The Viper's Nest (Kit Davenport #4)(29)

More than that, I knew how much my brother hated killing. He was good at it, sure; it was what he’d been raised to do. But it made him hate himself, and that was the last thing I ever wanted.

No, much better I dirty my own hands. After all, they were already so stained I doubted they’d ever be free of blood.





11





KIT





The next few days passed in a blur of runes and sparkles, chants and words of power, but to my genuine surprise, by the end of day six in our training, Austin was already letting me work with ink.

“Can we stop for the day?” I yawned, rubbing at my tired eyes and stretching my neck. “I’m starting to feel like an old lady from sitting at this damn table all day.”

“A little longer,” he pressed, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Austin. I’m not working all night to help you win our bet. We already worked through dinner, and I am done. Unless you want bitchy Kit to come back out to play, I suggest we call it for the night.” It was not an idle threat. Despite my accelerated learning and knowledge retention, I still got just as cranky and tired as before, and we’d already almost come to blows a few times when he’d pushed our lessons into the evening.

“Fine,” he growled. “But you’d better be willing to haul ass tomorrow. There is no fucking way I am letting you tattoo me. You don’t even know how.”

I smiled at him, feeling evil. “Well, you’ll just have to teach me. Right now, I’m going to go join the boys in the hot tub.” Pushing back from the table, I groaned as I stood up, feeling my tight muscles from being in a chair for so long. “Go sleep or something, Aus. You look like shit.”

Austin muttered something in response, but it was too quiet for me to hear as I staggered my aching ass through the house to the outdoor hot tub.

It had been a particularly cold day, so Wes and Caleb had made a beeline for the hot tub as soon as they’d finished, and I could hear them horsing around as I drew close.

“Kitty Kat!” Caleb greeted me as I stepped outside and closed the glass sliding door behind me. “Austin finally let you free?”

“Uh-huh,” I yawned again, wrapping my woollen cardigan around me tighter and shivering. “It’s way colder out here than I thought. Maybe the hot tub is not for me tonight.”

“Not in here, it’s not,” Wesley grinned, submerged up to his shoulders in the steaming water. Admittedly, both of them had a pink flush to their cheeks, and I could feel the heat from where I stood.

“Fine... I’ll go change and be back in a sec then.” I shivered again and looked back to the house.

“Why?” Caleb challenged. “There are no neighbors for miles, so no one other than Wes and I would see if you just came in nude.”

He had a point... and it wasn’t like either of them hadn’t seen me naked before.

“Where is everyone else?” I asked as I quickly stripped out of my clothes and slipped into the water before I could feel the cold too much.

“Cole and Vali went to go do dragon things,” Wes told me, grabbing my hand under the water and tugging me over to sit beside him on the little bench seat.

“Huh.” I was impressed. “Good for them. They really seem to be working well together now.”

Caleb snickered. “If you mean neither of them has hit the other in a couple of days, then yeah, they’re getting along great!”

“I suspect they’re hoping you’ll bond one of them next, so they’ve been busting their scaly butts mastering their new forms in preparation,” Wes said quietly, slipping an arm around my waist and pulling me closer into his side. They hadn’t been lying to me; the water was so hot it was almost too hot, but it was the perfect contrast to the cold weather. Almost like a Scandinavian health spa or something.

“Smart boys,” I murmured, sinking down deeper in the water and letting it relax my tight muscles. “How about Alpha?”

“Went into town a while ago to restock the coffee and get some food.” Caleb seated himself across the tub from us and grabbed one of my feet under the water, rubbing it with strong fingers.

“Excellent. More coffee.” I hummed happily, resting my head on the edge of the tub and letting my eyelids shut.

Both boys were in their swim shorts, but I didn’t feel awkward being naked at all. Caleb was totally right that there were no neighbors, and I highly doubted Austin would be creeping around watching from his room. He’d been so wrecked, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was already asleep.

The three of us soaked in silence for a while, the only sounds coming from the bubble of the jets and little moans from me as Caleb worked up my calves from my feet. Wesley had his head resting on the lip of the tub beside mine, but we were both so relaxed we were almost asleep.

Or I was anyway.

“Those noises are driving me crazy, sweetheart,” Wes whispered after a really long time. My lids cracked open, and I turned my face a fraction to look at him with a sultry smile.

“Sorry?” I teased, and he rolled his eyes.

“No you’re not,” he told me, and I winked.

“I’m actually kind of overheating, but I know if I get out I’ll be cold again and want back in.” I rubbed my eyes and pressed my cheek to the cool edge of the tub as Caleb released the leg he’d been rubbing.