The Viper's Nest (Kit Davenport #4)(73)

“Jesus, what fucking now?” I groaned. My head was spinning, and I just wanted to go back inside for another drink before heading back and facing the guys. I’d judged Caleb too harshly, and I knew he deserved an apology. But... later.

“Look,” he sighed, scratching at his chin and staring after Bridget, who was waiting at the taxi rank further down the street. “Some of the stuff she said was a shock to me, and some of it didn’t quite ring true.” My brows shot up, but he was quick to reassure me. “Not about Caleb; I truly believe she was magic doping him to keep him compliant. That’s one of the things that has me most concerned. It’s a huge violation of magic to do that without someone’s knowledge...”

When he trailed off, thinking, I prodded him in the arm. “So, what’s your point here?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “But just watch yourself. Don’t trust anyone outside your dianoch. Not even me.”

“But trust my dianoch? Despite everything with Caleb...?” I was exhausted. The idea that my newest bonded guardian was untrustworthy had felt like a hot poker right through my stomach.

“All of them. Including Caleb. He’d never, ever have kept this from you if magic weren’t at play. Believe that.” Nicholai patted me on the shoulder in a decidedly parental way, and I wrinkled my nose. “Stay alert; keep your eyes and ears open. Got it?”

“Got it.” I nodded slowly, then watched as he jogged to catch up to Bridget as a taxi pulled in to the rank where she waited. The two of them got in, and I stared after the retreating vehicle for a long time before sliding down the wall and resting my head on my knees.

I’d just taken on a whole insane amount of information, and it felt a bit like my head was about to explode. Everything with a grain of salt, of course, but one thing remained clear no matter which way I looked at it.

Caleb. He hadn’t betrayed me. He’d made a stupid mistake by accepting the confidentiality spell in the first place, and it had just snowballed from there. Sure, I could be mad at that first action, but he’d been driven there out of desperation and out of love for me. He wanted so badly not to be a danger to me that he’d blindly accepted the help, no matter where it had come from.

Those weren’t the actions of a betrayal. If anything... it was the opposite. He’d taken a huge risk, first in accepting a mentor he knew nothing about, then in risking my ire when I found out. But he wasn’t doing it for selfish or nefarious reasons. He was doing it to protect me and the guys.

Yep. I officially jumped the gun on storming out earlier.

Groaning, I hugged my knees and tucked my face down low. I probably looked like a drunk or a bum, but I just needed a few moments to gather myself.





24





The familiar smell of a bonfire and the warm stroke of a hand down my back was what finally pulled me from my mental hurdles.

“Hey,” I smiled softly, looking up at Vali where he crouched beside me. “I figured it wouldn’t be long until you found me. Are the guys mad?”

He smiled back at me, his gray eyes soft and full of concern as his hand stroked soothing lines up and down my back. “No, they’re fine. You did the right thing, pinging your location and keeping your phone on you. After all, you’re not our prisoner. You have every right to leave the hotel alone if you so choose.”

“This is true,” I agreed. “But still... you know how they get.”

Vali chuckled, tucking a loose piece of my hair behind my ear. “I do. Such worry-toads. Don’t they realize you’re stronger than all of us?”

This made me laugh. “You mean worrywarts and exactly! Thank you! Finally, someone understands that I’m not some damsel in distress waiting to be rescued all the time.”

“If it helps,” he offered, “I think they do it because they love you, not because they think you helpless. I know that’s why I try to protect you.”

His words made me pause, but before I could push any further for clarification on what I thought he’d just said, he was standing up and holding out a hand to me.

“Come on, let’s go inside and get a drink. You look like you could do with a little fun before we head back.” When I took his outstretched hand, he tugged me up to my feet and politely brushed some of the dirt and crap off the back of my jeans for me.

The little ass squeeze might have been my imagination... or might not have been. It was so quick it wasn’t clear. Either way, I wasn’t complaining as Vali threaded his fingers back through mine and led the way back into the bar and straight to my green-haired friend.

“Back again?” she asked me when she finished serving her customer and came over to us. “I saw you deck your sister earlier. She the reason your night was so shitty?”

“Yup.” I nodded. “She sure fucking was.” There was no sense in correcting her to say that was my mother not my sister.

“Well, your night certainly looks like it’s taken a turn for the better.” The bartender batted her eyelashes at Vali and twirled her bottle opener on her finger. “Hot damn you are one sexy piece of ass. What are you, like six-four? Six-five?”

Vali smirked but ignored her aggressive flirtation as he ordered. “Could I get a whiskey sour? And for you...?” He looked at me, but the bartender was already bobbing her head in acknowledgement.