Kai shifted his gaze to the floor. “They were my sister’s. She left some at my place.”
“Draya told me about her,” I confessed.
Kai’s eyes shot to mine. “What did she say?”
I shrugged. “Only that she’s a good person and doesn’t deserve my wrath.”
Kai agreed with a nod. “She doesn’t. Piper’s not like my brothers or me. I’m glad she decided to go away, especially with everything going on.”
“Do you think you’ll ever see her again?” I wondered.
He shook his head. “She’s not going to want to see me. It’s best she stays far away.”
Whether he believed that or not, I couldn’t tell. But by the way he said it, I could hear the emotion in his voice. Kai took one of my hands and led me over to the bed. He laid down and pulled me in beside him. Out of everything that happened tonight, I didn’t realize how exhausted I was.
I laid on my back while he leaned on his elbow, gazing down at me. “Tell me what happened. Did you see your mother?”
I looked into his steely gray eyes. “I did. And I’m afraid you started a war.”
His gaze hardened. “There was already a war between us, Ella. I don’t belong in your world.”
“No, you don’t,” I replied, remembering my mother’s words.
Kai flinched as if I’d slapped him. My people would never accept him, but Kai knew that already. There was no future between us, only the here and now.
Kai gently soothed a hand down my cheek. “What happens now?”
I leaned into his touch. “I don’t know. My mother said she would tell everyone that I’d be back soon. Until then, I have a job to do, with or without your help. I have no doubt your brothers are going to kill people to find me.”
Kai closed his eyes and huffs out a breath in anger. “And I’ll be right by your side. If any of them try to hurt you, I’ll hurt them.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
Kai pressed his lips to mine. “No. All that matters is you.”
Chapter21
Kai
Last night, while we were sleeping, Ella had woken up with a calling to help a fae cross over to the Hereafter. She didn’t want me to go with her, but I wanted to be there to take down my brothers if it was a trap. Luckily, it turned out to be a true calling.
Since our last confrontation, I hadn’t heard from Ridge or the others. Nevertheless, I knew they weren’t going to give up. Ridge had always wanted a war between the fae. Without me, I had no fucking clue why he’d even want to do that. He wasn’t powerful enough to take them on without my magic. Our numbers were dismal.
We couldn’t take on all the courts in the Land of the Fae.
I could sneak in undetected and kill my targets with my magic, but that wasn’t an option. My heart and soul didn’t want to hurt Ella or her family, but the darkness inside me wanted to see her blood. It wasn’t a constant need, but there were times when it became unbearable. It was as if that darkness pierced its claws inside me, ripping me from the inside out. I hid the pain from Ella, determined to spend as much time with her as I could before I was no longer myself.
Eventually, I wouldn’t see her as anything more than an enemy.
If a war came, I’d have no choice but to use my magic. And in return, I’d be fighting against Ella and her people. Either way, I’d lose her by hate or death.
Ella’s steps crunched in the snow as she came up behind me. “Hey. You’ve been out here for a while,” she said, wrapping her arms around my waist. She laid her head against my back.
“How do you know?” I said, placing my hands over hers. “You’ve been asleep.”
She was exhausted after everything that’s happened recently and being called out in the middle of the night didn’t help. After a few minutes, Ella let me go and came around to stand in front of me. She had her blonde hair pulled back and was wearing my sister’s jeans and one of her red hoodies. I tried not to think of Piper or how I’d handled things with her. My father had always told me love was a weakness. I had shut everyone out my entire life . . . until Ella. Losing her was going to be the end of me. And it was going to happen one day.
Ella took in a deep breath and glanced out at the snow-capped mountains. There was a trail around the lake that I’d already walked.