know it won’t happen in the future. I couldn’t keep secrets from you now even if I wanted to.”

“You couldn’t?” I repeated with a frown. That was news to me.

“Honestly”—Austin clicked his tongue as he returned to his work—“you need to pay closer attention to your own magic.”

Caleb reentered the room then, still wiping his damp hands off on a little pink hand towel before sitting back on the sofa and looking at me expectantly.

“Okay, so what you’re saying is that vampires aren’t real?” I asked him, returning to our conversation and letting Austin’s odd statement slide. For now.

Caleb shook his head slightly. “No, well, sort of. Vampires as you know them from stories were almost always a Blood Mage gone bad. There is a species of demon who feeds on blood and can turn humans, I think, but that’s about all I know. And that might have been made up for all I know. The source is known for spinning bullshit sometimes.”

Austin chuckled, his warm breath tickling my skin as he worked. No prizes for guessing who the source of that one was. Apparently Austin was a bit of a shit stirrer as a kid.

“So what else do you want to know?” Caleb prompted and I stared at the ceiling while I thought for a moment.

“Are you getting better control of it now? I guess that makes sense now why Austin made you leave the room after Gray’s demise. But is this what you were so worried about?” I tilted my head as I looked back to him for an answer, and he blushed slightly.

“Uh, yeah. Pretty much. All blood carries a certain level of magic from the owner of it... That room was bathed in your blood, and Kitty Kat, your blood is like nothing I have ever smelled before. It’s pure fucking magic, and you kind of get hurt a lot. So yeah, I’m getting better control with these lessons, but I’m still scared I’ll slip up and rip your throat out or something.” His voice was pitched low and drowning in raw emotion. I had no doubt that this was not something he’d discussed with any of the other guys... even Austin, if the surprise and concern I was picking up from him was any indication.

“Well, then in that case, I am glad whatever you’re doing is helping But, I want to help too, if there is any way I can. Like... do you need to build an immunity to my blood in small doses or something like how Cleopatra did with snake venom?” I paused, realising what I’d just said and trying not to smile. Now is not the time for jokes, Kit.

“Ha ha, funny.” Caleb rolled his eyes. “Because I’m the Viper? Ironic, isn’t it? That I hate snakes and yet...” He bared his teeth, comically indicating the fang situation, and I snorted a laugh.

“Uh yeah, seeing as we are all sharing and shit”—I smiled apologetically—“I am pretty confident you will get a familiar. So... maybe work on the fear of snakes thing?”

“I second that,” Austin contributed, wiping my wrist off with a cloth and placing his gun down on the table. “You’re all done, Princess. Shall we test it out?”

My jaw dropped in surprise. “Just like that?” I raised my wrist to look at what he’d drawn for the spell. “No need for, like... chanting or runes or anything?”

“Kitty Kat”—Caleb shook his head at me—“we’re the strongest Mages in existence. Chanting and runes on a little spell are for mages... lower case m. Don’t worry, you’ll learn.”

I gave him a vague nod of acknowledgement but was still staring at my new tattoo, inspecting the delicate and intricate lines Austin had inked into my skin. It was a flower, a lily... I think. But it was mostly in shades of gray and black with the only color coming from the petals, which were shaded with a myriad of watercolor oranges and whites. Small spots of black crept out from the center, giving it an almost striped appearance.

“Do you like it?” Austin asked quietly, and I jumped from my quiet focus on the design.

“I love it,” I replied honestly, meeting his clear, green-eyed gaze. “What sort of flower is it?”

“A lily,” he told me while he packed up his tools, confirming what I had guessed. I was no flower connoisseur, so really lily, rose, and sunflower were probably the extent of my guesses. “I’ll just go put this all away, and then we can test out the spell. It’ll be clear pretty soon if it’s working or not, given how crap you’ve been with these lessons this far.”

I rolled my eyes as he left the room, but he was right. Caleb took my hand in his to look at the lily and made a small noise in his throat.

“Pretty, huh?” I smiled, and he nodded.

“Very,” he agreed. “Aus always did love tiger lilies.”