The Viper's Nest (Kit Davenport #4)(63)

Bridget shrugged one delicate shoulder. “I assume because the mage didn’t know her age? He would have just guessed. Christina was the name I gave her to start her new human life.”

“This is...” I gusted out a heavy sigh. “This is a lot to take in, and I still don’t know if I trust you to be telling the truth.”

“I know; I understand,” she accepted my answer with a forlorn nod and another fat tear rolled down her face. “But I just wanted you to understand. I can see how much you love my daughter, and I know you’ll be good to her. Maybe one day I can reconnect with her?”

She seemed so hopeful that I found myself nodding. “Maybe.”

“Will you tell me something now?” she suggested with a tentative smile. “Nothing that will break her trust; I know you’re too honorable for that. The confidentiality spell I required of you was a mistake on my part, and I can see how much you regret it.”

“That depends.” I frowned. “What do you want to know?”

Her eyes lit up, and I found myself disliking her a little less. If her story was the truth, then she’d been through some pretty hard times herself and maybe just needed a little bit of understanding and patience. To have given up her child at such a young age... I couldn’t fathom how hard it must have been for her.

“I just want to know what it is that she’s been struggling with lately. You’ve mentioned a couple of times that she’s having a hard patch, and if it’s to do with her magic, then perhaps there is something I can do to help?” Her eye contact with me was steady, open, and full of concern for her estranged child.

“Uh...” I chewed my lip. I believed her, against my better judgement, but my loyalty lay with Kit and it always would. Then again, if there really was something she could do to help Kit with the struggle she was having to keep all her different magics from consuming her...

“She is just having a bit of a rough time adjusting to the magic from her already established bonds,” I said carefully. “But I’m sure it’s just an adjustment period. She’ll work it out; she always does.”

Bridget’s mouth tightened, and her eyes flashed with something I couldn’t catch before it was gone again. “It’s unheard of for a Ban Dia to bond more than three dianoch. In fact, some would say it’s impossible. How many of you boys has she bonded now?”

“That’s not relevant,” I replied tersely. I’d been carrying enough stress and worry that what Bridget was saying was true. What if Kit couldn’t bond all six of us. We’d just assumed she could based on Victor’s advice... but what if he was wrong?

Bridget nodded smoothly, then smiled once more. “I think I can help. I myself experienced a similar issue when I found my own guardians, but unfortunately at the time I was under lock and key at the Blood Moon labs and had no one to help me. When we got free, I worked on an amulet that, should my powers ever become that... chaotic again, would help give me clarity.” She stood from her seat and brushed nonexistent lint from her skirt. “Maybe I could give it to you? That way if it ever gets so bad that she needs help, then you’ll already have it there. What do you think?”

Frowning, I hesitated again before nodding. Surely there was no harm in taking the amulet as a backup plan, just in case things got worse for Kit after her next bond? Something told me I might live to regret it if I didn’t take the amulet and we ended up needing it.

“Sure,” I nodded slowly, and Bridget beamed.

“Great! Wait here; I’ll grab it.” She disappeared out of the room, and I could hear her little feet running up the stairs. A sick feeling clawed at my belly, and I sincerely hoped this wasn’t going to bite me in the ass.

But I was a Blood Mage. I was The Blood Mage. Despite my issues with control around power-filled blood, I was still one of the two most powerful Mages in the universe. I’d be sure to check the amulet out thoroughly before ever giving it to Kit. Maybe even get Austin to check it out too...

“Here it is!” Bridget announced, rushing back into the room with a delicate chain of gold hanging from her clenched fist. She held it out to me, and I cautiously took it from her.

“It’s a bracelet,” she explained, as though that wasn’t clear by the length of chain. Hanging from the center was a little gold fox, which must have been the amulet she was referring to.

Holding it up, I inspected it carefully with both my eyes and my other sight. The one that kicked in when my eyes went all weird and snake-like. It allowed me to see the essence of magic, and sure enough, the little fox charm and part of the chain were thick with Bridget’s signature.

“Thanks,” I muttered, pocketing the bracelet and giving Bridget an awkward smile. Yes, she had opened up to me, and yes, I believed her story... but that didn’t make me trust her. “I’ll check it out with my brother, obviously, and I can’t guarantee I’ll ever give it to Kit...”

“Of course,” she gushed, “I just want you to have it, just in case. Anything I can do to help, and you know you can come back here to seek my help any time you want... right?”

Frowning, I nodded tightly. Her personality shift from the stern, authoritarian teacher of the past month to this... simpering little woman, had me off guard. Which was the real her? Was the hard-ass bitch routine just a mask she’d developed after so many hundreds of years alive?